Cheiloneurus solon, 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 : 324-326

Cheiloneurus solon sp.nov.

( Figs 805-811; Hab. E 118)

DIAGNOSIS. Female (length about 1.6-2.4mm): body generally dark brown, head, pronotum, axilla and scutellum at least partially orange, darker areas with a weak to moderate metallic sheen; antenna ( Fig. 805) with scape mostly white or very pale orange with dorsal and ventral margins largely brown; pedicel dark brown with some dusky orange; mesoscutum with silvery setae in posterior half or so; fore and hind coxae white, mid coxa dark brown; legs mostly pale orange to dark brown; fore wing ( Fig. 810) mostly infuscate with a V-shaped hyaline area in basal cell and a very small hyaline area at apex of venation; head ( Fig. 807) about 3.3-4.4X as wide as frontovertex, in facial view very slightly broader than long, subcircular to subrectangular, genae evenly and weakly curved, converging, more curved inwards near mouth; frontovertex naked medially between anterior ocellus and scrobes; eye separated from scrobe by about diameter of anterior ocellus, area between eye and scrobe smooth and shiny; scrobes deep, sharply margined, carinate below eye, interantennal prominence with about 16 inconspicuous setae, dorsally broadly rounded, without a median ridge; mandible tridentate; scape about 4.0X as long as broad; F1-F4 longer than broad, F5-F6 quadrate or transverse; linear sensilla on F3-F6, sometimes absent from F3; clava 3-segmented, slightly longer than F4-F6 combined; sensory area enlarged, extending ventrally about 0.4X length of clava, apex obliquely truncate; head width about equal to flagellum length; mesoscutum ( Fig. 811) almost entirely with longitudinally elongate sculpture, but medially near posterior margin sculpture of more rounded cells; scutellum with a distinct, apical tuft of setae; wings fully developed, fore wing ( Fig. 810) about 3.1-3.2X as long as broad; parastigma downcurved; costal cell dorsally naked or with a single seta, ventrally with an almost complete line of setae which is interrupted above parastigma; area below proximal part of parastigma with a group of about 35-45 setae; apices of postmarginal and stigmal veins connected by a naked hyaline area that does not continue into disc ( Fig. 809); apical bristle of postmarginal vein a little more than 0.5X as long as marginal vein; mid tibial spur very slightly longer than basitarsus; propodeum ( Fig. 811) with about five inconspicuous setae adjacent to spiracle, side naked; syntergum about 1.2X as long as mid tibia with apex acute; ovipositor ( Fig. 808) about 4.1X gonostylus or about 2.0X as long as mid tibia; gonostylus about 1.5X as long mid tibial spur; exserted part of ovipositor about 0.8X as long as mid tibial spur. Male: unknown.

Female (holotype): length, including ovipositor, 1.73mm; excluding ovipositor, 1.61mm ( CPD) .

Head with occiput pale orange, frontovertex brown, scrobal area pale orange, mouth margin medially dark brown, temple and upper gena brown, lower gena pale orange; carinate part of occipital margin dark metallic blue, narrowly purple in front of this; area between occipital margin and posterior ocelli with a weak brassy sheen; posterior ocelli ringed dark metallic blue, ocellar area with a purple sheen, anterior ocellus ringed with a weak metallic green sheen; frontovertex in front of ocelli with a weak brassy, purple and green sheen, inner eye margins with a weak purple and metallic green sheen; area immediately bordering top of scrobes with weak metallic blue reflections; area between eye and scrobe with a brassy, pale green and purple sheen, this delimited laterally by a metallic purple and blue-green line; temple and upper gena with a metallic green sheen, posteriorly brassy and coppery, lower gena similar but duller; scrobes with a weak brassy sheen; interantennal prominence with a weak purple and brassy sheen, mouth margin with blue and purple reflections; frontovertex clothed with inconspicuous, translucent pale brown setae, these continued as a line below eye and scattered on gena and interantennal prominence; antenna ( Fig. 805) with radicle mostly pale orange, apex narrowly dark brown; scape mostly very pale orange, white towards apex, ventral margin dark brown from base to about 0.75X along its length, dorsal margin orange, dark brown towards apex; pedicel dusky orange, dark brown dorsally; F1- F5 brown, F6 and clava dark brown; maxillary palpus white, terminal segment brown; pronotum mostly orange, neck brown; propleuron orange-brown, dark brown anteriorly to coxa; prosternum dark brown; mesoscutum virtually matt blue-black in anterior two-thirds with a relatively weak metallic blue sheen, posterior one-third similar but with a much stronger blue sheen, anterior one third with pale, golden brown setae, posterior two-thirds with similarly dense silvery setae, these a little more dense laterally; tegula dark orange-brown with a weak purple and brassy sheen; axilla orange, slightly dusky along margins, with a few weak purple and brassy reflections and with a few black setae; scutellum orange with weak purple and brassy reflections, anteriorly with translucent white setae, subapical tuft black; metanotum dark brown; mesopleuron dark brown, anteriorly with a weak green, blue, brassy, purple and coppery sheen, posteriorly with a coppery, purple, blue and brassy sheen; fore coxa white; fore femur white proximally, apical two-thirds orange to dark brown, tibia dark brown, apices dusky pale orange, tarsus dusky pale orange; mid coxa dark brown; mid femur white in proximal half and dusky orange apically, tibia dark brown at extreme base, an incomplete subbasal white ring, otherwise with apex pale orange, spur and tarsus pale orange; hind coxa white; hind femur and tibia dark brown, tibia with a white basal band, tarsus slightly dusky pale orange; fore wing ( Fig. 810) mostly infuscate, largely hyaline towards base, submarginal vein pale orange otherwise venation pale brown; propodeum dark brown, medially with a purple and green sheen, metallic blue-green around spiracle, side dark metallic blue, brassy and coppery, a single translucent white seta anterolateral to spiracle and a line of about 4 setae outside spiracle; gaster dark purple-brown, mostly with brassy, purple and green reflections, Gt1-Gt2 slightly coppery and darker, Gt3-Gt6 laterally with distinct coppery and green reflections; gonostylus virtually white.

Head ( Fig. 807) in facial view about 3.6X as wide as frontovertex with gena rounded and converging, in profile about 1.5X as high as deep, frontovertex slightly angled level with posterior ocelli, then weakly and evenly curved to top of scrobes, slightly angled towards mouth margin and virtually straight from top of scrobes to mouth margin, interantennal prominence slightly protuberant; occipital margin sharp, carinate; ocelli forming an angle of about 75°; frontovertex virtually smooth behind posterior ocelli but with very shallow, irregular, reticulate sculpture, with a very slender, shallow groove adjacent to eye margin that connects with occipital carina; frontovertex otherwise relatively shiny, with shallow mostly transversely elongate, imbricate-reticulate to polygonally reticulate sculpture, cells generally much smaller than eye facet, sculpture slightly deeper above scrobes; area between eye and scrobe completely smooth and shiny; temple and upper gena very shiny with shallow, longitudinally elongate imbricate-reticulate to strigose sculpture, lower gena with slightly coarser sculpture; scrobes smooth; upper part of interantennal prominence smooth, otherwise mostly with very shallow, fairly regular, polygonally reticulate sculpture; narrowest part between eye and scrobal margin about as wide as diameter of anterior ocellus, smooth and shiny; scrobes deep, meeting dorsally, sharply margined, carinate below eye, very broadly ∩-shaped, interantennal prominence dorsally broadly rounded, without a median ridge; antenna as in Fig. 805; scape broadened and flattened, broadest slightly above middle, about 4.0X as long as broad; flagellum with F1-F4 longer than broad, F5 quadrate, F6 transverse, segments clearly wider distally; clava slightly broader than F6, a little longer than F4-F6 combined, sensory area slightly enlarged, extending about 0.4X along ventral surface, giving it a slightly obliquely truncate appearance; eye not quite reaching occipital margin, separated by a little less than diameter of facet, with inconspicuous setae, each clearly shorter than diameter of facet; inner eye margins subparallel; malar sulcus absent; clypeal margin medially very weakly convex; mandible with 2 acute teeth and a slightly rounded upper tooth; apical segment of maxillary palpus not enlarged, hardly longer than radicle. Relative measurements: HW 90, HH 86, FV 25, POL 14, OOL 0, OCL 14, AOL 13, EL 65.5, EW 50, MS 30, SL 40, SW 10.

Thorax ( Fig. 811) with pronotum hardly exposed behind head and about 0.6X as long as mesoscutum; pronotum with shallow, imbricate-reticulate to polygonally reticulate sculpture that is about as deep as that in ocellar area; mesoscutum with fairly regular, fine, longitudinally elongate, vermiculate-reticulate sculpture that is conspicuously deeper than that on pronotum, near posterior margin medially of more polygonally reticulate cells; axilla and scutellum with polygonally reticulate sculpture that is slightly deeper and coarser than that on mesoscutum, longitudinally elongate laterally on scutellum; visible part of mesoscutum about 1.8X as broad as long; scutellum about as broad as long, with a distinct subapical tuft, setae mostly about 0.7X as long as scutellum; hind femur about 4.4X as long as broad; fore wing with venation and setation as in Figs 809, 810; costal cell with at most a single seta dorsally at apex; apices of postmarginal and stigmal veins connected by a distinct, naked, hyaline streak ( Fig. 809); mid tibia without an external carina proximally; propodeum ( Fig. 811) medially about 0.19X as long as scutellum and smooth. Relative measurements: FWL 84, FWW 27; HWL 77, HWW 18.

Gaster with hypopygium reaching about 0.4X to apex; syntergum about 1.2X as long as mid tibia, with apex acute; ovipositor exserted, the exserted part about 0.75X as long as mid tibial spur or 0.25X as long as mid tibia.

Paratype. Funicle with linear sensilla present only on F4-F6; gaster without “gland-like” structures on Gt1 or Gt5; hypopygium Fig. 806; ovipositor Fig. 808. Relative measurements: OL 73, GL 18 [MT 36].

Variation. Females vary in overall length from 1.55-2.35mm, the head may be completely pale orange, but a with metallic sheen as described for holotype, F1-F4 may be partially dusky yellow or off white, F5-F6 may be slightly paler brown than proximal segments, the occipital carina may be hardly metallic, the mesoscutum may be completely matt with only a few, very inconspicuous, metallic, pale blue reflections posteriorly, the femora and tibiae may be mostly orange, the mid femur may be almost completely dark brown, the base of the gaster may be pale orange ventrally, the head is about 3.3-4.4X frontovertex width with smaller specimens having a relatively wider frontovertex, F5 may be a little longer than broad in larger specimens, F3 may have linear sensilla, the fore wing may be 3.1-3.2X as long as broad and the costal cell may be completely naked. Specimens from higher altitude and from Puntarenas tend to be relatively dark.

Male. Unknown.

DISTRIBUTION. Costa Rica.

HOSTS. Unknown.

MATERIAL EXAMINED.

Type material. Holotype E: COSTA RICA, Guanacaste, Sta Rosa NP, Hacienda 1-0, 29.xi-20.xii.1986 (Janzen, Gauld). Paratypes: COSTA RICA, 1E, Guanacaste, same data as holotype; 1E, Guanacaste, NW Volcan Orosí, Cerro El Hacha, 1988; 1E, Guanacaste, Nandayure, Finca Agua Fria, LN 222550 399500, canopy fog, i.2002 (W. Porras); 1E, Heredia, 11km SE La Virgen, 10°11’N 84°07’W, 450-550m, 05/M/ TN, 23.ii-20.iv.2003 (INBio-OET-ALAS); 1E, Puntarenas, Pen. Osa , Puerto Jimenez, 8°32’N 83°19’W, viii.1991 (P. Hanson); 2E, Puntarenas, Pen. Osa , Puerto Jimenez, 10m, ix.1991 and ii.1992 (P. Hanson). Holotype in MZUCR, paratypes in NHMUK and MZUCR.

COMMENTS. Cheiloneurus solon can be distinguished from most similar species by the having the fore wing more than 3X as long as broad, with the apex rounded and uniformly infuscate distad of the apex of the venation. In other similar species ( nigrescens , amadeus , medusa , seius , grimus , oshtan , etc.) the fore wing is less than 3X as long as broad and usually has a pattern of paler and darker areas distally and the apex frequently truncate.