Encarsia floralis Wang, Huang & Polaszek

Wang, Zhu-Hong, Huang, Jian & Polaszek, Andrew, 2014, Two new species of Encarsia Förster (Hymenoptera, Aphelinidae) and first description of the male E. plana Viggiani & Ren from China, Zootaxa 3889 (4), pp. 574-588 : 576

Encarsia floralis Wang, Huang & Polaszek , sp. nov.

( Figs 1–8 )

Type material. Holotype, ♀ (on slide). China: Fujian, Minhou, Zhuqi, 19 September 2013 (coll. Zhu-Hong Wang), ex unidentified whitefly on Ficus microcarpa Linn. ( FAFU).

Description. Female. Holotype. Body length: 0.9 mm.

Colour. Head with frontovertex brown-yellow, anterior margin brown; eyes and ocelli brown-red, ocellar space dark brown and vertex with a triangular dark brown patch behind each lateral ocellus, together forming flowershaped dark brown patches ( Fig. 1 ); face and occiput brown to dark brown ( Figs 3, 4 ). Mandible dark brown. Antenna with flagellum pale yellow, scape and distal flagellar segment pale brown; longitudinal sensilla on each flagellar segment brown ( Fig. 5 ). Pronotum dark brown; mid-lobe of mesoscutum brown with a longitudinal dark brown stripe medially; side-lobe of mesoscutum yellow-brown, anteriorly brown; axillae dark brown; scutellum yellow, anterior margin dark brown; metanotum and propodeum with sides brown to dark brown, medially yellow; mesopleuron dark brown; thoracic sterna dark brown, except mesosternum and metasternum yellow ( Figs 1, 2 ). Wings hyaline except fore wing faintly infuscate behind marginal vein ( Fig. 6 ). Legs white except fore tarsus pale yellow, mid and hind coxae dark brown, hind femur mostly dark brown except basally and apically white. Petiole brown; gastral tergites dark brown except T7 distally yellow; gastral sternites dark brown; base of ovipositor brown-yellow and third valvula brown to dark brown ( Figs 1, 2 ).

Head. Frontovertex, face and occiput with distinct sculpture. Maxillary and labial palps 1-segmented. Mandibles with three teeth. Antennal formula 1:1:4:2; scape 4.2× as long as wide; pedicel longer than F1 (17: 14), but pedicel and F1 shorter than each of F2–F6 (26: 25: 24: 22: 23), respectively; flagellum with following numbers of longitudinal sensilla: F1: 0, F2: 2, F3: 3, F4: 3, F5: 3, F6: 3 ( Fig. 5 ).

Mesosoma. Mid-lobe of mesoscutum with distinctly irregularly hexagonal cells or reticulation, and with 4+1+2+2+2 setae; each side-lobe of mesoscutum with 3 setae; axilla reticulate, each with 1 seta; scutellum reticulate and with 2 pairs of setae, fore pair of setae about 0.5× as long as hind pair and distance between fore pair approximately as long as between hind pair; placoid sensilla moderately distantly placed, closer to fore pair than to hind pair of setae ( Fig. 7). Fore wing 2.98× as long as maximum width of wing disc; marginal fringe 0.24× as long as maximum width of disc; submarginal vein with 2 setae, anterior margin of marginal vein with 8 or 9 setae, basal cell with 5 or 6 setae, wing disc densely setose ( Fig. 6 ). Tarsal formula 5: 5: 5.

Metasoma. Metasoma 1.48× as long as mesosoma; petiole anteromedially reticulate; tergites 1–7 with setae as follows: T1, 0+0; T2–T4, 1+1 each; T5, 6; T6, 4 between cercal plates; T 7, 4 in one row. Ovipositor basally located at apex of T3, not projecting beyond apex of metasoma, 1.27× as long as mid tibia and shorter than mid tibia and basitarsus combined (114: 120); third valvula about 0.27× as long as second valvifer, and 0.80× as long as mid basitarsus ( Fig. 8).

Male. Unknown.

Species-group placement. Encarsia elegans -group.

Host. An unidentified whitefly ( Hemiptera : Aleyrodidae ) on Ficus microcarpa Linn. ( Figs 9, 10 ).

Distribution. China (Fujian).

Etymology. The species name is derived from the Latin, floralis = flowery, referring to the flower-shaped dark brown patches on the frontovertex of the head.

Diagnosis. Encarsia floralis sp. nov. is placed in the elegans group because of the following characters: antennal formula 1:1:4:2, with longitudinal brown sensilla on flagellar segments except F1, F1 short; mid-lobe of mesoscutum with 4+1+2+2+2 setae, mesoscutellum with placoid sensilla moderately distantly placed. In the key to Chinese Encarsia species given by Huang & Polaszek (1998) E. floralis keys to couplet 47, but differs from all the other species of elegans group by the features given above in the modified key couplet.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 6. Encarsia floralis, female: 1, body in dorsal view; 2, body in ventral view; 3, head in frontal view; 4, head in occipital view; 5, antenna; 6, fore wing.

FIGURES 9, 10. Whitefly host association for Encarsia floralis: 9, whitefly “ puparium ” parasitized by E. floralis; 10, whitefly empty “ puparium ” after E. floralis emergence.