Chrysura baiocchii Rosa

Rosa, Paolo & Lotfalizadeh, Hosseinali, 2013, A new species-group of Chrysura Dahlbom, 1845 (Hymenoptera: Chrysididae), with description of Ch. baiocchii sp. nov. from Iran, Zootaxa 3737 (1) : -

Chrysura baiocchii Rosa sp.nov.

( Figs 1–3 , 5 , 7 , 15, 16)

Material examined. Holotype: ♀, Iran, Fârs province, 2050 m, 7 km W Dasht-e-Arzhan, 29°38'00''N, 51°54'50''E (Figs 15, 16), 12.v.2010, leg. D. Baiocchi. Holotype deposited at the MSNM.

Description. Female. Full length 9 mm. General habitus subcylindrical ( Fig. 1 ).

Colour and vestiture. Body entirely green metallic, except for the red metallic anal margin of T-III, after the row of pits, with very weak golden reflections anteriorly on pronotum, laterally on mesonotum and on T-III. Mandibles brown, metallic green with red reflections at the base. Scapus and pedicellus metallic green, F-I goldengreenish, the rest of flagellum black. Tibiae golden-greenish. Ventral side of head and mesosoma metallic green; sternites metallic greenish with metallic red reflections; black spots on S-II small and subrectangular. There is no vestiture of long and blackish or brownish setae on head and mesosoma, such as is present in all species of the C. genalis (sub)group ( Figs 3–4 ).

Head. In full face view ( Fig. 3 ), length 1.7 mm, width 2.2 mm; in dorsal view, thickness 1 mm.

Clypeus weakly notched apically; face almost flat, without TFC and zone of cross ridging; facial basin micropunctate, area between compound eyes and facial basin with large and coarse punctures, PD more than twice punctures diameter in the facial basin. Malar space 2 MOD, shorter than F-I. Mandibles with internal tooth. Subantennal distance very short (1 MOD). Ocelli not lidded. Relative lengths of P / F-I / F-II / F-III / F-IV / F-V / F- VI / F-VII / F-VIII as 1 / 2 / 1 / 1 / 1 / 0.9 / 0.9 / 0.8 / 0.8; from F-IX to F- XI = 0.7. Head with whitish scattered, adpressed and short hairs (maximum length 1.3 MOD). Punctuation on frons, vertex and malar spaces deep and similar in diameter.

Mesosoma. Length 3.1 mm; width (PPW) 2.0 mm. Pronotum well elongate (l/w: 4.4, versus 3.3 in C. genalis and related species in which it appears very short), with deeply marked anteromedial depression; the depression quite long, about ¾ of total pronotal length; anterior angles square; the surface with deep, large (~ 0.5 MOD), subcontiguous pits, the interspaces here and there with some micro-punctures. Medial lobe of the scutum with deep, large (~ 0.75 MOD) and subcontiguous punctures, without interspaces; lateral lobes with smaller punctures, even smaller than on pronotum, with some micro-punctures on the interspaces and along the parapsidal line. Scutellum with larger punctures (PD ~ 1 MOD) but with small punctures on the interspaces (~ 0.2/0.3 MOD).

Metanotum with deep and large punctures, similar to those of the mesonotum, without interspaces. Anteromedially with a polished, subrectangular fossa (0.5 x 1 MOD), which is typical of Ch. radians and most related species and is formed by the fusion of some large punctures. However, it is smaller and less deep than in Ch. radians , Ch. genalis and the other species. Mesopleura with broad episternal sulcus, consisting of a row of irregular, large (more than 1 MOD) punctures, with evident scrobal sulcus. Wings clear, with infumation anteriorly in the radial cell and along the wing margin. Propodeal teeth reduced, nearly right-angled, scarcely divergent.

Metasoma. Length 4.2 mm ( Fig. 2 ). Punctuation on T-I with large (~ 0.5/0.6 MOD) and deep punctures, smaller (~ 0.3/0.4 MOD) towards the posterior margin; punctures are widely separated and interspaces are fully micropunctated. T-II with deep and subcontiguous punctures (<0.4 MOD), with shining interspaces, scarcely micropunctated; the large punctures become smaller towards the posterior margin. T-III edentate with hyaline margin, the apical margin prominently arcuate and without lateral angles; in posterior view, the profile of the anal margin is strongly raised in the shape of an inverted V; this modified profile is due to the unique, heavily sclerotized ovipositor (see below). Punctuation on T-III with deep and subcontiguous punctures, without micropunctures on the narrow shining interspaces. The subapical row of pits very shallow, formed by barely incised pits, elongated in a smooth area (up to 1 MOD long) before the micro-reticulated margin of the tergite. Vestiture whitish and mostly erect except laterally; T-I and T-II with relatively short hairs (maximum 1.5 MOD); T-III with longer hairs (more than 2 MOD).

FIGURES 15, 16. Type locality of Chrysura baiocchii sp. nov., Iran, Fârs Prov., 2050 m, 7 km W Dasht-e-Arzhan, 29°38'00''N, 51°54'50''E.

Internal segments. The internal metasomal segments forming the ovipositor tube are highly modified ( Figs. 5 , 7 ). The ovipositor resembles the one present in the genera Stilbum and Spinolia . Sterna and terga IV, V and T-VI are heavily sclerotized; T-V and S-V show a series of lateral ridges or partial annuli. Apically they are heavily sclerotized and sharp. T-IV is so heavily sclerotized that its preparation on a microscope slide was impossible ( Fig.

7). The shape of each internal segment is extremely modified compared with the internal segments of other species belonging to the genus Chrysura . In figures 5 and 6 line-drawings of Ch. baiocchii sp. nov. and C. genalis (Mocsáry) are shown.

Male. Unknown.

Distribution. The only known specimen of Ch. baiocchii sp. nov. was collected in southern Iran, at an altitude of 2050 m, 7 km west of Dasht-e-Arzhan village, a locality situated in the upper Qara Agaj valley, in the southern offshoots of the Zagros mountain range (Figs 15, 16). The area is characterized by very dry, rocky ground, with sparse arboreal cover, predominantely formed by Quercus sp., together with Crataegus , Fraxinus , and other genera, with a sparse ground flora of herbaceous plants.

Phenology. Chrysura baiocchii sp. nov. was found in May.

Biology. No data are available on the biology of Ch. baiocchii sp. nov., but we speculate the host could be Apoidea ( Megachilidae ) building mud nests in open areas, probably under the large rocks present around Dasht-e- Arzhan. Ch. baiocchii sp. nov. has a specialized ovipositor, typical of chrysidid parasitoids of aculeate Hymenoptera which build mud nests. Species of Chrysura are well known as parasitoids of Apoidea and Megachilidae in particular. The specimen was collected by using yellow pan traps placed on the ground.

Etymology. This species is dedicated to Daniele Baiocchi, who collected the only available specimen and entrusted us with its study.

Remarks. Although colour and dimensions are similar, we exclude Chrysura baiocchii Rosa sp. nov. from the Ch. genalis subgroup for the following reasons: subcylindrical habitus ( Fig. 1 ); different shape of the head in frontal view quite different, with eyes, compared with head ( Fig. 3 ), larger than in species belonging to the Ch. genalis subgroup ( Fig. 4 ); pubescence only consisting of short whitish hairs, totally devoid of long and dark setae; pronotum more developed than in both sexes of species belonging to the Ch. genalis subgroup (in the latter ones the width of the pronotum is not a dimorphic feature); shape of propodeal teeth, last tergite and internal urites.

Figures

FIGURE 5. Chrysura baiocchii sp. nov., internal sterna and terga.

FIGURES 1 – 4. 1 – 3. Chrysura baiocchii sp. nov. 1. Holotype, habitus in dorsal view; 2. Metasoma in dorso-lateral view; 3. Head in frontal view; 4. Ch. foetiana (Semenov): head in frontal view.

FIGURES 7 – 10. 7. Chrysura baiocchii sp. nov., T-V; 8. Ch. genalis (Mocsáry), genital capsula; 9. Ch. foetiana (Semenov), genital capsula; 10. Ch. radians (Harris), genital capsula.