Cheiloneurus magnolia, 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 : 213-215

Cheiloneurus magnolia sp.nov.

( Figs 498-505; Hab. E 79)

DIAGNOSIS. Female (length about 1.0mm): body generally dark brown with a weak to moderate metallic sheen; posterior part of mesoscutum with translucent or silvery setae that contrast with dark brown anterior setae; fore wing ( Fig. 499) infuscate across wing below marginal vein, apex weakly infuscate with a pair of opposite hyaline areas distad of venation, postmarginal and stigmal veins not connected by a naked, hyaline stripe; all coxae white; head ( Fig. 498) 5-6X as wide as frontovertex; antenna ( Fig. 502) with pedicel slightly shorter than F1-F3 combined; F1-F4 quadrate or transverse, F5-F6 longer than broad; linear sensilla on F5-F6; clava about as long as F2-F6 combined, with a very short, weak, oblique apical truncation; mandible with an acute lower tooth and a broad upper truncation; mesoscutum( Fig. 501) anteriorly with obliquely elongate, imbricate reticulate sculpture, polygonally reticulate near posterior margin; scutellum with longitudinally elongate, lineolate sculpture and with a weak tuft of setae medially; fore wing ( Fig. 499) about 2.7X as long as broad; parastigma hardly downcurved; apex of stigmal vein with four campaniform sensilla; gaster ( Fig. 504) with “glands” on Gt1 and Gt5, those on Gt1 continuous, not separate, those on Gt5 separated by about 0.2X their own lengths; syntergum slightly broader than long. Male: unknown.

Female (holotype): length, including ovipositor, 1.02mm; excluding ovipositor, 0.95mm (CPD).

Head dark brown with a metallic sheen; occiput with a slight coppery purple sheen; frontovertex with a slight coppery purple sheen and a few metallic dark blue reflections; temple and gena with a strong metallic dark green sheen adjacent to eye margin, otherwise with a moderate coppery purple sheen; scrobal area with a moderate coppery purple sheen; setae on head dark brown; antenna ( Fig. 502) with radicle dark brown; scape yellow, extreme base slightly dusky; pedicel yellow, slightly dusky dorsally towards base; funicle yellow; clava with basal segment yellow, apical segments pale brown; palpi white; thorax dark brown with a metallic sheen; pronotum with slight coppery purple sheen; anterior two-fifths of mesoscutum with a moderate coppery purple sheen, posterior three-fifths with a moderate metallic dark blue sheen, medially very narrowly violet, posterior margin coppery purple, metallic blue area clothed in relatively sparse, very conspicuous, silvery setae, remainder clothed in dark brown setae, tegula dark brown with a slight coppery sheen; axilla with a moderate coppery purple sheen; scutellum mostly matt with hardly a coppery purple sheen, extreme side and apex with a strong metallic dark green and coppery sheen, setae dark brown; metanotum with a slight coppery purple sheen; mesopleuron with a moderate coppery sheen; coxae white; femora mostly white, but extreme apex of hind femur narrowly brown; fore tibia and tarsus very pale orange; mid tibia white becoming very pale orange distally, spur and tarsus very pale orange; hind tibia white becoming very pale orange distally, extreme base very narrowly brown, tarsus very pale orange; fore wing ( Fig. 499) weakly infuscate at extreme base and hyaline from base to level with proximal part of marginal vein and also in apical one-fifth, strongly infuscate immediately below marginal vein and generally infuscate distad of proximal part of marginal vein with a subrectangular hyaline area at apex of venation and another opposite adjacent to hind margin, submarginal vein mostly pale orange otherwise venation brown; propodeum dark brown with a slight coppery purple and brassy sheen, side metallic dark green and coppery red, 2 pale brown or silvery setae outside spiracle; gaster mainly dark brown, dorsally with a slight coppery sheen with some coppery red and dark metallic green reflections, Gt1 dorsally mostly with a strong metallic dark blue-green sheen, side and venter of gaster with fairly strong metallic green, blue-green, coppery and coppery red reflections; gonostylus brown with apex orange.

Head ( Fig. 498) in facial view about 6.3X as wide as frontovertex with gena convex and converging, in profile subtriangular and about 1.4X as high as deep, frontovertex fairly evenly curved from occipital margin to top of scrobes, strongly angled at top of scrobes and fairly straight to mouth margin, with interantennal prominence slightly protuberant; ocelli forming an angle of about 30°; inner eye margins converging anteriorly, narrowest part of frontovertex about midway between anterior ocellus and scrobes; frontovertex with a few scattered setae in ocellar area and a line of setae along eye margin, otherwise naked; a few scattered setae on lower gena and interantennal prominence; occipital margin sharp, not carinate; a very short, shallow groove present on eye margin between posterior ocellus and occipital margin; frontovertex with moderately deep, polygonally reticulate sculpture of mesh size much smaller than eye facet, area between eye and scrobe smooth and shiny ventrally; temple and upper gena completely smooth adjacent to eye, posterior areas with very shallow, longitudinally elongate, strigose to striate-reticulate sculpture; anterior part of lower gena with moderately deep, elongate, polygonally reticulate sculpture; scrobes with shallow, slightly elongate, polygonally reticulate sculpture, bottoms smooth; interantennal prominence with shallow, polygonally reticulate sculpture; narrowest part between eye and scrobal margin slightly less than diameter of anterior ocellus, scrobes moderately deep, meeting dorsally, well-defined but not sharply margined, broadly ∩-shaped, interantennal prominence dorsally rounded, without a median ridge; antenna as in Fig. 502; scape hardly broadened, broadest slightly below middle, about 5.0X as long as broad; funicle with F1 very slightly longer than broad, F2-F4 subequal and slightly transverse, F5-F6 slightly longer than broad, F6 longest; clava hardly broader than F6, slightly longer than F3-F6 combined, outer suture very slightly oblique, sensory area hardly enlarged, giving apex a very slight obliquely truncate appearance; eye reaching occipital margin, with extremely short, sparse, inconspicuous setae, each much shorter than diameter of facet; malar sulcus absent; clypeal margin medially emarginate. Relative measurements: HW 69, HH 65, FV 11, POL 5, OOL 0, OCL 11.5, AOL 10.5, EL 48.5, EW 44, MS 29, SL 35, SW 7.

Thorax ( Fig. 501) with pronotum exposed behind head and about half as long as mesoscutum; pronotum with shallow, fine, imbricate-reticulate to polygonally reticulate sculpture that is about as deep as sculpture on frontovertex; mesoscutum mainly with fine polygonally reticulate sculpture that is a about as deep as that on pronotum, sculpture anteriorly slightly longitudinally elongate; axilla with polygonally reticulate sculpture that is of similar depth to that on mesoscutum; scutellum mostly with fine, slightly elongate polygonally reticulate sculpture that is clearly deeper than that on mesoscutum and more or less arranged in whorls, apex and extreme side mirror shiny and smooth; visible part of mesoscutum about 1.9X as broad as long; scutellum nearly 1.1X as broad as long, without a subapical tuft; hind femur about 4.2X as long as broad; fore wing with venation and setation as in Figs 499, 500; apex of stigmal vein with 4 campaniform sensilla; costal cell with 2 setae dorsally; apices of postmarginal and stigmal veins not connected by a naked, hyaline streak; mid tibia without a carina; propodeum ( Fig. 501) medially about 0.13X as long as scutellum and smooth. Relative measurements: FWL 72, FWW 26.5; HWL 57, HWW 12.

Gaster with hypopygium reaching about 0.4X to apex; last tergite about 0.7X as long as mid tibia, with apex broadly angular; ovipositor exserted, the exserted part about 0.6X as long as mid tibial spur or 0.17X as long as mid tibia.

Paratype. Antenna with linear sensilla present only on F5-6; mandible with 1 tooth and a broad truncation; gaster ( Fig. 504) with “glands” on Gt1 and Gt5, those on Gt1 continuous, not separate, those on Gt5 separated by about 0.2X their own lengths; hypopygium Fig. 505; ovipositor Fig. 503. Relative measurements: OL 62, GL 17 [MT 49].

Variation. Females vary in overall length from 0.92-1.02mm, the head varies from 5.7-6.3X as wide as the frontovertex and there may be 1 or 2 setae dorsally at apex of costal cell.

Male. Unknown.

DISTRIBUTION. Costa Rica.

HOSTS. Unknown.

MATERIAL EXAMINED.

Type material. Holotype E: COSTA RICA, Puntarenas, 13km NE Dominical, RB Rio Magnolia , 9°20’N 83°47’W, 800m, 22-24.ii.2015 (J.S. Noyes) . Paratypes: COSTA RICA, 1E, Limón, PN Cahuita, 9°43’N 82°49’W, 10m, 24.ii.2010 (J.S. Noyes) . Holotype and paratype in NHMUK .

COMMENTS. The combination of infuscate fore wing and presence of “glands” on TI and TV of the gaster is unique in Cheiloneurus . It is also the only species of the genus that has a strongly infuscate fore wing but no obvious naked, hyaline streak connecting the apices of the postmarginal and stigmal veins.