Strigenia laras, 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 : 172-173

Strigenia laras sp.nov.

( Figs 435-441)

Female (holotype): length, including ovipositor, 1.80mm; excluding ovipositor, 1.75mm ( CPD) .

Head generally black, occiput and frontovertex generally with a very dull, dark green and coppery purple sheen; scrobal area mostly coppery purple, a small dark metallic blue area at top of scrobes above interantennal prominence and between and below toruli, interantennal prominence with a slight violet sheen in part; temple and gena with a slight brassy and coppery purple sheen, lower eye margin mixed metallic blue and purple; radicle dark orange-brown; scape pale orange, a little brownish proximally and along dorsal margin; pedicel dark brown with apex and venter pale orange; flagellum pale orange-brown, apical segments of clava pale brown; mandible amber; maxillary palpi pale orange-brown; frontovertex, gena and interantennal prominence with relatively sparse, scattered, translucent pale brown setae; thorax generally dark brown to black; pronotum with a weak coppery purple sheen; mesoscutum and axilla with a weak brassy and coppery purple sheen; scutellum virtually matt, but generally with some weak brassy reflections, apex and side with a slightly stronger, metallic dark green sheen mixed with some coppery purple reflections; mesopleuron with a relatively strong coppery purple sheen with some dark blue reflections; setae on dorsum of thorax dark brown and quite conspicuous; all coxae and femora dark brown, fore and mid femora pale orange at distal apex; fore tibia pale orange, with an external, subbasal pale brown area, tarsus pale orange; mid tibia pale yellow with a broad, subbasal brown band to half way along its length; spur and tarsus pale yellow to very pale orange; hind tibia dark brown with extreme, distal apex pale orange, tarsus pale orange, apical tarsomere slightly dusky; wings hyaline, fore wing venation brown, submarginal vein medially yellowish, hind wing venation yellowish; propodeum dark purple-brown with a slight brassy sheen, side with a weak, metallic dark green sheen, setae on side of propodeum translucent and silvery; gaster dark brown, dorsally with a weak coppery purple sheen and brassy, purple and dark green reflections, especially on Gt1, syntergum laterally with a slight dark blue sheen, side and venter with brassy, dark green, blue and purple reflections; gonostylus dark brown, apex pale orange-brown.

Head ( Fig. 436) about 3.4X as wide as frontovertex, in profile, about 1.7X as high as deep, weakly rounded from posterior ocellus to just above scrobes, more strongly curved at top of scrobes then virtually straight to mouth margin with interantennal prominence hardly protuberant; ocelli forming an angle of about 70°; inner eye margins slightly diverging in front of anterior ocellus; frontovertex with evenly spaced piliferous punctures along inner eye margins, with moderately deep, fairly regular polygonally reticulate sculpture of subequal mesh size to diameter of eye facet; temple and gena with longitudinally elongate, polygonally reticulate sculpture of similar depth to that on frontovertex; scrobes with shallow, polygonally reticulate sculpture; interantennal prominence rounded dorsally, with shallow, regular, polygonally reticulate sculpture; antenna as in Fig. 435; scape about 4X as long as broad; F1 smallest, but F1-F3 subequal and slightly transverse to quadrate, F4-F6 subequal, quadrate to slightly longer than broad, segments slightly larger distad, linear sensilla present only on F2-F6; clava slightly broadened, about 1.2X as wide as F6, a little longer than F4-F6 combined, sutures hardly oblique; clypeal margin very slightly and evenly concave. Relative measurements: HW 87, HH 85, FV 25.5, POL 14.5, OOL 2, OCL 5, AOL 12.5, EL 56, EW 44, MS 31, SL 30, SW 7.5.

Thorax ( Fig. 439) with slightly transversely elongate, polygonally reticulate sculpture on pronotum that is generally of similar mesh size and about as deep as that on frontovertex; mesoscutum with fine, but coarse, polygonally reticulate sculpture that is slightly elongate in anterior 0.7X or so, about as deep as that on frontovertex, but generally of much smaller mesh; axilla and scutellum with similar sculpture to mesoscutum, but generally coarser and of smaller mesh size; visible part of mesoscutum about 1.5X as broad as long; scutellum convex and about as long as broad; setae on mesoscutum moderately dense, separated by less than their own lengths and of more or less uniform length, those on scutellum of similar density, but clearly longer especially towards apex; fore wing with venation and setation as in Figs 437, 438; propodeum ( Fig. 439) virtually smooth medially. Relative measurements: FWL 107, FWW 47; HWL 71.5, HWW 23.5.

Gaster about as long as thorax with hypopygium ( Fig. 441) reaching about 0.5X along gaster; last tergite about as long as mid tibia, with apex rounded; ovipositor ( Fig. 440) slightly exserted, the exserted part about 0.3X as long as mid tibial spur or a little less than 0.1X as long as mid tibia. Relative measurements: OL 110, GL 41 [MT 92].

Variation. Only holotype examined.

Male. Unknown.

DISTRIBUTION. Costa Rica.

HOSTS. Unknown.

MATERIAL EXAMINED.

Type material. Holotype E: COSTA RICA, Puntarenas, RF Golfito , Est. Agujas, LS 526550 276750, 300m, #59157, 1-14.x.2000 (J. Azofeifa) . Holotype in NHMUK .