Proleurocerus litoralis Hayat and Kazmi, 1996

Binoy, C., Hiremath, Sangamesh R. & Prathapan, K. D., 2024, The Fergusson squathopper, Messena sinuata Atkinson (Hemiptera: Eurybrachidae) and its egg parasitoids from Southern India, Journal of Natural History 58 (29 - 32), pp. 1069-1087 : 1074-1078

Proleurocerus litoralis Hayat and Kazmi, 1996

Proleurocerus litoralis Hayat and Kazmi 1996, p. 19 . India: Kerala [ BMNH]

( Figures 12–30 )

Material examined

67 ♀, 20 ♂, All from India: Kerala, Kozhikode district by C. Binoy. Elathur (11.325°N, 75.741° E, 23 m), Zoological Survey of India , Kozhikode Campus (11.263°N, 75.786°E, 28 m), Malabar Christian College Campus (11.263°N and 75.779°E, 27 m), collected during the months of January, August, September and November, 2018–2021 (see ‘Material and methods’ for deposition) .

Diagnosis

Scape medially expanded, at most 2× as long as broad; scape apically, fu 4 partly, fu 5 and fu 6 completely white; first valvifer long, about 0.4× second valvifer and relatively longer than first valvula; head greenish with frontovertex conspicuously punctate, vertex rugose reticulate; forewing infuscate with basal third subhyaline, disc with two distinct streaks, one adjacent to PMV-STV junction and another oblique transverse strip in medio-posterior third.

Redescription

Female. ( Figures 12–23 ) Body length 1.39–1.71 mm; length of forewing 1.07–1.19 mm.

Colour. Body: metallic greenish blue with the following varying shades of green and blue on surface: frontovertex, lower face and clypeus with bright metallic green with slight golden lustre, vertex, pronotum and mesoscutum metallic bluish green, scutellum with deep bluish lustre; metanotum and propodeum brown, pleura brown with slight greenish lustre, metasoma deep brown with slight bronzy lustre. Antenna: brown except tip of scape, fu4 apically, fu5 and fu6 entirely white ( Figures 13, 14 ). Legs: All coxae deep brown with slight metallic lustre, all trochanters, femora and tibiae brown with mesotibia apically paler; all tarsi testaceous. Wings: forewing infumate in posterior two-thirds, anteriorly subhyaline, veins testaceous, hindwing hyaline ( Figure 21 ).

Setation. Eyes minutely setose, white; frontovertex with thick white bristle-like setae arising from puncture, remainder on vertex with scattered longer thin setae; mesosoma with moderately dense, linearly arranged brown setae, laterally tending to be white; propodeal setae near spiracles white; metasomal terga with moderately dense brown adpressed setae, lateral margins with long white setae; legs with moderately dense adpressed brown setae.

Head. In frontal view 1.17× as wide as long, eyes large, oval reaching posterior margin of head; frontovertex distinctly punctate, interstices raised, finely reticulate ( Figure 15 ); mandible tridentate; gena with conspicuous longitudinal reticulation; antenna inserted at lower margin of face, on either side of clypeus ( Figure 16 ); in dorsal view 1.87× as wide as long, rugose reticulate; anterior ocellus forming slightly obtuse angle (97°) with apex of lateral ocelli; OOL 1.3× AOL ( Figure 17 ); scape medially expanded, 1.7× as long as maximum width, surface transversely reticulate; clava 2.1× as long as maximum width; relative length of scape, pedicel, funiculars and clava = 12.6:2.6:0.9:1.2:1.4:1.5:1.5:8.4 ( Figure 13 ).

Mesosoma. Pronotum 8.8× as long as wide, posterior margin distinctly convex onto mesoscutum, distinctly reticulate with two rows of setigerous pits; mesoscutum 1.6× as wide as long, distinctly reticulate with 6–7 rows of linear setigerous pits; scutellum as long as mesoscutum with less dense setigerous pits, surface conspicuously rugose reticulate; scutellum apically blunt ( Figure 18 ); meso- and metapleura conspicuously reticulate ( Figure 19 ); metanotum finely reticulate; propodeum coarsely reticulate; propodeal spiracles large, round, peritreme exposed as rim ( Figure 20 ).

Metasoma. Longer than mesosoma in profile (1.2×); all terga and sterna with distinct linear reticulations; all terga beyond Gt3 with deeply emarginate margin; ovipositor 2.8× metatibia, protruding well beyond apex of last tergum ( Figures 22, 23 ).

Male. ( Figures 24–30 )

Body length 1.19–1.29 mm; length of forewing 1.12–1.16 mm. Diagnosis and description of males as recorded by Singh (2010).

Other hosts

Egg parasitoids of Eurybrachys tomentosa (Fabricius) ( Singh 2010) , Platybrachys leucostigma (Walker) (both Hemiptera , Eurybrachidae ) ( Shylesha 2013).

Distribution

India: Andhra Pradesh; Karnataka; Kerala; Puducherry; Tamil Nadu; Uttarakhand ( Singh 2010; Shylesha 2013; Hayat et al. 2015; Noyes 2019).

Figures

Figure 12–23. Proleurocerus litoralis Hayat and Kazmi, 1996. ♀ 12, habitus, lateral view; 13, antenna; 14, head, lateral view; 15, head, frontal view; 16, lower face, frontal view; 17, head, dorsal view; 18, mesosoma, dorsal view; 19, mesosoma, lateral view; 20, metanotum and propodeum; 21, wings; 22, metasoma, lateral view; 23, metasoma, dorsal view.

Figure 24–30. Proleurocerus litoralis Hayat and Kazmi, 1996. ♂ 24, habitus, lateral view; 25, head, frontal view; 26, antenna; 27, mesosoma, dorsal view; 28, wings; 29, metasoma, dorsal view; 30, genitalia.