Synopeas vikbergi, Buhl, 2016

Buhl, Peter Neerup, 2016, New European species of Platygastrinae, with an updated list of Latvian species of Platygastrinae and Sceliotrachelinae (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae), Latvijas Entomologs 53, pp. 3-13 : 6-8

Synopeas vikbergi sp. nov. ( Figs 9-13 )

Holotype ♀ MZH: Finland, Uusimaa region, Nurmijärvi (6705:378), 24.07.1992, Martti Koponen.

Paratype: 1Ƌ MZH, same data as in the holotype.

D e r i v a t i o n o m i n i s: Patronymic. Named after the prominent Finnish hymenopterist Veli Vikberg.

D i a g n o s i s: Hardly 1 mm long, with head fully twice as wide as long, without hyperoccipital carina; female A4 fully twice as long as A3, A7 about three times as long as A6, fully as long as A8; A9 1.4 times as wide as long; notauli only weakly indicated posteriorly; scutellum very slightly below level of mesoscutum; tooth in lateral view pale and broadly triangular, about 0.3 as long as anterior part of scutellum; female metasoma nearly as long as rest of body, 1.45 times as wide as high, T3-T6 with distinct microsculpture, T6 about as long as wide.

Description: ♀. Body length 0.90 mm. Black, antennae and legs including coxae dark brown, the following parts pale brownish: mandibles, entire fore legs (except coxae), mid and hind trochanters, about basal 0.6 of mid and hind tibiae, and entire tarsi except darkened tip. Head from above ( Fig. 9 ) fully twice as wide as long, wider than mesosoma (16:13), distinctly reticulate-coriaceous with larger meshes on occiput than on rest of head, only with transverse elements on frons; hyperoccipital carina absent but head somewhat angled behind ocelli. LOL about twice as long as OOL. Head in frontal view wider than high (16:13). Antenna ( Fig. 10 ) with A1 0.75 times as long as height of head, A9 1.4 times as wide as long. Mesosoma 1.6 times as long as wide, 1.2 times as high as wide. Sides of pronotum in upper half reticulate-coriaceous (not longitudinally so), smooth in lower half and along hind margin, in upper half evenly and moderately densely setose. Mesoscutum towards sides with sparse, adpressed setae, very few around middle, finely and rather uniformly reticulate-coriaceous; notauli weakly indicated posteriorly, converging to a fine point which is slightly prolonged to base of scutellum, at each side with about eight golden setae over each rather narrow scuto-scutellar groove. Mesopleuron smooth. Scutellum ( Fig. 11 ) along middle smooth, sparsely setose, without a carina, towards sides densely setose, behind with a distinct tooth which in dorsal view is thin and only pale at apex, in lateral view broadly triangular and light brownish. Metapleuron smooth, bare in about anterior 0.3, over most of surface with only sparse, long pilae, with dense pilosity only along hind margin. Propodeal carinae low, fused, dark, straight. Fore wing 0.8 times as long as entire body, overreaching tip of metasoma by a distance equal to length of T5-T6 combined, 2.5 times as long as wide, almost clear, with fine and dense microtrichia; marginal cilia 0.06 width of wing. Hind wing 6.3 times as long as wide; marginal cilia half as long as width of wing. Metasoma ( Fig. 12 ) 0.95 times as long as head and mesosoma combined, 0.9 times as wide as mesosoma, 1.45 times as wide as high. T1 without noticeable carinae. T2 smooth except for reticulation along narrow hind margin. T3-T6 with distinct reticulate microsculpture, with a few inconspicuous setae. T6 about as long as wide.

Ƌ. Body length 0.80 mm. Antenna ( Fig. 13 ) with A1-A6 yellowish brown, A9 hardly 1.2 times as long as wide, flagellar pubescence very short. Scutellar tooth smaller than in female. Fore wing 0.95 times as long as entire body, marginal cilia about 0.1 width of wing. Metasoma as long as mesosoma.

D i ff e r e n t i a l d i a g n o s i s: Close to S. evanescens BUHL, 2010 and S. ronquisti BUHL, 2010 , but with a more transverse head, relatively longer female A7, and a more pointed female metasoma with stronger sculptured apical tergites, see also Buhl (2010b). The somewhat similar S. melampus FÖRSTER, 1861 has female A3-A5 almost equal, each hardly longer than wide, and mesosoma twice as long as wide.

Figures

Figures 9-13. Synopeas vikbergi sp. nov. 9 – head from above; 10 – female antenna; 11 – female scutellum and propodeum in lateral view; 12 – female metasoma from above; 13 – male antenna.