Oxyserphus obsolescens ( Brues, 1940 ) Brues, 1940

Kolyada, Victor A. & Mostovski, Mike B., 2007, Revision of Proctotrupidae (Insecta: Hymenoptera) described by Ch. T. Brues from Baltic amber, Zootaxa 1661, pp. 29-38 : 34-35

Oxyserphus obsolescens ( Brues, 1940) , comb. nov.

( Figs 6–13 )

Cryptoserphus obsolescens Brues, 1940: 261 (female).

Cryptoserphus tertiarius Brues, 1940: 261 (female). Syn. nov.

Cryptoserphus succinalis Brues, 1940: 262 (female). Syn. nov.

Cryptoserphus koggeauxillarius Szabo & Oehlke, 1986: 100 (female). Syn. nov.

Description. Body somewhat gracile. Head clearly transverse, rounded, frons convex. Genae 0.18 times as high as eye width, with deep vertical groove. Clypeus 0.79 times as wide as face, with depressed border along anterior margin. Labrum triangular. Antennae 0.6 times as long as head height, 13-segmented. Antennomeres almost quadrate; ratio of antennomere lengths as following: 2.1:0.8:1.6:1.1:1.1:1.2:1.0:1.1:0.9:0.9:0.9:0.8:1.6. Epomia uninterrupted. Depression below humeral tubercles with weak reticulation, strip in upper part of pronotum consisting of 3–5 setae. Notauli as long as tegulae. Mesopleural perforated suture complete. Horizontal mesopleural groove complete. Propodeum with fine reticulation. Radial vein joining costa at 44°. Costal section of radial cell short, less than depth of pterostigma. Costa not developed beyond radial cell. Ovipositor sheath 3 times as long as wide, approximately 0.75 times as long as hind tibia, with small setae.

Holotype. Female, MCZC, no. 5221.

Paratype. Female, MCZC, no. 5220. The specimen is inclosed within an air bubble, heavily distorting proportions.

Other material examined. Holotype of Cryptoserphus tertiarius (female, MCZC, no. 8272) and holotype of Cryptoserphus succinalis (female, MCZC no. 8274). There are variously preserved four females and two males with Brues’ identification labels ( MCZC); they were previously identified by him as succinalis or simply sp. Additionally, there are nine females in MCZC with original labels “ Proctotrypidae Preussen, Min. Mus. 1865 ” (1 ex.), “ Proctotrypidae G.V. Henningsen / 3-5 1960 ” (3 ex.), “ Proctotrypidae Flanensgaard / 2/4- 60” (1 ex.), “ Proctotrypidae Borge Martensen / 12-10 1960 ” (1 ex.), “ Proctotrupidae G.V. Henningsen / 8-7 1965 ” (1 ex.), “ Proctotrupidae A.K. Andersen / 28-3 1968 ” (2 ex.). There are also three females in one piece of Baltic amber ( PIN, nos. 363/131, 132, 133) and two females in one piece of Rovno amber ( SIZC, K-3005).

Remarks. Representatives of this species seem to be most abundant among amber proctotrupids. Obviously, the state of their preservation varies, and some specimens were described as separate species on the basis of poorly defined characters. Rich material, which became available through courtesy of Dr S.B. Archibald, Dr L. Masner and Prof. A.P. Rasnitsyn, made possible re-evaluation of some species and their synonymy.

Figures

FIGURES 6 – 9. Oxyserphus obsolescens (Brues, 1940), general appearance: (6) holotype of obsolescens; (7) female identified by Brues as succinalis; (8) holotype of tertiarius; (9) holotype of succinalis.

FIGURES 10 – 13. Oxyserphus obsolescens (Brues, 1940), details of body structures: (10) holotype of obsolescens; (11) female identified by Brues as succinalis; (12) holotype of tertiarius; (13) holotype of succinalis.