Caenohomalopoda albifuniculata Hayat

Fatima, Farha & Zeya, Shahid Bin, 2022, Revision of Indian species of Caenohomalopoda Tachikawa (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae), Zootaxa 5133 (2), pp. 247-269 : 250-251

1. Caenohomalopoda albifuniculata Hayat

( Figs 1, 2 )

Caenohomalopoda albifuniculata Hayat , in Hayat & Veenakumari, 2014: 2–3, female. Holotype, female, India, Karnataka, Nandi Hills (NBAIR), only fore wing and antenna on slide examined; remainder of body on card not examined.

Redescription

Female. Length, 2.0 mm. Body dark brown to black; head with bluish shine, face above with a violet cross-band; inter-torular area up to mouth margin purple; malar space bluish in upper half, violet in lower half. Antenna with scape and pedicel dark brown; F1–4 yellow, F1 with slightly pale brown infuscation basally (in cleared and slidemounted antenna, F1–4 appear white); clava with first and third segments pale brown, second segment brownish yellow. Mesosoma with pronotum with bluish shine; mesoscutum purple, anteriorly and laterally with some greenish shine, but in some lights appears largely greenish blue; axillae dull bronzy with bluish green shine; scutellum mainly purple, with sides and apex bluish; tegula dark brown; metanotum and propodeum black; prepectus purple, posteriorly white; mesopleuron dark brown. Fore wing with hyaline and infuscated areas as in Fig. 2 . Hind wing hyaline. Fore leg: coxa dark brown in basal half, white in apical half; trochanter white; femur yellow with a pale brown streak along ventral margin; tibia yellow with a narrow brown streak along ventral margin, tarsus brownish yellow. Mid leg: coxa dark brown; trochanter brownish yellow; femur brownish yellow with a dark brown streak along ventral margin (one-third the width of femur); tibia white with a brown streak in basal half of ventral margin; spur and tarsal segments 1–4 white, 5th segment pale brown. Hind leg: coxa nearly black; trochanter pale brown, femur black except base narrowly pale brown; tibia black except white apical fifth; tarsal segments 1–4 white, 5th brown. Gaster with T1 bluish, other tergites dark brown with at most dark violet shine; exserted part of ovipositor sheath dark brown.

Head. Frontovertex width 0.3× head width; posterior ocellus very close to eye margin; POL slightly less than OCL (7.5:8); frontovertex with raised reticulate sculpture, setae small and silvery white, those on upper part of occiput brown [The pair of long, scale-like setae at vertexo-occipital margin lost]. Antenna ( Fig. 1 ) with scape 4.15× as long as broad; pedicel longer than F1; F1–3 each slightly longer than broad, F4 quadrate; clava shorter than funicle.

Mesosoma with pronotum triangular, nearly as long as mesoscutum, and 2× as broad as long; mesoscutum 2× as broad as long; scutellum 1.35× as broad as long; pronotum with slightly raised, irregular reticulations; mesoscutum with shallow reticulations; scutellum with raised reticulations, the cells very small, with sides and apex smooth [Scutellum with the sub-apical pair of long, scale-like setae lost.]; setae sparse, silvery white. Fore wing 2.75× as long as broad; width of ray II broader than width of hyaline window between ray II and ray III; rays III and IV not distinctly separated by a hyaline window, but appear as a single large apical infuscation; ray V as broad as ray II ( Fig. 2 ).

Metasoma 1.76× as long as mesosoma and 1.3× as long as head and mesosoma combined; TVII elongate, pointed apically; exserted part of ovipositor about one-seventh gaster length (13:90).

Male. Unknown.

Type material examined (NBAIR). Holotype parts (one antenna and one fore wing, on slide No. EH.1575). (NBAIR, registration No. ICAR/NBAII/EN25).

Host. Unknown.

Distribution. India: Karnataka.

Comments. The above redescription is largely based on the original description and figures given by Hayat & Veenakumari (2014), and study of the slide-mounted antenna and fore wing of the holotype. The only character in which this species is similar to C. shikokuensis ( Tachikawa, 1956) and C. sudhiri is in having the fore wing clearly less than 3× as long as broad and apically broadly rounded. Otherwise, C. albifuniculata differs from both species by the characters given in the key.

Figures

FIGURES 1, 2. Caenohomalopoda albifuniculata Hayat, holotype, female. 1, antenna; 2, fore wing.