Psyllaephagus xepo, 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 : 596-598

Psyllaephagus xepo sp.nov.

(Figs 1577-1582)

DIAGNOSIS. Female (length about 2.5mm): antenna (Fig. 1579) with scape mostly dark brown; flagellum dark brown; tegula dark brown; mesoscutum and scutellum dull with some violet and dark blue reflections; mid femur dark brown; hind tibia mostly pale orange with a broad brown subbasal band in proximal one-third; head (Fig. 1581) about 2.6X as wide as frontovertex and about 3.0X as wide as mouth opening; ocelli forming an obtuse angle of about 105°, posterior ocellus closer to occipital margin than to eye; frontovertex with relatively shallow and small piliferous punctures that are slightly larger than eye facet and generally separated by at least about their own diameters; antenna (Fig. 1579) with scape about 4.9X as long as broad and about as long as minimum width of frontovertex; antenna with pedicel slightly longer than F1, all funicle segments longer than broad, F6 subquadrate, linear sensilla on all funicle segments, segments of clava subequal in length, but becoming shorter towards apex, the apex more or less rounded; clypeal margin emarginate, but very weakly convex; mandible with one tooth and a broad truncation; scutellum with similar sculpture to mesoscutum, with cells slightly longitudinally elongate; scutellum convex; fore wing (Fig. 1582) about 2.3X as long as broad; costal cell with one line of setae dorsally, marginal vein (Fig. 1580) about 2X as long as broad, linea clava closed; Gt3 without a distinct, strongly reticulate area anteromedially; hypopygium Fig. 1577; ovipositor longer than mid tibia and slightly exserted with exserted part about 0.4X as long as mid tibial spur; second valvifer with about 16 subapical setae. Male: unknown.

Female (holotype): length, including ovipositor, 2.53mm; excluding ovipositor, 2.48mm ( CPD) .

Head with occiput and frontovertex generally dull, mixed, metallic dark blue and coppery purple; scrobal area, temple and gena dull, coppery purple, interantennal prominence marked dark metallic blue between toruli, parts of mouth margin and position of malar sulcus; a metallic violet line across face immediately below toruli; setae on frontovertex, interantennal prominence and gena indistinct, translucent, pale brown, slightly silvery in some aspects; antenna (Fig. 1579) with radicle dark brown; scape dark brown with extreme apex pale orange; pedicel dark brown, extreme apex pale orange; flagellum dark brown; thorax generally dark brown to black; pronotum with posterior margin coppery, remainder dull, dark, metallic green reflections, laterally more extensively coppery; mesoscutum dull violet with some dull, dark blue reflections; tegula dark brown with a slight coppery purple sheen; axilla mainly with a coppery purple sheen, mixed with some metallic dark green and brassy; scutellum somewhat similar to mesoscutum but narrowly more blue along mid line and side and dark green at apex; metanotum with a slight coppery purple and brassy lustre; mesopleuron with a slight metallic coppery purple, green and brassy lustre; all coxae dark brown with a slight violet, dark blue and coppery purple sheen; fore femur dark brown, pale orange at extreme apices, tibia pale orange, with a broad, subbasal, interrupted brown band, tarsus pale orange, distally dusky, apical tarsomere brown; mid femur dark brown, pale orange at apices, tibia pale orange with a narrow, indistinct, interrupted, brown subbasal band, spur pale orange, tarsus pale orange, slightly dusky distally, apical tarsomere orange-brown; hind femur dark brown, pale orange at extreme distal apex, tibia mostly pale orange with a broad, dark brown, subbasal band to about 0.3X, tarsus dusky pale orange, darker distally, apical tarsomere dark brown; wings (Fig. 1582) hyaline; propodeum dark purple-brown, generally with a slight coppery purple, green and brassy sheen, side with a metallic dark green sheen and with a few silvery setae outside spiracle; gaster dark brown, dorsally mainly with a coppery purple sheen, Gt1 with a strong metallic dark blue and dark green sheen, syntergum weakly mixed metallic dark green, side largely metallic green, blue-green blue and copper, venter mainly with a coppery purple sheen with some purple, green, blue and brassy reflections; gonostylus dark brown.

Head (Fig. 1581) about 2.6X as wide as frontovertex and about 3.0X as wide as mouth opening, in profile about 1.8X as high as deep, evenly curved from occipital margin to top of scrobes and then fairly straight to mouth margin, with interantennal prominence not protuberant; occipital margin more or less acute, not carinate; ocelli forming an angle of about 105°; frontovertex with slightly irregular, moderately deep, polygonally reticulate sculpture of mesh size subequal to eye facet, piliferous punctures relatively shallow and small, but slightly larger than eye facet, generally separated by at least about their own diameters; frontovertex with about 12 or 13 pairs of setae in front of anterior ocellus, 2 lines descend between eye and scrobe virtually to gena; temple and gena with longitudinally elongate, imbricate-reticulate to polygonally reticulate sculpture; eye reaching occipital margin, with fairly conspicuous, pale setae, each slightly longer than diameter of facet; scrobes shallow, broadly Λ-shaped, meeting, weakly margined dorsally and laterally, dorsally with shallow, transversely elongate, polygonally reticulate sculpture; interantennal prominence weak, narrowly rounded dorsally, with shallow, polygonally reticulate sculpture; antenna as in Fig. 1579; scape slightly broadened and flattened, widest just above middle, about 4.9X as long as broad; funicle segments subequal in length, longer than broad, becoming slightly broader distad, linear sensilla present on all segments; clava slightly shorter than F4-F6 combined, sensory area slightly enlarged, but hardly extending along ventral surface so that apex is of rounded appearance; malar sulcus absent; clypeal margin hardly protuberant medially; mandible with one tooth and a broad truncation. Relative measurements: HW 112, HH 85, FV 43, POL 21, OOL 6, OCL 4.5, AOL 12, EL 61, EW 49, MS 30, SL 42, SW 8.5.

Thorax in dorsal view with pronotum short, largely hidden by head, dorsally with slightly irregular, moderately deep, imbricate-reticulate to polygonally reticulate sculpture that is about as deep as sculpture on frontovertex, but generally of slightly larger mesh; mesoscutum with regular, polygonally reticulate sculpture that is of similar depth and mesh size to that in ocellar area on frontovertex; axilla almost smooth, with much shallower polygonally reticulate sculpture than mesoscutum; scutellum generally with polygonally reticulate sculpture that is similar to that on mesoscutum but slightly irregular and more longitudinally elongate; visible part of mesoscutum about 1.4X as broad as long; scutellum nearly 1.1X as broad as long; fore wing with venation and distribution of setae as in Figs 1580, 1582, costal cell with only a single line of dorsal setae; propodeum medially about 0.15X as long as scutellum, with distinct, irregular, polygonally reticulate sculpture. Relative measurements: FWL 117.5, FWW 51; HWL 79, HWW 26.

Gaster with hypopygium (Fig. 1577) reaching about 0.8X along gaster; Gt3 without a distinct, strongly reticulate area anteromedially; syntergum about 0.7X as long as mid tibia, with apex forming an angle of about 90°; ovipositor (Fig. 1578) slightly exserted, the exserted part about 0.4X as long as mid tibial spur or a little less than 0.1X mid tibia. Relative measurements: OL 74, GL 15 [MT 45].

Variation. Only holotype examined.

Male. Unknown.

DISTRIBUTION. Costa Rica.

HOSTS. Unknown.

MATERIAL EXAMINED.

Type material. Holotype E: COSTA RICA, Heredia, Vara Blanca [Finca Georgina, 10°09’N, 84°09’W, 2100m], vi-viii.1990 (P. Hanson) . Holotype in NHMUK .

COMMENTS. Psyllaephagus xepo might be confused with gyces , both species having distinct piliferous punctures on the frontovertex. Females of xepo can be separated from gyces by having the head about 3X as wide as the mouth, the posterior ocelli clearly closer to the occipital margin than to the eye, virtually straight clypeal margin and scape about 5X as long as broad. In gyces the head is about 2.6X as wide as the mouth, the posterior ocellus is equidistant from the occipital margin and eye, the clypeal margin is slightly convex and protuberant and the scape is less than 4X as long as broad.

In some ways xepo is also similar to kallichoa but apart from having a protuberant clypeal margin kallichoa also has the mandible with two acute teeth (upper tooth short) and a broad truncation, at least a partial second line of setae on the surface of the costal cell of the fore wing, the hind tibia is mostly dark brown and the linea clava is mostly open. In xepo the mandible has only one acute tooth and a broad truncation, there is only one line of setae on the dorsal surface of the costal cell, the hind tibia is mostly pale orange and the linea calva is closed.

Psyllaephagus xepo is also similar to othrys but as with gyces it can be separated from othrys by the relative position of the posterior ocelli and width of the mouth and as with kallichoa , xepo can be distinguished from othrys by the distribution of setae on the dorsal surface of the costal cell. Furthermore, in xepo the linea calva of the fore wing is closed, whereas in othrys it is open.