Dalek minerva, Noyes, 2023

Noyes, John Stuart, 2023, ENCYRTIDAE OF COSTA RICA (HYMENOPTERA: CHALCIDOIDEA), 4 Subfamily Encyrtinae: tribes Arrhenophagini, Habrolepidini, Cerapterocerini, Cheiloneurini, Trechnitini, Cercobelini, Polaszekiini, Protyndarichoidini, Gahaniellini and Syrphophagini (part), mainly primary parasitoids and hyperparasitoids of Coccoidea and Psylloidea (Hemiptera), Taxonomic Monographs on Neotropical Hymenoptera (Oxford, England) 2 (11), pp. 1-921 : 650-652

Dalek minerva sp.nov.

(Figs 1780-1784; Hab. E 265)

DIAGNOSIS. Female (length about 1.6-1.8mm): scape (Fig. 1784) dark brown with apex orange; mesoscutum bright metallic blue-green and dark green; all coxae dark brown; clypeal margin medially straight; OOL much greater than OCL; antenna (Fig. 1784) with scape about 4.3X as long as broad; funicle with all segments slightly longer than broad, linear sensilla on all segments or absent from F1; mesoscutum with similar sculpture to scutellum; side and apical 0.5X of scutellum completely smooth and shiny; mid tibial spur shorter than basitarsus; fore wing (Fig. 1782) about 2.5X as long as broad; propodeum with more than 30 setae around spiracle; apex of syntergum angular; ovipositor (Fig. 1781) longer than mid tibia, exserted part about 2.2X as long as mid tibial spur; gonostylus much longer than mid tibial spur. Male: unknown.

Female (holotype): length, including ovipositor, 1.84mm; excluding ovipositor, 1.58mm (CPD).

Head generally black, occiput with a moderate, metallic, dark green sheen mixed slightly coppery; frontovertex with a metallic blue-green, green and brassy sheen, mixed coppery purple along occipital margin; scrobal area coppery purple; temple shining metallic blue-green, dark green and coppery; gena immediately below eye shining coppery purple and green, below this relatively dull coppery purple; frontovertex, gena and interantennal prominence with moderately conspicuous, brown setae; antenna (Fig. 1784) with radicle dark brown; scape dark brown with extreme apex pale orange; pedicel dark brown, extreme apex pale orange; funicle with F1 pale orange, F2 orange-brown, remaining segments and clava dark brown; maxillary palpus white; thorax generally dark brown to black, pronotum with a moderate coppery purple sheen mixed brassy; mesoscutum relatively bright metallic blue-green, mixed dark green, narrowly coppery purple along posterior margin; tegula dark brown with a weak coppery purple sheen; axilla dark purple-brown with a weak coppery purple sheen; scutellum proximally relatively dull dark green and coppery purple, distinctly coppery medially in apical 0.5X, apex otherwise shining green and blue-green, side proximally dark blue, extreme apex mixed copper and metallic dark green; mesoscutum clothed with conspicuous, translucent pale brown setae, scutellum with slightly less conspicuous, dark brown setae; metanotum dark purple-brown; mesopleuron dark brown, with a weak coppery purple and brassy sheen; mesosternum dark brown; all coxae dark brown; fore femur dark brown with extreme apices pale orange, tibia dark brown with extreme base and apical 0.25X pale orange, tarsus orange-brown with apical tarsomere brown; mid femur with proximal 0.3X pale orange, apex dark brown, tibia generally dark brown with apices dark orange-brown, spur pale orange, tarsus dark orange-brown; hind femur dark brown, extreme base pale orange, tibia dark brown with extreme base pale orange, tarsus dark brown; wings virtually hyaline, but fore wing (Figs 1780, 1782) weakly suffused brown medially with a more conspicuous, small, infuscate area below marginal and stigmal veins; propodeum dark brown, with a weak purple and brassy sheen, side mainly relatively dull, metallic, blue-green, about 30 conspicuous, translucent, silvery setae outside spiracle, extending most of the way down side of propodeum and towards posterior margin; gaster dark brown, with a distinct coppery purple sheen, dorsal part of Gt1 with a distinct dark blue and blue-green sheen, medially slightly coppery and brassy, side of gaster with a mixed metallic green, brassy and coppery sheen; gonostylus dark brown.

Head about 2.1X as wide as frontovertex, in profile about 1.7X as high as deep; occipital margin sharp, strongly carinate; ocelli forming an angle of about 120°; frontovertex with irregular, moderately deep, sculpture, more rounded and polygonally reticulate and of smaller mesh behind posterior ocellus, transversely elongate and of larger mesh in front of anterior ocellus and here of conspicuously larger mesh than eye facet; frontovertex with piliferous punctures shallow and indistinct, about 6 or 7 in front of anterior ocellus, a line of sparse setae along inner eye margin continued along lower eye margin; interantennal prominence with two submedian lines of inconspicuous setae; temple completely smooth adjacent to eye, otherwise with relatively shallow, longitudinally elongate, polygonally reticulate sculpture of relatively large mesh; gena mostly quite smooth but posteriorly with similar sculpture to temple but of smaller mesh; eye separated from occipital margin by about 1.5X diameter of facet, clothed with inconspicuous, short setae, each clearly shorter than diameter of facet, separated from scrobal margin by about diameter of ocellus, area between eye and scrobe with transversely elongate, imbricate-reticulate sculpture; scrobes shallow, more or less ∩-shaped, meeting dorsally, very weakly margined dorsally and laterally; interantennal prominence shallow, dorsally narrowly rounded, separated from frontovertex, with fine, very shallow, polygonally reticulate sculpture; antenna as in Fig. 1784; scape slightly broadened and flattened, about 4.3X as long as broad, dorsal margin straight; funicle with all segments slightly longer than broad, becoming broader and larger distad; clava hardly enlarged, only about 1.1X as broad as F6, slightly longer than F4-F6 combined, sutures very slightly oblique, sensory area slightly enlarged, but hardly extending along ventral surface giving apex a rounded appearance; malar sulcus absent; clypeal margin virtually straight medially; mandible with 2 teeth and a truncation upper tooth. Relative measurements: HW 95.5, HH 84, FV 45.5, POL 19, OOL 8, OCL 4, AOL 12, EL 51.5, EW 39.5, MS 32, SL 52, SW 12.

Thorax in dorsal view with pronotum clearly visible behind head, its posterior margin concave; pronotum with polygonally reticulate sculpture that is generally similar to that on anterior part of frontovertex; mesoscutum with irregular, polygonally reticulate sculpture that is similar to that on pronotum but of smaller mesh and posteriorly a little deeper and coarser; axilla with transversely elongate, polygonally reticulate to imbricate-reticulate sculpture that is very slightly shallower than that on posterior part of mesoscutum; scutellum dorsally convex, in proximal 0.5X or so with similar sculpture to that on posterior part of mesoscutum, apical 0.5X completely smooth and shiny, this smooth area extending slightly more anteriorly in middle; visible part of mesoscutum about 1.5X as broad as long; scutellum about 1.1X as long as broad, apex moderately thin and flange-like; fore wing with venation and distribution of setae as in Figs 1780, 1782; costal cell with a single line of setae dorsally in apical 0.5X or so; mid tibial spur shorter than basitarsus; propodeum medially about 0.16X as long as scutellum and with some shallow, irregular sculpture; side of propodeum sharp and carinate posteriorly above hind coxa and with a distinct, triangular tooth a little above half way to spiracle. Relative measurements: FWL 127, FWW 50; HWL 89, HWW 23.

Gaster with hypopygium very nearly to apex; syntergum about 0.7X as long as mid tibia, with apex angular, more or less acute; ovipositor clearly exserted, the exserted part about 2.2X as long as mid tibial spur or 0.6X as long as mid tibia.

Paratype. Funicle with linear sensilla on all segments or absent from F1; hypopygium Fig. 1783; ovipositor Fig. 1781. Relative measurements: OL 133.5, GL 47 [MT 71, MTS 18].

Variation. Females vary in overall length from 1.61-1.84mm, the scutellum may have a small area of metallic dark blue medially, otherwise very little variation noted in material available,

Male. Unknown.

DISTRIBUTION. Costa Rica.

HOSTS. Unknown.

MATERIAL EXAMINED.

Type material. Holotype E: COSTA RICA, San José , Est. Biol. Cerro de la Muerte, 9°33’N 83°44’W, 3100m, v-vi.2000 (P. Hanson) . Paratypes: COSTA RICA, 1E, San José, 19km S Empalme, Mirador Quetzal , 9°39’N 83°52’N, 2600m, xii.1999 (P. Hanson) . Holotype in MZUCR, paratype in NHMUK .

COMMENTS. See comments under jigas (p. 650).