Calliscelio safavii Popovici & Talamas, 2024

Popovici, Ovidiu Alin, Fallahzadeh, Majid, Saghaei, Nazila, Copeland, Robert & Talamas, Elijah, 2024, A new species-group in Calliscelio Ashmead (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) takes shape, Zootaxa 5463 (2), pp. 201-214 : 202-204

Calliscelio safavii Popovici & Talamas sp. nov.

( figs 1–16 )

Description. Female ( figs 1–11 ). Length: 2.2 mm; body moderately elongate.

Head ( figs 3–5 ). Color of head: dark brown to black throughout. Color of mandible ( fig. 5 ): light brown with brown teeth. Color of interantennal prominence: lighter than rest of frons. Color of compound eyes and ocelli: silver. Shape of head: subglobose. Occipital carina: present, complete medially. Occipital carina sculpture: discrete, with very small crenulae. Hyperoccipital carina: absent. Sculpture of posterior vertex: granulate. Upper frons: convex, without frontal shelf. Setation of upper frons: with numerous silvery setae, the distance between two adjacent setae approximately one setal length. Scrobe shape: frons broadly convex, with a shallow scrobe. Submedian carina: absent. Orbital carina: absent. Compound eye size: occupying almost 2/3 height of head (height of compound eyes 0.6 times as long as height of head). Compound eye setation: sparsely setose. IOS/EH: IOS almost equal with EH (IOS hardly more than EH). Length of OOL: less than 0.5× ocellar diameter. Inner orbits: slightly diverging ventrally. Central keel of frons: present ventrally. Interantennal prominence: short, excavate along midline. Sculpture of frons below median ocellus: distinctly granulate. Lower frons sculpture: transversely strigose radiating from central keel, granulate between antennal scrobe and inner orbit. Clypeus shape: narrow, slightly convex medially. Number of mandibular teeth: 2. Mandible shape: sickle-like. Gena: broad, convex, distinctly produced behind eye. Sculpture of postgena behind outer orbit: smooth to granulate-coriaceous. Antenna ( figs 1, 2 , 8 ). Claval formula: 1-2-2-2-1. Number of antennomeres: 12. Insertion of radicle into A1: parallel to longitudinal axis of A1. Shape of A1: more or less cylindrical, not flattened. Color of antennal clava (A7–A12): dark brown to black. Color of A3–A6: same color as clava, except for small lighter area in proximity of junction between A2–A3. Color of A2: brown with lighter ends. Color of A1: proximal half light brown similar to radicle, distal half brown, but slightly lighter than A3–A12. Length of A4: distinctly shorter than A3. Length of A5: shorter than A4, slightly longer than wide. Shape of female A6: slightly wider than long.

Mesosoma ( figs 1, 2 , 6, 7 ). Color of mesosoma: orange throughout, except for darker median area of mesoscutellum and proximal area of internotaular space. Mesosoma shape in dorsal view: longer than wide. Mesosoma shape in lateral view: longer than high. Sculpture of dorsal pronotal area: granulate. Sculpture of lateral pronotal area: smooth anteriorly, coriaceous posteriorly. Notauli: present. Development of notauli: nearly percurrent. Parapsidal lines: absent. Admedial lines: present, but barely indicated. Netrion shape: moderately wide, open ventrally. Sculpture of netrion: transversely striated.Sculpture of mesoscutum:granulate-coriaceous throughout. Shape of mesoscutellum: semiellipsoidal. Foveolae of scutoscutellar sulcus between notauli: absent. Sculpture of mesoscutellum: granulate-coriaceous throughout. Shape of metascutellum: rectangular with almost straight posterior margin, 5.2× wider than long. Sculpture of metascutellum: rugose, with a row of small fovea along posterior side. Dorsal propodeum: deeply and largely excavate medially, with lateral propodeal carinae widely separated to accommodate T1 horn. Sculpture of dorsal propodeum: rugose. Median keels on propodeum: absent. Mesopleural carina: present. Sculpture of mesepisternum below mesopleural depression: punctate. Sculpture of ventral metapleural area: an oblique carina separates it into a dorsal smooth area and a ventral punctate reticulate area. Legs. Color of coxae: brown. Color of femora: light brown in basal third, dark brown in rest. Color of tibiae: light brown in basal half and in a small area adjacent to tarsi, rest dark brown. Sculpture of hind coxa: smooth. Wings ( figs 10, 11 ). Color of fore wing: hyaline. Basal vein: nebulous. Setae on submarginal vein in fore wing: short, erect, surpassing margin of wing. Length of marginal vein: distinctly shorter than stigmal vein. Length of postmarginal vein: 1.9× length of marginal vein and 1.3× length of stigmal vein.

Metasoma ( figs 1, 2 , 9 ). Color of metasoma: T1 light brown, except for dark brown horn of T1; T2 and T3 light brown except for small brown transverse area of T3 adjacent to junction between T3 and T4; T4–T6 brown. Shape of metasoma: lanceolate. T1: produced medially into semielliptical horn, in lateral view. Sculpture of T1 horn dorsally: anterior half transversely striate; posterior half somewhat concentrically striate with “∩”-shaped striae. Sculpture of posterior margin of T1: rugose. Development of longitudinal striae on T 2 in female: reaching or almost reaching middle of T2 medially. Sculpture of T3: smooth. Shape of T6: longer than wide.

Variability. The specimens used in this study display only a few elements of variability; body length varied from 2.1–2.3 mm and some specimens were more melanic than the holotype specimen but have the same color pattern. In the melanic specimens, the mesoscutum is usually darker than in the holotype and the mesoscutellum is entirely brown.

Male ( figs 12–16 ). Similar to female, differing by having the antennae filiform and the absence of a horn on T1. Form of male antennal flagellomeres ( fig. 16 ): filiform, A11 approximately 1.6–1.7× longer than wide. Length of A5 tyloid in male: greater than 0.5× length of A5. Sculpture of T1: longitudinally striate throughout. Color of T1–T3: light brown. Length of T2: 1.55× as long as T1 and 1.4× as long as T3.

Material examined. Holotype ♀, IRAN, Fars, Khonj (27.891ºN, 53.445ºE), 527 m, citrus orchard, Citrus spp. ( Rutaceae ), 6.iv.2013, leg. Atbaei M. (red label Calliscelio safavii, Popovici & Talamas , HOLOTYPE; OPPC).

Paratypes: 9♀, the same data as holotype (yellow labels Calliscelio safavii, Popovici & Talamas , PARATYPES; 4♀ stored in OPPC, 5♀ in JIAU); 1♀, Fars, Khonj (27.891ºN, 53.445ºE), 527 m, citrus orchard, Citrus spp. ( Rutaceae ), 20.iv.2013, leg. Atbaei M (yellow label Calliscelio safavii, Popovici & Talamas , PARATYPES; stored in JIAU); 3♂, the same data as the holotype (yellow labels Calliscelio safavii, Popovici & Talamas , PARATYPES; 1♂ stored in OPPC, 2♂ in JIAU); 1♂, Fars, Kherameh (29.514ºN, 53.311ºE), 1595 m, pomegranate orchard, Punica granatum L. ( Lythraceae ), 27.v.2013, leg. Izadi E. (stored in OPPC).

Non-type material: 1♂, headless, the same data as holotype ( OPPC); 1♂, headless, Fars, Kherameh (29.514ºN, 53.311ºE), 1595 m, pomegranate orchard, Punica granatum L. ( Lythraceae ), 27.v.2013, leg. Izadi E. ( OPPC); 1♀ headless and 1♀ without metasoma, the same data as holotype ( OPPC).

Distribution. Iran ( fig. 17 ).

Etymology. The specific epithet safavii is dedicated to the late Dr. Mohammad Safavi (Iranian Research Institute of Plant Protection, Tehran, Iran), for his several years of valuable contributions to the study of the scelionid wasps of Iran.

Diagnosis. Calliscelio safavii is easy to distinguish from C. ruficollis Kozlov & Kononova because of the color pattern ( figs 18, 19 ). In the latter species, the head and mesosoma, except the lighter pronotum, are dark brown to black. Also, the metasoma is brown to dark brown, except the light brown T1 (horn is brown, when present) and the anterior part of T2. There are some similarities in the general habitus and in the color pattern between C. safavii and C. orientalis Sharma but these can be separated by a number of characters ( figs 20–23 ): long setae on submarginal vein and tibiae (especially on the hind tibia) in C. orientalis and short, subtle setae in C. safavii ; color of metasoma: distal half of T2 and T3 not strikingly lighter than T4–T 6 in C. orientalis , but T2 and T3 striking lighter than T4–T 6 in C. safavii ; sculpture of the head: vertex aciculate-punctate and frons almost smooth and shiny with few scattered aciculate-punctae in C. orientalis versus vertex granulate and frons granulate to transversely strigose in C. safavii ; scutoscutellar suture with large fovea in C. orientalis and with none, or without clearly defined fovea in C. safavii .

Comments. In Iran, as in the rest of the Saharo-Arabian zoogeographical realm, Calliscelio has received little attention. Except for some faunistic papers ( Lotfalizadeh 2018; Minab et al. 2023) and some studies concerning the genera Trissolcus Ashmead and Telenomus Haliday ( Safavi 1973; Radjabi & Amir Nazari 1989; Radjabi 2001; Hashemi Rad et al. 2000; Rakhshani et al. 2008; Iranipour & Johnson 2010; Mehrnejad 2013; Lotfalizadeh 2018; Ranjbar et al. 2021), little is known about Scelionidae in this area. Kieffer described Calliscelio peyerimhoffi (as Caloteleia peyerimhoffi ) from Algeria ( Kieffer 1906; Kononova & Fursov 2007; Kononova & Kozlov 2008), but this species was transferred to Triteleia Kieffer by Popovici et al. (2011). Also, Kononova described Calliscelio parilis from Israel ( Kononova & Fursov 2007) and recently, C. ruficollis Kozlov & Kononova was recorded from Iran, but from the Palearctic zoogeographical realm ( Lotfalizadeh 2018). Calliscelio parilis ( figs 24–25 ) is distinct and easily separable from C. safavii , the former is a melanic species and the latter is a xanthic species.

Figures

FIGURES 1–2. Calliscelio safavii, holotype, female: 1. habitus, dorsal view; 2. habitus, lateral view.

FIGURES 3–11. 3–7, 9. Calliscelio safavii, holotype, female; figs 8, 10, 11. C. safavii, paratype, female: 3. head, dorsal view; 4. head, lateral view; 5. head, frontal view; 6. mesosoma, dorsal view; 7. mesosoma, lateral view; 8. antenna; 9. metasoma; 10. fore and hind wings; 11. WIP.

FIGURES 12–17. Calliscelio safavii, paratype, male: 12. habitus, dorsal view; 13. habitus, lateral view; 14. mesosoma, dorsal view; 15. mesosoma, lateral view; 16. antenna; 17. distribution map.

FIGURES 18–25. Calliscelio spp.: 18. C. ruficollis, holotype, female, latero-dorsal view; 19. C. ruficollis, paratype, male, laterodorsal view; 20. C. orientalis, holotype, female, latero-dorsal view (in microscope slide); 21. C. orientalis, holotype, female, mesosoma, lateral view (in microscope slide); 22. C. orientalis, female, non-type material, dorsal view; 23. C. orientalis, female, non-type material, lateral view; 24. C. parilis, holotype, female, dorsal view; 25. C. parilis, holotype, female, lateral view.