Psyllaephagus moros, Noyes, 2023

Noyes, John Stuart, 2023, ENCYRTIDAE OF COSTA RICA (HYMENOPTERA: CHALCIDOIDEA), 4 Subfamily Encyrtinae: tribes Arrhenophagini, Habrolepidini, Cerapterocerini, Cheiloneurini, Trechnitini, Cercobelini, Polaszekiini, Protyndarichoidini, Gahaniellini and Syrphophagini (part), mainly primary parasitoids and hyperparasitoids of Coccoidea and Psylloidea (Hemiptera), Taxonomic Monographs on Neotropical Hymenoptera (Oxford, England) 2 (11), pp. 1-921 : 603-605

Psyllaephagus moros sp.nov.

(Figs 1609-1612)

DIAGNOSIS. Female (length about 1.8mm): antenna (Fig. 1609) with scape mostly dark brown;

flagellum brown, F2-F5 ventrally pale orange; tegula dark brown; mid femur dark brown; hind tibia mostly pale orange with a broad subbasal band to about 0.5X long its length; head about 2.6X as wide as frontovertex and about 2.8X as wide as mouth opening; ocelli forming an angle of about 110° with posterior ocellus much closer to eye than to occipital margin; frontovertex with piliferous punctures relatively shallow and small, hardly larger than eye facet; antenna (Fig. 1609) with scape about 3.3X as long as broad and about as long as minimum width of frontovertex; antenna with pedicel slightly longer than F1, all funicle segments very slightly longer than broad except F6 which is quadrate, linear sensilla present on all funicle segments, segments of clava subequal in length, apex narrowly rounded; clypeal margin slightly emarginate, straight; mandible with two teeth and a broad truncation; mesoscutum more shiny than scutellum; scutellum with perhaps very slightly shallower sculpture than mesoscutum; scutellum convex; fore wing (Fig. 1612) about 2.4X as long as broad; costal cell with one line of setae dorsally; marginal vein (Fig, 1611) about 1.5X as long as broad; linea clava closed; gaster with a distinct, strongly reticulate anteromedian area on Gt3; hypopygium Fig, 1610; ovipositor longer than mid tibia and hidden; second valvifer with about 6 or 7 subapical setae. Male: unknown.

Female (holotype): length 1.82mm ( CPD) .

Head with occiput and frontovertex generally dull, metallic dark blue, mixed coppery purple; occipital margin slightly coppery; scrobal area, temple and gena coppery purple to violet, lower part of interantennal prominence and parts of mouth margin marked dark metallic blue; setae on frontovertex, interantennal prominence and gena indistinct, translucent, pale brown; antenna with radicle dark brown; scape dark brown with extreme apex pale orange; pedicel dark brown, extreme apex and venter pale orange; flagellum brown, F2-F5 ventrally marked pale orange; thorax generally dark brown to black; pronotum dorsally mainly coppery with some green reflections, laterally slightly brassy; mesoscutum relatively bright, metallic, dark green, narrowly margined coppery and posteriorly with some violet areas in middle; tegula dark brown with a slight coppery purple sheen; axilla mainly with a coppery purple sheen, mixed with some metallic dark green and brassy; scutellum duller than mesoscutum, medially with a slight coppery and brassy sheen, with some pale green reflections, laterally metallic dark green and brassy, posterior 0.25X metallic dark blue mixed dark green; metanotum with a slight coppery purple lustre; mesopleuron with a slight metallic coppery purple and brassy lustre; all coxae dark brown with a slight violet, dark blue and coppery purple sheen; fore femur dark brown, pale orange at extreme apices, tibia pale orange, with a broad, subbasal, interrupted brown band, tarsus pale orange, distally dusky, apical tarsomere brown; mid femur dark brown, pale orange at apices, tibia pale orange with a narrow, indistinct, interrupted, brown subbasal band, spur pale orange, tarsus pale orange, slightly dusky distally, apical tarsomere pale orange-brown; hind femur dark brown, pale orange at extreme distal apex, tibia mostly pale orange with a broad, dark brown, subbasal band to about 0.5X, tarsus dusky pale orange, darker distally, apical tarsomere brown; wings (Fig. 1612) hyaline; propodeum dark purple-brown, generally with a slight coppery purple and brassy sheen, side with a metallic dark green sheen and with a few translucent, pale brown setae outside spiracle; gaster dark brown, dorsally mainly with a coppery purple sheen, Gt1 with a strong metallic dark blue and dark green sheen, syntergum weakly mixed metallic dark green, side largely metallic green, blue-green blue and copper, venter mainly with a coppery purple sheen with some purple, green, blue and brassy reflections; gonostylus dark brown.

Head about 2.6X as wide as frontovertex and about 2.8X as wide as mouth opening, in profile about 1.7X as high as deep, evenly curved from occipital margin to top of scrobes and then fairly straight to mouth margin, with interantennal prominence hardly protuberant; occipital margin more or less acute, not carinate; ocelli forming an angle of about 110°; frontovertex with regular, moderately deep, polygonally reticulate sculpture of mesh size a little smaller than eye facet, piliferous punctures relatively shallow and small, hardly larger than eye facet; frontovertex with about 5 pairs of setae in front of anterior ocellus, a single line adjacent to eye margin that descends below eye to gena; temple and gena with longitudinally elongate, imbricate-reticulate to polygonally reticulate sculpture; eye reaching occipital margin, with fairly conspicuous, pale setae, each about as long as diameter of facet; scrobes shallow, broadly ∩-shaped, meeting, weakly margined dorsally and laterally, dorsally with shallow, polygonally reticulate sculpture; interantennal prominence weak, narrowly rounded dorsally, with shallow, polygonally reticulate sculpture; antenna as in Fig. 1609; scape slightly broadened and flattened, widest just above middle, about 3.3X as long as broad; F1-F5 longer than broad, F6 quadrate, linear sensilla present on all segments; clava nearly as long as F4-F6 combined, sensory area slightly enlarged and extending about 0.4X along ventral surface giving at an obliquely truncate appearance; malar sulcus absent; clypeal margin very slightly protuberant medially; mandible with two teeth and a broad truncation. Relative measurements: HW 94, HH 77, FV 35.5, POL 20.5, OOL 2.5, OCL 5, AOL 11, EL 55, EW 45, MS 24, SL 33, SW 10.

Thorax in dorsal view with pronotum short, largely hidden by head, dorsally with slightly irregular, moderately deep, imbricate-reticulate to polygonally reticulate sculpture that is about as deep as sculpture on frontovertex, but generally of larger mesh; mesoscutum with polygonally reticulate sculpture that is similar to that on frontovertex; axilla with shallower sculpture than mesoscutum that is a little more transversely elongate; scutellum generally with polygonally reticulate sculpture that is similar to that on mesoscutum, but more longitudinally elongate, more irregular and perhaps very slightly shallower; visible part of mesoscutum about 1.4X as broad as long; scutellum nearly 1.1X as broad as long; fore wing with venation and distribution of setae as in Figs 1611, 1612, costal cell with only a single line of dorsal setae; propodeum medially about 0.11X as long as scutellum, virtually smooth with some very shallow, irregular, sculpture. Relative measurements: FWL 95, FWW 40.5; HWL 61, HWW 20.5.

Gaster with hypopygium (Fig. 1610) reaching about 0.7X along gaster; Gt3 with a distinct, strongly reticulate area anteromedially; syntergum about 0.8X as long as mid tibia, with apex rounded; ovipositor hidden. Relative measurements: OL 62, GL 12 [MT 39.5].

Variation. Only holotype examined.

Male. Unknown.

DISTRIBUTION. Costa Rica.

HOSTS. Unknown.

MATERIAL EXAMINED.

Type material. Holotype E: COSTA RICA, Alajuela, RB San Ramon, 900m, v.2000 (P. Hanson) . Holotype in NHMUK .

COMMENTS. Psyllaephagus moros is similar to tyche , in that they both have indistinct piliferous punctures on the frontovertex, the mesoscutum relatively more metallic than the scutellum, a convex scutellum and Gt3 of the gaster has a distinct, strongly reticulate area anteromedially. The two species can be separated using the characters given in the key.

The Mexican species Psyllaephagus trjapitzini Myartseva & Martinez Ramírez could run to moros in the key if the gaster has a distinct, strongly reticulate anteromedian area on Gt3. It differs in having only a single line of setae on the dorsal surface of the costal cell, uniformly brown funicle segments, scutellum mostly coppery with only sides and extreme apex metallic green, mandible with one tooth and a truncation, slightly exserted ovipositor, exserted part about half length of mid tibial spur. In moros there is a partial second line of dorsal setae on the costal cell, the funicle segments are ventrally orange, the scutellum medially has a slight coppery and brassy sheen, with some pale green reflections, laterally metallic dark green and brassy, the mandible has two teeth and truncation, and the ovipositor is hidden.