Cheiloneurus caesar, Guerrieri, 2006

Guerrieri, Emilio, 2006, Review of the encyrtid (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea, Encyrtidae) parasitoids of Dryinidae (Hymenoptera, Chrysidoidea, Dryinidae): second contribution and description of a new species of Cheiloneurus, Journal of Natural History 40 (41 - 43), pp. 2395-2401 : 2396-2398

Cheiloneurus caesar sp. nov.

( Figure 1 )

Description

Female. Holotype: length 1.23 mm

Head orange with green reflections on frontovertex; antenna ( Figure 1 (1)) with scape orange, a narrow brown stripe along basal half of its ventral margin, pedicel orange with basal half brown, F1 and a basal stripe on F2 brown, remaining part of funicle white, clava black; thorax dark orange, posterior half of mesoscutum metallic green, apex of scutellum brown, metanotum and propodeum brown, tegula dark orange with brown apex, fore wing strongly infuscated except basal third, a small area past PMV and a crescent-like area at apex hyaline, legs yellow with apex of tarsi brown; gaster brown, with green reflections at base.

Head about 5× as wide as frontovertex; ocelli forming a strongly acute angle of less than 30 °; antenna ( Figure 1 (1)) with scape about 4× as long as broad, F1 subquadrate and about 0.36× as long as pedicel; remaining funicular segments all broader than long, clava obliquely truncate at apex. Relative measurements: HW 42, FV 8, OOL 1.5, OCL 4, POL 4, SL 24, SW 6.

Fore wing about 3.2× as long as broad, venation as in Figure 1 (2). Relative measurements: FWL 110, FWW 34, SMV 40, MV 14, PMV 3, SV 5

Gaster with ovipositor ( Figure 1 (3)) slightly exserted.

Paratype: Ovipositor ( Figure 1 (3)) about as long as mid tibia. Hypopygium as in Figure 1 (4). Relative measurements: MT 86, OL 91, GL 28.

Male. Length 0.98 mm. Body black with green metallic reflections especially on head, antenna dark yellow with base of pedicel and clava somewhat darker, fore wing hyaline, legs yellow with joints slightly darker.

Head about 2.6× as wide as frontovertex, scape 4× as long as broad, all funicular segments longer than broad, F1 1.3× as long as pedicel, clava 4× as long as broad, a little longer than F5+F6 (16:14), pointed at apex.

Variation

None in the material at hand.

Hosts

Cheiloneurus caesar is recorded below from Dryinus orophilus Benoit ( Hymenoptera : Dryinidae ) parasitic in a planthopper ( Hemiptera : Delphacidae )

Distribution

Mozambique.

Material examined

Holotype: ♀, Maputo, Mozambique, xii.1993 ex Dryinus orophilus Benoit parasitic in a planthopper, T7120 (M. Olmi) ; Paratypes: 1♀, 1 „ same data as holotype . Holotype and paratypes deposited in DEZA, Portici (Naples), Italy

Comments

Cheiloneurus caesar is extremely close to C. boldyrevi Trjapitzin for body colour and fore wing pattern of hyaline and infuscate areas (see Figures 23–25 and key couplet 10 in Guerrieri and Viggiani 2005). Females of the two species can be separated by the antenna, fore wing venation and ovipositor. In C. caesar , F2–F6 are distinctly broader than long, the clava is longer than the funicle and obliquely truncate at the apex, while in C. boldyrevi F2– F6 are subquadrate, the clava is distinctly shorter than the funicle and transversely truncate at the apex. In C. caesar , the PMV is 0.21× as long as the MV, while in C. boldyrevi it is 0.15×. Finally, the ovipositor is about as long as the mid tibia in C. caesar (1.4× in C. boldyrevi ). The species is named after my father.

Figures

Figure 1. Cheiloneurus caesar ♀: (1) antenna, (2) fore-wing venation, (3) ovipositor and (4) hypopygium.