Gahaniella chaldenes, 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 : 549-551

Gahaniella chaldenes sp.nov.

(Figs 1389-1395; Hab. E 202)

DIAGNOSIS. Female (length about 1.0- 1.3mm): Fore leg, including coxa, white to very pale yellow; mid femur and tibia very pale yellow, tibia with a faint, pale, brown, subbasal band; head (Fig. 1392) about 2.2X as wide as frontovertex; ocelli forming an angle of about 100°; scape (Fig. 1390) about 3X as long as broad; linear sensilla on flagellum slender, generally separated by 2-3X their own widths; reticulate sculpture on mesoscutum (Fig. 1389) very coarse, scutellum with coarse polygonally reticulate to striate-reticulate sculpture; fore wing (Fig. 1391) with scattered setae dorsally in apical half of costal cell in addition to line of submarginal setae; linea calva interrupted and closed posteriorly; syntergum shorter than mid tibia; ovipositor (Fig. 1393) less than 1.5X as long as mid tibia. Male: unknown.

Female (holotype): length, including ovipositor, 1.20mm; excluding ovipositor, 1.16mm (CPD).

Head dark brown to black; frontovertex predominantly with a dull, dark green sheen mixed coppery purple; anterior part of frontovertex, scrobal area and gena mainly with a coppery purple sheen; temple with a more distinctly coppery and dark blue sheen; frontovertex with moderately conspicuous, scattered, translucent brown setae; numerous setae forming a line along inner eye margin continuing below eye on to gena; gena and interantennal prominence with scattered, moderately conspicuous, translucent, brown setae; maxillary palpus white; radicle orange-brown; scape brown with extreme base and apex very pale yellow, apex more widely so; pedicel brown with apex pale, dusky yellow; flagellum pale brown, ventrally mixed testaceous-yellow; thorax dark brown to black; pronotum mainly with a dull brassy, and coppery purple sheen; mesoscutum with a dull, dark blue and coppery purple sheen, posterior margin dull coppery purple; scutellum similar to mesoscutum but side and apex dark green and more strongly metallic; mesopleuron with a moderate coppery purple and dull blue sheen; fore coxa white; fore femur white, tibia very pale, slightly dusky, yellow, tarsus dusky pale yellow; mid coxa brown; mid leg otherwise mostly very pale yellow, but tibia with an extremely faint, pale, brown, subbasal band; hind coxa dark brown; femur dark brown; tibia narrowly dusky pale orange at base, with a broad subbasal, brown band to 0.6X, apex white, tarsus white, slightly dusky towards apex; wings hyaline, venation very pale testaceous-yellow; propodeum dark purple-brown with a weak brassy sheen, side dull metallic blue and purple, a group of about 7 or 8 moderately conspicuous, silvery setae outside spiracle not extending down side towards coxa; gaster dark purple-brown, dorsally with a coppery purple sheen, side and venter with a weak brassy, purple and blue sheen; gonostylus dark brown, apex pale orange.

Head (Fig. 1392) about 2.2X as wide as frontovertex, in profile about 1.6X as high as deep, frontovertex evenly, slightly convex from occipital margin to top of scrobes, abruptly bent at about 80° at top of scrobes and then virtually straight to mouth margin with interantennal prominence not protuberant; occipital margin sharp, weakly carinate; a very slender, short oval depression alongside eye margin level with hind margin of posterior ocellus; ocelli forming an angle of about 100°; frontovertex slightly shiny, with deep, punctate-reticulate sculpture of mesh size a little smaller than eye facet; temple and posterior gena with shallow, longitudinally elongate imbricate-reticulate sculpture, anterior gena with more polygonally reticulate sculpture; area between eye and scrobe with longitudinally elongate imbricate-reticulate sculpture; scrobe and interantennal prominence with shallow, polygonally reticulate sculpture; scrobes very shallow, indistinctly margined, narrowly ∩-shaped; interantennal prominence dorsally rounded; antenna as in Fig. 1390; scape about 2.9X as long as broad, widest subapically; linear sensilla on flagellum relatively slender, generally separated by 2-3X their own widths; clava not enlarged, as wide as F6 a little longer than F5-F6 combined, sutures parallel, sensory area small, at apex only, giving it a pointed or slightly rounded appearance; eye slightly overreaching occipital margin, naked; clypeal margin narrowly convex medially. Relative measurements: HW 75, HH 63, FVL 31, FV 34, POL 18, OOL 3.5, OCL 2, AOL 12, EL 40.5, EW 36, MS 24, SL 22, SW 8.

Thorax (Fig. 1389) with pronotum hardly exposed behind head, in dorsal view about 0.25X as long as mesoscutum; pronotum with imbricate-reticulate to polygonally reticulate sculpture that is clearly shallower and generally of larger mesh size than sculpture on frontovertex; mesoscutum with fine, slightly longitudinally elongate, polygonally reticulate sculpture that is a little deeper than that on pronotum, slightly more elongate anterior laterally; axilla with similar sculpture to pronotum but slightly transversely elongate; scutellum with very similar sculpture to mesoscutum, but slightly more longitudinally elongate laterally; visible part of mesoscutum about 1.7X as broad as long; scutellum about as broad as long; hind femur about 3.6X as long as broad; fore wing with venation and setation as in Figs 1391, 1395; costal cell with scattered setae dorsally in apical half in addition to line of submarginal setae; linea calva interrupted and more or less closed posteriorly; propodeum (Fig. 1389) medially about 0.05X as long as scutellum and virtually smooth. Relative measurements: FWL 61, FWW 27; HWL 44, HWW 13.

Gaster with hypopygium reaching about 0.4X to apex; last tergite about 0.9X as long as mid tibia, with apex rounded; ovipositor slightly exserted, the exserted part about 0.3X length of mid tibial spur or about 0.1X mid tibia.

Paratype. Mandible with a short, lower tooth and a broad, slightly concave truncation. Funicle with linear sensilla present on all segments; hypopygium Fig. 1394; ovipositor Fig, 1393. Relative measurements: OL 76, GL 18 [MT 61].

Variation. Females vary in length from 1.00- 1.29mm, otherwise very little variation noted in material examined.

Male. Unknown.

DISTRIBUTION. Costa Rica.

HOSTS. Unknown.

MATERIAL EXAMINED.

Type material. Holotype E: COSTA RICA, 1E, Guanacaste, Sta. Rosa NP, Sn. Emilio 7-0, 22.vi-13. vii.1985 (Janzen, Gauld) . Paratypes: COSTA RICA, 6E, Guanacaste, Santa Rosa NP , various localities and dates, 11.v.1985 - 8.xi.1986 (D. Janzen, I.D. Gauld); 1E , Puntarenas, 13 km NE Dominical, RB Rio Magnolia , 9°20’N 83°47’W, 800m, 22-24.ii.2015 (J.S. Noyes) . Holotype in MZUCR, paratypes in NHMUK and MZUCR .

COMMENTS. In the key to species provided by Trjapitzin (2010) chaldenes runs easiest to tertia Kerrich, 1953, described from Trinidad & Tobago. Both species have completely white to very pale yellow fore and mid legs, except for a brown mid coxa and the scape is broadest subapically. It differs from tertia in having scattered setae dorsally in the apical half of costal cell of the fore wing in addition to a line of submarginal setae, the linea calva interrupted and closed posteriorly, scutellum with coarse, distinctly cellular, elongate sculpture, syntergum shorter than mid tibia and ovipositor much less than 1.5X as long as the mid tibia. In tertia there is only a single line of submarginal setae dorsally in the fore wing costal cell, the linea calva is interrupted but open posteriorly, the sculpture on the mesoscutum is finely striate, the syntergum is slightly longer than the mid tibia and the ovipositor is about 1.7X as long as the mid tibia. Comparison with akhatovi Trjapitzin, 2010 and brasiliensis ( Gomes, 1941) is more difficult because I have not seen the type material of either species and their original descriptions are superficial and probably erroneous. However, I am confident that chaldenes is distinct from akhatovi because the flagellar segments of chaldenes are much broader with F4-F6 clearly transverse and the flagellum is pale testaceous yellow to pale brown whereas in akhatovi the flagellar segments are comparatively more slender with all funicle segments longer than broad and black-brown in clouration. Other character states defining brasiliensis in Trjapiztin’s key suggest that it is closer to chaldenes , i.e. the clava is a little shorter than F4-F6 combined and the distance of the torulus from the mouth is only about 1.6X its distance from the eye margin. However, chaldenes differs from brasiliensis in being less than 1.5mm in length, having F4-F6 clearly transverse and the hind tibia dark brown with pale apices. In brasiliensis the body length is about 1.75mm, all funicle segments are longer than broad and the hind tibia is pale with only the extreme base darkened.