Eupelmus (Eupelmus) microzonus Förster

Gibson, Gary A. P., 2011, 2951, Zootaxa 2951, pp. 1-97 : 62-64

9. Eupelmus (Eupelmus) microzonus Förster

Figs 16, 19, 53, 55; Map 11

Eupelmus microzonus Förster, 1860: 125−126 . Syntypes, female (NHMW, examined). Type data: Germany: region of Aachen. Eupelmus insulae Masi, 1919: 302−305 . Holotype, female (MCSN, examined). Type data: Italy: Tuscany, Giglio Is. N. syn.

Description. FEMALE ( Fig. 16). Length about 2.5–3.0 mm. Head primarily metallic green but scrobal depression, upper face mesally to anterior ocellus and between anterior ocellus and each posterior ocellus black or with coppery luster under some angles of light; vertex and lower face under some angles of light also variably dark or with coppery luster; maxillary and labial palpi brown. Antenna dark brown except scape and pedicel green to bluishgreen under some angles of light. Mesosoma with tegula narrowly creamy white basomesally adjacent to mesoscutal margin, but yellowish-brown and translucent laterally and apically; otherwise metallic green similar to head, with slight brownish or coppery luster under some angles of light. Forewing hyaline with white setae and yellowish-white venation. Front leg with most of trochanter, about basal three-quarters of femur and apical tarsomere brown to dark brown, the remainder yellowish-white. Middle leg mostly yellowish-white between brown trochanter and apical tarsomere, with most of femur more distinctly yellow compared to somewhat lighter, more white trochantellus and most of tibia and tarsus. Hind leg similar in color pattern to fore leg except femur variably extensively yellowish-white apically and always narrowly yellowish-white dorsolongitudinally. Gaster similar in color to mesosoma, metallic green to partly brownish depending on angle of light, but with quite conspicuous hairlike white setae; ovipositor sheaths distinctly banded, with medial white region abruptly delineated from short, dark brown basal region and somewhat lighter brown apical region, the white region occupying slightly more than half length of sheath and about twice length of apical brown region.

Head with frons and scrobal depression similarly meshlike coriaceous to very slightly meshlike reticulate, with frons indistinguishably merged into parascrobal region; IOD about 0.4× head width; OOL: POL: LOL: MPOD = 1.0: 1.65–1.75: 2.4–2.6: 1.0. Antenna with combined length of pedicel + flagellum about 1.25–1.3× head width; scape about 3.8–4.0× as long as maximum width, in outer view ventral margin almost evenly curved in basal half, with at most very slender, uniform flange over apical two-thirds; pedicel in lateral view about 2× as long as wide; fl1 slightly transverse, about one-third length of pedicel; fl2 about 2.5× as long as wide and about 3× as long as fl1; subsequent funiculars increasing in width to subquadrate fl8; clava about 2.75× as long as wide, subequal in length to apical three funiculars, and about 0.33× length of funicle. Mesoscutum almost uniformly meshlike reticulatecoriaceous except lateral lobe more distinctly coriaceous with smaller cells dorsolongitudinally. Scutellar-axillar complex mostly reticulate-imbricate, but scutellum more coriaceous along midline. Prepectus setose over at least dorsal half but more broadly bare ventrally than dorsally. Acropleuron shallowly, meshlike reticulate anterior and posterior of medial microsculptured region, the cells only slightly larger posterior than anterior of medial region. Forewing setose except for linea calva; costal cell ventrally setose with at least 3 lines of setae along length toward leading margin, and dorsally with line of obscure whitish setae over about apical three-quarters; cc: mv: pmv: stv = 3.5–3.7: 2.3–2.4: 1.4–1.5: 1.0. Mesotibia with apical row of 5–7 brown pegs ( Fig. 19); mesotarsus ventrally with only a few brownish pegs ( Fig. 19), the basitarsus with row of 4–7 pegs along anterior margin and 2 or 3 pegs along posterior margin within basal half, second tarsomere with at most 1 apical peg on one or both sides and subsequent tarsomeres without pegs. Propodeum with U-shaped plical depression extending to foramen; callus with comparatively sparse white setae not obscuring cuticle or sculpture. Gaster with inner plate of ovipositor not extending conspicuously beyond apex; ovipositor sheaths about 1.0–1.1× length of marginal vein and about 0.65–0.7× length of metatibia.

MALE (Fig. 53). Length about 2 mm. Head with at least face metallic green to bluish-green, but vertex and lower face usually more purple under some angles of light; maxillary and labial palpi white. Antenna with pedicel brown dorsally and white ventrally; scape partly white to yellowish-white basally and ventrally, but brown or brown with metallic luster dorsoapically; flagellum brown. Mesosoma with tegula white; otherwise similar in color to head, variably green to purple dorsally but laterally more brown with metallic luster and with variably distinct Yshaped lighter line extending from anterolateral angle of mesocoxa along mesopleuron and transepisternal line. Legs with coxae similar in color to mesosoma laterally, but otherwise entirely white except for brownish apical 1 or 2 tarsomeres and subapical brownish spot on anterior surface of mesotibia. Gaster mostly brown, but with metallic luster basally and apically under some angles of light.

Head with frons and scrobal depression meshlike reticulate-coriaceous. Head with IOD about 0.5× head width; OOL: POL: LOL: MPOD = 1.0–1.25: 2.9–3.0: 1.4–1.5: 1.0; lower face with setae sparse, short, straight and white below torulus, though slightly longer laterally above malar sulcus; gena with one much longer seta below malar sulcus near base of mandible. Antenna with scape ovoid, about 2.25−2.4× as long as wide, the outer surface ventrally variably extensively micropunctate apically to more elongate-strigose or alutaceous basally, but sculpture inconspicuous because very shallow, often almost effaced ventrobasal to scapular scrobe; length of pedicel + flagellum about 1.7–1.8× as long as head width; pedicel subglobular, only about as long as apical width and with line of 4 or 5 apically curved setae (Fig. 57); flagellum elongate-filiform with conspicuous, curved, semierect white setae at least half as long as width of respective flagellomere (Fig. 55); fl1 very strongly transverse, disc-like, bare (Fig. 57); fl2–fl8 all oblong, about 1.8−2.2× as long as wide; clava lanceolate with only small micropilose sensory region ventroapically, about 2.75−3.0× as long as wide and 1.6−1.9× as long as last funicular. Mesonotum meshlike reticulate-coriaceous or scutellar-axillar somewhat more finely coriaceous. Propodeum very finely meshlike coriaceous to alutaceous on either side of median carina, and callus similarly sculptured with setae originating from tiny bumps. Forewing with cc: mv: pmv: stv = 3.3−3.5: 1.8−1.9: 1.3−1.4: 1.0; costal cell dorsally with line of whitish setae over about apical half or less, and ventrally with variably conspicuous setae along length, mesally with 1 or 2 lines.

Regional material examined (2♀, 3♂). CANADA. ALBERTA: Haney’s Farm near Lethbridge, 4.VII.97, K. Floate (2♀, 3♂; ♀ CNC Photo 2010-17, 2010-18; ♂ CNC Photo 2010-19) .

Distribution. The single collection record from southern Alberta (Map 11) represents the first for North America . Noyes listed the species as occurring throughout Europe and North Africa east to Iran and Kazakhstan. Based on the over 300 specimens I examined it appears to be quite a common species in the Palaearctic region, including in the following countries not recorded in Noyes (2010): Cyprus, Greece, Romania, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Biology. Hosts unknown in region, but Noyes (2010) listed several host species in Cynipidae and Eurytomidae (Hymenoptera) , plus Apionidae , Bruchidae and Curculionidae (Coleoptera) , Cecidomyiidae , Chloropidae and Tephritidae (Diptera) and Lasiocampidae , Psychidae and Pyralidae (Lepidoptera) .

Remarks. Females of E. microzonus are readily distinguished from other E. ( Eupelmus ) species by their reduced mesotarsal peg pattern, including having an asymmetrical pattern on the basitarsus ( Fig. 19). Including variability of the more numerous Palaearctic specimens examined, the basitarsus has up to 8 pegs along the anterior margin but only 1–4 pegs, including very rarely an apical peg, along the posterior margin. There are also 1 or 2 pegs apically on one or both sides of the second tarsomere and although extremely rarely there is a single apical peg on one side of the third tarsomere, at least the fourth and fifth tarsomeres lack pegs. European females also often have the femora variably extensively dark except apically and sometimes the tibiae light to dark brown within the basal half (excluding knees). The tegula sometimes appears entirely dark brown similar to most other Eupelmus species , but usually there is at least a very slender, short, whitish to yellowish band along the inner margin, though this sometimes is concealed by the overlying marginal flange of the mesoscutal lateral lobe. The forewing often also has more conspicuous, brownish setae.

Map 11. Regional distribution of E. microzonus (●) and E. nitifrons (̝).

Males of E. microzonus from Europe are also more variable in color than the only three known males from North America . European males always have a distinct subapical brown region on the mesotibia and sometimes the metatibia, and usually have at least the meso- and metafemora variably extensively dark. European males usually also have the head and mesosoma more strongly metallic green to bluish-green. Because of their extensively lightcolored legs and gracile-filiform flagellum (Fig. 53), regional males of E. microzonus most closely resemble those of E. pini in North America , as discussed under the latter species.

I examined the holotype of E. insulae Masi (1919) in 1984, at which time all that remained of the female was one middle leg and one antenna glued to two separate cards. The mesotibia has nine black apical pegs, whereas the mesotarsus has eight pegs along the length of its anteroventral margin and two pegs on the posteroventral margin within its basal half. Masi (1919) also described the ovipositor sheath as being yellowish with the basal quarter and apical third black. It is because of this color pattern and the mesotarsal peg pattern that I place E. insulae in synonymy under E. microzonus . Nikol’skaya (1952) described E. nigricauda from Crimea [ Ukraine], stating that the female was 2 mm in length. Kalina (1988) distinguished E. nigricauda and E. microzonus by the ovipositor sheaths being “wholly black” in the former compared to “with a distinct yellow ring” in the latter. European females of E. microzonus range in length from about 1.9−4 mm and the ovipositor sheaths are variable in color pattern, the apical dark band often being about as long as or, particularly in smaller specimens, sometimes even longer than the medial light-colored band. Furthermore, the USNM has a series of females and males that are labelled “Ex Alfalfa seed”, “ Poltava Russia ” [= Ukraine], “M. N. Nikolskaja coll”. The females are only about 2 mm in length and the sheaths vary from having a distinct medial light-colored band to having a only small yellowish spot submedially or being uniformly brown. I have not examined type material of E. nigricauda and I hesitate to synonymize the names formally without a Palaearctic revision of Eupelmus , but I suspect E. nigricauda represents a color form of E. microzonus correlated with body size and perhaps host.