Encyrtus coorgensis Hayat & Zeya

Hayat, Mohammad, Zeya, Shahid Bin & Veenakumari, K., 2013, On some brachypterous Encyrtidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) from India, with description of four new species, Zootaxa 3716 (2), pp. 259-276 : 262-264

Encyrtus coorgensis Hayat & Zeya , sp. nov.

( Figs 4–7 )

Female. Holotype. Length, 1.74 mm. Body brown to dark brown ( Fig. 4 ); head brown. Antenna with radicle yellow; scape yellow with dorsal and ventral margins pale brown; flagellum dark brown. Pronotum brownish yellow, anteriorly with brown patches, collar dark brown; mesoscutum brown, laterally brownish yellow; axilla brownish yellow; scutellum basally (to level of posterior end of axillae) dark brown, middle half white, and apical third brownish yellow; tegula yellowish brown in basal half, dark brown in distal half; metanotum and propodeum dark brown; prepectus and mesopleuron brownish yellow; metapleuron dark brown. Fore wing with hyaline and infuscated areas as in Fig. 7 . Hind wing hyaline. Fore leg with coxa dark brown; femur and tibia brown; tarsus with segments 1 and 2 yellow, 3 brownish yellow, 4 and 5 brown; mid leg with coxa dark brown; femur in upper (dorsal) half brown, ventral half yellowish brown; tibia brown; tarsus with segments 1–4 whitish, 5 brown, spur brownish yellow; hind leg with coxa largely dark brown with ventral face white; femur and tibia dark brown to nearly black, tarsal segments1–4 white, with segment 1 (=basitarsus) basally narrowly brown; segment 5 dark brown. Gaster black.

Head. Occipital margin sharp and broadly concave; frontovertex width at level of anterior ocellus 0.5× head width; ocelli small, ocellar triangle with apical angle obtuse; POL:OOL:OCL:AOL = 16:4:3:9; frontal carina developed, broad, concave above, laterally extending below eye and slightly curving downwards; malar space without a ridge; malar space 0.83× eye height; frontovertex with fine, transversely rugose reticulate sculpture and with sparse, setigerous punctures; malar space with elongate reticulate sculpture which become lineolate reticulate behind malar sulcus; setae on head short, sparse and white; setae on malar space short. Antenna ( Fig. 6 ) with radicle long, about 0.38× scape length; scape cylindrical, 2.8× as long as pedicel; pedicel slightly longer than F1 (7.5:6) which is 1.26× as long as broad; F2 as long as F1, but quadrate; F3–F6 slightly flattened and broader than long, F3 1.27×, F4 1.45×, F5 1.7× and F6 1.8× as broad as long; clava flattened, 1.38× as long as broad, and shorter than F4–F6 combined; setae on antennal segment dark brown. Relative measurements —head dorsal width, 52; frontovertex width, 26; eye height, 30; malar space, 25; antennal scape length, 21.

Mesosoma ( Fig. 5 ) 1.4× as long as broad; axilla declivous along posterior margin and thus clearly elevated above level of scutellum; mesoscutum with slightly raised polygonal sculpture of small cells; scutellum with fine lineolate reticulate sculpture; setae on pronotum including a line of longer setae along collar, mesoscutum, axillae, and on posterior two-thirds of scutellum, including the brush, dark brown; scutellum in whitish area with silvery white setae; sides of propodeum with silvery white setae. Fore wing, when laid back, extend nearly to apex of gaster, leaving about one-eighth of gaster exposed. Fore wing 2.89× as long as broad, and venation complete; wing shape, venation and discal setation as in Fig. 7 . Hind wing 3.77× as long as broad and 0.8× fore wing length. Relative measurements —mesosoma length, 63; pronotum (visible part) length (width), 6 (40); mesoscutum length (width), 21(45); scutellum length (width), 25 (25); fore wing length (width), 84 (29); mid tibia length, 46; mid basitarsus length, 16; mid tibial spur length, 19.

Metasoma subequal in length to mesosoma; TI of gaster with silvery white setae on sides; sides of TII–TVI with dark brown setae; TVII with dark brown setae as follows: 2–3 long setae on each side and 5–6 lines of smaller setae in apical fourth.

Male. Unknown.

Material examined. Holotype (NBAII, Registration No. ICAR/NBAII/EN9), female (on card with left antenna and right side wings on slide No. EH.1585) labelled “ INDIA: KARNATAKA: Coorg, Chettahalli, 1.vii.2010 (SN), Coll. K.Veenakumari”.

Distribution. India: Karnataka.

Etymology. The species name is derived from the name of the district (Coorg) from where the holotype was collected.

Comments. The genus Encyrtus Latreille contains about 60 world species. We could find only one species known in brachypterous form, E. saliens Prinsloo & Annecke (1978) , in which the fore wing has its apex acuminate, and the venation is represented by a single vein. In the new species, the fore wings are short, but have complete venation ( Fig. 7 ). We have checked all the available descriptions of the species and keys (Graham 1969; Sugonjaev & Gordh 1981; Trjapitzin 1989; Prinsloo 1991; Hayat 2006; Noyes 2010), and find that our new species differs from the described species not only in having short fore wings, but also in the following combination of characters: body brown to dark brown, except middle half of scutellum white; antennal flagellum dark brown; coxae (ventral face of hind coxa white) and hind femur and tibia, dark brown, with other parts of legs brownish yellow or yellowish brown to brown; frontal carina well-developed; malar space without a ridge and with short setae; antenna with radicle long, 0.38× scape length and slightly longer than pedicel (8:7.5); pedicel slightly longer than F1 which is 1.26× as long as broad; F1 not broader than pedicel, F2 quadrate, F3–6 broader than long, and F6 about 1.8x as broad as long.

Figures

FIGURES 4 – 7. Encyrtus coorgensis Hayat & Zeya, sp. nov. Holotype female: 4, body lateral; 5, mesosoma; 6, antenna; 7, fore wing.