Aphelinoidea (Aphelinoidea) sariq Triapitsyn & Rakitov

Rakitov, Roman & Triapitsyn, Serguei V., 2013, Egg parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae and Trichogrammatidae) of the gall-making leafhopper Scenergates viridis (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) from Uzbekistan, with taxonomic notes on the Palaearctic species of Aphelinoidea, Zootaxa 3683 (5), pp. 538-548 : 540-543

Aphelinoidea (Aphelinoidea) sariq Triapitsyn & Rakitov , sp. n.

( Figs. 4–17 )

Aphelinoidea sp.: Rakitov & Appel 2012: 10 –12, 16, 18 (host association, natural history information, illustrations).

Type material. Holotype female [ UCRC] on slide labeled: 1. “ UZBEKISTAN, Bukhara Province, Kagan District, Ecocenter “Dzheyran”, 39.5789°N 64.7230°E, 224 m. Host galls coll. 18.xii.2010, A. Shilina, emerged 15.v- 10.vi.2011 from eggs of Scenergates viridis (Vilbaste) on Alhagi maurorum . Galls kept at +5°C in a refrigerator until mid-March”; 2. “Mounted at UCR/ERM by V. V. Berezovskiy 2011 in Canada balsam”; 3. [red] “ Aphelinoidea (Aphelinoidea) sariq S. Triapitsyn & Rakitov HOLOTYPE Ƥ”; 4. “Det. by S. V. Triapitsyn 2011”; 5. [ UCRC database label] “Univ. Calif. Riverside Ent. Res. Museum UCRC ENT 263426”.

Paratypes: UZBEKISTAN, Bukhara Province, Kagan District, ecocenter “Dzheyran”, 39.5789°N 64.7230°E, 224 m: 5–10.x.2010, R.A. Rakitov, E. Appel (found dead in galls of Scenergates viridis on Alhagi maurorum ) [7 Ƥ on slides, UCRC (3), ZIN (2), ZMUM (2), and 2 Ƥ on points, UCRC]; host galls coll. 18.xii.2010, A. Shilina, emerged 15.v–10.vi.2011 from eggs of S. viridis on camelthorn (same data as holotype) [2 Ƥ on slides, ZIN (1), ZMUM (1), and 4 3 on slides, UCRC (2), ZIN (1), ZMUM (1)]. Same locality, 39°34’27’’N 64°42’57’’E, 227 m, 4–16.viii.2011, R. Rakitov (from eggs of Scenergates viridis on Alhagi maurorum ) [2 Ƥ, 1 3 on slides, UCRC, and 115 Ƥ, 93 3 on points, CNCI (1 Ƥ, 1 3), DEZA (1 Ƥ, 1 3), ICXU (1 Ƥ, 1 3), SIZK (1 Ƥ, 1 3), UCRC (104 Ƥ, 82 3), USNM (1 Ƥ, 1 3), ZIN (3 Ƥ, 3 3), ZMUM (3 Ƥ, 3 3)].

Additional (non-type) material examined. UZBEKISTAN, Bukhara Province, Kagan District, Ecocenter “Dzheyran”, 39°34’27’’N 64°42’57’’E, 227 m, 4–16.viii.2011, R. Rakitov (from eggs of Scenergates viridis on Alhagi maurorum ) [5 Ƥ, 5 3 in ethanol, UCRC].

Description. FEMALE (holotype and paratypes). Body length 470–750 µm (measurements taken from drymounted specimens). Body and appendages of specimens collected inside the galls or reared from eggs of the host during summer and autumn yellow (vertex, mesoscutum, and scutellum lemon-yellow) except eyes and ocelli pink and tarsi brownish-yellow, but those of specimens collected as parasitized eggs of the host during early winter, then kept at a low temperature in the refrigerator, and emerged next year ( Fig. 13 ) mostly yellow with dark markings as follows: head lemon yellow except eyes and ocelli pink; antenna pale or dirty yellow; pronotum pale to brownish, rest of mesosoma pale to bright or sometimes dirty yellow with some brown laterally; gastral terga pale or dirty yellow with some brown; legs mostly pale yellow except metacoxa, most of metafemur, base of metatibia, and all apical tarsomeres brown to dark brown.

Head ( Figs. 4 , 7 , 9 , 13 ) about as wide as mesosoma or just slightly wider; face and vertex with weak to strong sculpture. Antenna ( Figs. 5 , 12 ) sparsely setose; scape minus short radicle 3.3–3.8× as long as wide, slightly wider in basal half than in apical half; pedicel 1.5–1.6× as long as wide; first anellus slightly larger than second, the latter partially imbedded into first claval segment; clava 2.1–2.4× as long as wide with basal segment incompletely, obliquely divided in middle on its inner side, with one mps, and 0.5–0.8× length of apical segment, the latter with several (at least 7 visible) mps.

Mesosoma ( Figs. 7 , 8 , 13 ) shorter than metasoma. Pronotum faintly sculptured and apparently partially divided mediolongitudinally, with several pairs of setae. Mesoscutum and scutellum with faint sculpture (scutellum almost smooth), midlobe of mesoscutum slightly wider than long, with two pairs of strong setae and a median groove; scutellum notably wider than long, shorter than mesoscutum, with two pairs of setae and a median groove. Metanotum band-like. Propodeum rather short ( Fig. 8 ). Fore wing ( Figs. 6 , 10 ) 2.0–2.2× as long as wide; marginal vein rather thin; disc faintly, inconspicuously infumate behind venation, slightly more conspicuously so behind stigmal vein, with distinct hyaline, sparsely setose (most setae very short) band across wing just beyond venation, more or less uniformly setose in apical 0.4 of wing (beyond hyaline area) except for a few distinct setal lines; longest marginal seta 0.15–0.16× greatest width of wing. Hind wing ( Figs. 6 , 11 ) about 13× as long as wide, disc almost hyaline and with three rows of setae; longest marginal seta 1.8–1.9× greatest width of wing.

Metasoma ( Fig. 7 ). Ovipositor occupying at most 0.45 length of gaster (usually less) and not exserted beyond its apex. Hypopygium extending to about 0.5 length of ovipositor.

Measurements (slide-mounted holotype). Body: 842 [length of dry-mounted specimen prior to slide-mounting 530]; head: 166; mesosoma: 246; metasoma: 437; ovipositor: 164. Antenna: radicle: 14; rest of scape: 85; pedicel: 48; clava (given as lengths of basal/distal segments): 42/77. Fore wing: 602:282; longest marginal seta: 45. Hind wing: 469:36; longest marginal seta: 67.

MALE (paratypes). Body length 660–740 µm (dry-mounted specimens). Similar to female except for generally a slightly darker body color, particularly gaster and legs; mesoscutum and scutellum each with two small, faint, light brown spots. Antenna ( Figs. 16, 17 ) with basal segment of clava usually slightly more slender than in female. Fore wing ( Fig. 14 ) 2.2–2.3× as long as wide. Hind wing ( Fig. 14 ) 13–14× as long as wide. Genitalia ( Fig. 15 ) elongate.

Diagnosis. Aphelinoidea sariq belongs to the plutella species group of A. ( Aphelinoidea ) as defined by Walker et al. (2005) [= the anatolica species group of Trjapitzin (1995)] because it has a hyaline, sparsely setose path on the fore wing disc beyond the venation. It is the only known species of A. ( Aphelinoidea ) whose body is yellow in color in females and mostly yellow with some faint brown patches in males. The slightly darker, but still predominantly yellow body color of females reared from parasitized host eggs collected in December ( Fig. 13 ) is likely due to keeping them at a low temperature in a refrigerator until mid-March. The second author failed to find any similarly colored specimens among world Aphelinoidea preserved at the UCRC, which houses by far the world’s largest collection of Trichogrammatidae . See also “Taxonomic notes on some other Palaearctic species of Aphelinoidea ” below.

Etymology. The species name means “yellow” in Uzbek.

Host. Scenergates viridis (Vilbaste) ( Hemiptera : Cicadellidae ) ( Rakitov & Appel 2012 [as Aphelinoidea sp.]). Biology. Live adults of both sexes were observed inside S. viridis galls, where oviposition by female wasps takes place; one instance of mating inside the gall was also recorded. Newborn adults emerge through the gall’s inner epidermis. Numerous specimens were found trapped within gall’s end “plugs” ( Fig. 4 ), suggesting that the opposite ends of the gall chamber, where the valves are not fully closed, serve as the main points of entry and departure of the wasps.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 4. Galls of Scenergates viridis. 1. Shoot of camelthorn, Alhagi maurorum, with galls. 2. Gall pried open to expose a female S. viridis inside; arrows indicate “ plugs ” at both ends of the gall. 3. Part of a broken gall, shown from the inside; white arrow indicates the “ plug ”; black arrows indicate eggs of Scenergates viridis, exposed by the breakage. 4. Scanning electron micrograph of a gall “ plug ” with two trapped females of Aphelinoidea sariq (arrows).

FIGURES 5 – 7. Aphelinoidea sariq female (holotype). 5. Antenna. 6. Wings. 7. Body.

FIGURES 8 – 12. Aphelinoidea sariq female (non-type specimen, scanning electron micrographs). 8. Mesosoma. 9. Head (frontal view, with radicles attached). 10. Fore wing. 11. Hind wing. 12. Antennae (without radicles, inner surface on the left, outer surface on the right). Scale bars, 50 µm.

FIGURES 13 – 17. Aphelinoidea sariq. 13. Female, live specimen. 14 – 17. Male: 14. Wings (paratype). 15. Genitalia (paratype). 16. Antenna, without radicle, inner surface, scanning electron micrograph (non-type specimen). 17. Same, outer surface. Scale bars, 50 µm.