Brachyplatycerus chinensis Zu, 2023

Zhen, Wenquan, Xue, Hao, Zu, Guohao & Zhang, Lianzhong, 2023, First report of Brachyplatycerus De Santis (Hymenoptera, Encyrtidae) from China, with description of a new species, Zootaxa 5231 (2), pp. 179-182 : 180-182

Brachyplatycerus chinensis Zu , sp. nov.

( Figs. 1–5 )

Type material. Holotype. ♀ [on slide], CHINA, Guangxi province, Qinzhou City, Beibu Gulf University , 21° 53′ 53′′ N, 108° 36′ 56′′ E, 24m, 2019.3.18 –26, Wenquan Zhen, Malaise trapping. Deposited in TJAU.

Paratypes. 5 ♀ [1 ♀ on slide, 4 ♀ in 99% ethanol], same data as holotype ( TJAU) .

Diagnosis. Female. Length, excluding ovipositor, 0.86–0.98 mm. Body generally dark brown with bluepurple metallic luster; scape apically and most of flagellum yellowish; fore wing infuscate in basal half. Head with frontovertex very wide, 0.45× head width; malar space 0.64× as long as eye height; ocelli forming an obtuse triangle; antenna with scape broadened and flattened, 2× as long as broad; funicle 4-segmented, F1-F2 obviously shorter than F3-F4; clava 3-segment, slightly longer than funicle. Fore wing 2.09× as long as broad; mid tibial spur shorter than mid basitarsus; ovipositor 0.52× as long as mid tibia.

Description. Female. Holotype. Length, 0.93 mm (excluding ovipositor). Body generally dark brown; head, mesonotum and mesoscutellum with blue-purple metallic luster; scape and pedicel apically yellowish, flagellum yellowish except F4, first segment basally and third segments of clava light brown; fore wing infuscate in basal half; legs dark brown except all tibiae apically and all tarsi yellowish.

Head with frontovertex ( Fig. 1 ) sparsely setose, each about as long as the diameter of median ocellus; eyes densely setose, setae dark brown, and each seta 2× as long as the diameter of an eye facet. Head in frontal view 0.79× as broad as high; frontovertex 0.45× head width, smooth without sculpture; ocelli forming an angle of 120°; posterior ocellus nearly touching eye margins and also very close to occipital margin; eye height 1.66× as long as malar space; occipital margin carinate; antennal toruli with their dorsal margins below ventral eye margins, and separated from mouth margin by about their own length; mandible with two sharp teeth; palpal formula 4–3. Antenna ( Fig. 2 ) with scape broadened and flattened, 2× as long as broad; pedicel 1.43× as long as wide, longer than first two funicle segments combined; funicle 4-segment, F1 and F2 distinctly smaller than F3 or F4, and F2 smallest; linear sensilla on F3, F4 and clava; clava 3-segment, 1.74× as long as broad and slightly longer than funicle, sensory area small, forming an oblique apical truncation. Measurements (holotype, μm): head height, 300; head width, 380; frontovertex width, 170; eye height, 188; malar space, 113; OD, 30; AOL, 65; OOL, 3; OCL, 8; POL, 133; length and (width)—scape, 123 (61); pedicel, 50 (35); F1, 23 (28); F2, 20 (33); F3, 33 (35); F4, 35 (40); clava, 118 (68).

Mesosoma ( Fig. 3 ) with sparse conspicuous long setae on pronotum, mesoscutum and mesoscutellum. Mesoscutum with 30–35 setae; mesoscutellum with 16–18 setae; mesoscutum with shallow polygonal sculpture, and the same on mesoscutellum but shallower, and the apex nearly smooth; mesoscutum 0.45× as long as broad; mesoscutellum 0.95× as long as broad. Fore wing ( Fig. 4 ) 2.09× as long as broad; linea calva not interrupted and open posteriorly; costal cell with one complete row of setae; marginal vein punctiform, shorter than stigmal vein; postmarginal very short, nearly absent; hind wing 4.58× as long as broad. Mid tibial spur ( Fig. 5 ) 0.28× as long as mid tibia and shorter than mid basitarsus. Measurements (holotype, μm): fore wing length, 710; fore wing width, 340; submarginal vein, 260; marginal vein, 20; postmarginal vein, 3; stigmal vein, 23; hind wing length, 550; hind wing width, 120; mid tibia, 230; mid tibial spur, 65; mid basitarsus, 73.

Metasoma about as long as mesosoma (in 99% ethanol); ovipositor 0.80× as long as mid tibia, slightly exserted; hypopygium extending to apex of gaster. Measurements (holotype, μm): ovipositor length, 185.

Male. Unknown.

Variation. Length of female, excluding ovipositor, varies from 0.86–0.98 mm, otherwise very little variation in examined material.

Host. Unknown.

Etymology. The specific name refers to the new species being collected from China.

Comments. Based on the original description ( De Santis 1972), the new species can be easily separated from B. minutus as follows: fore wing 2.09× as long as broad and only infuscate at the base (almost 3× and uniformly infuscate in minutus ); postmarginal vein nearly absent (postmarginal vein as long as marginal vein in minutus ); scape dark brown, only apically light (scape with a median longitudinal light band in minutus ); gena dark brown, the same as the rest of head (lighter than other parts of head in minutus ).

Figures

FIGURES 1–5. Brachyplatycerus chinensis sp. nov., holotype female: 1, head; 2, antenna; 3, mesosoma and metasoma; 4, fore wing; 5, legs. Scale bars = 100μm.