Homosemion bennetti Annecke, 1967

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 : 498-499

Homosemion bennetti Annecke

(Figs 1240-1248; Hab. E 181)

Homosemion bennetti Annecke, 1967:157-159 . Holotype E, Trinidad (WI), USNM, not examined.

DIAGNOSIS. Female (length about 1.0- 1.9mm): head generally orange with a weak metallic sheen; antenna (Figs 1240, 1244) with scape orange, ventral margin greyish brown, pedicel orange, funicle orange, sometimes brown dorsally or entirely dark brown, clava dark brown or basal segment of clava orange; thorax generally orange with a weak metallic sheen; legs mainly pale orange with small brown areas; fore wing (Figs 1245, 1247) mostly infuscate but hyaline towards base and at apex, venation pale orange, proximal part of parastigma and marginal vein brownish; hind wing hyaline; propodeum pale orange; gaster sometimes completely dark brown and distinctly metallic, but usually largely orange with a weak brassy sheen with weak purple and green reflections, Gt1-Gt3 dorsally dark brown with a mixed purple, coppery and brassy sheen. apex of syntergum and outer plate brown; gonostylus very pale orange, apex usually dark brown; head with interantennal prominence clearly separated from transfacial carina although sometimes virtually connected by a slender, carinate ridge; head (Fig. 1246) about 5.2-7.7X as wide as frontovertex; frontovertex about 3.8-5.4X as long as broad; ocelli forming an angle of about 40- 50°; antenna as in Figs 1240, 1244; scape about 1.5X as long as broad; funicle segments gradually increasing in width, but F4-F6 subequal; linear sensilla on F5-F6, occasionally on F4; clava dorsally varying from slightly shorter than pedicel and funicle combined to sometimes slightly longer; thorax Fig. 1248; fore wing about 2.3X as long as broad, with venation and setation as in Figs 1241, 1245, 1247; costal cell with 1 to 4 setae dorsally at apex; mid tibial spur about as long as basitarsus; gaster with hypopygium (Fig. 1242) reaching about 0.33X towards apex; syntergum about 0.8-0.9X as long as mid tibia, with apex truncate or broadly rounded; ovipositor (Fig. 1243) clearly exserted, the exserted part varying from about 0.7X as long as mid tibial spur to a little longer, or about 0.25X length mid tibia; ovipositor varying from 1.4-1.8X as long as mid tibia or 2.8-3.3X as long as gonostylus; gonostylus about 1.3-1.8X as long as mid tibial spur. Male: unknown.

DISTRIBUTION. Trinidad (WI), Costa Rica (new record).

HOSTS. Reared in Trinidad from Crypticerya montserratensis (Riley & Howard) ( Hemiptera : Monophlebidae ) on Tamarix Linnaeus ( Caryophyllales : Tamaricaceae ) ( Annecke, 1967, see also below).

BIOCONTROL. Homosemion bennetti was introduced into Barbados in 1961 for the control of Icerya purchasi Maskell ( Hemiptera : Monophlebidae ) (as Anicetus sp. ) but the results of introduction are unknown (see Cock, 1985; Trjapitzin et al. 2004).

MATERIAL EXAMINED.

Type material. Paratypes: TRINIDAD & TOBAGO, 2E, Trinidad , ex Icerya montserratensis , C.I. E. 18981, iv.1963 (C.I. B.C.). Material in BMNH .

Non type material. TRINIDAD & TOBAGO, 3E, Trinidad, Balandra, ex Icerya montserratensis , x.1955 (F.D. Bennett); 18E, Balandra, ex Icerya montserratensis on Tamarix , x.1979 (F.D. Bennett); 23E, Balandra, ex Icerya montserratensis , vii.1981 (F.D. Bennett); COSTA RICA, 9E, Guanacaste, Santa Rosa NP , various localities and dates, 1.vi.1985 - 6.vi.1987 (D. Janzen, I.D. Gauld); 1E, Guanacaste, Est. Pitilla ( ACG) 700m, 10°59’N 85°25’W, 4-7.i.2001 (C. Moraga, P.N. Thomas); 1E, Puntarenas, San Vito, Las Cruces, Wilson Bot. Gdns , 1500m, 18-22.iii.1990 (J.S. Noyes); 1E, Puntarenas, Pen. Osa , Puerto Jimenez , 8°32’N 83°19’W , 10m, xi,1991 (P. Hanson); 1E, Puntarenas, Est.Agujas, C. Quebraditos , LS 521400 274300, 782m, #61700, 20.ii-15.iii.2001 (J. Azofeifa); 1E, Limón, RB Hitoy Cerere, Valle de la Estrella, Send. Toma de Agua , LN 184300 643500, 140m, #54234, 8.v.1999 (F. Umaña); 1E, Limón, RB Hitoy-Cerere, Est. Hitoy-Cerere, Send. Toma de Agua , LN 184600 643400, 140m, #53497, 17.ix-10.x.1999 (F. Umaña). Material in MZUCR and BMNH .

COMMENTS. The material included above may represent more than one species. The majority of specimens from Costa Rica (Guanacaste) agree well with topotypical material from Trinidad, but specimens from Puntarenas and Limón Provinces are generally darker and have a relatively slightly longer antennal clava, ovipositor and mid tibial spur. These differences are very minor and not entirely consistent and therefore I am treating all specimens as a single, variable species pending reassessment based on more material.