Caenocrepis simonae, Mitroiu, Mircea-Dan, 2012

Mitroiu, Mircea-Dan, 2012, The genus Caenocrepis Thomson (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) in the Afrotropical region, with a key to world species, Zootaxa 3557, pp. 49-55 : 51-53

Caenocrepis simonae sp. nov.

( Figs 7, 8, 11 , 13, 17 )

Type material. Holotype female ( MNHN): MOZAMBIQUE: “ Mozambique, Nhica ‘Camp’, 20-27.XI.2009, Claire Villemant rec.”, “ S 10°45.320’ E 40°12.812’, P1, Alt. 122m, Malaise”.

Paratypes (one female, one male): MOZAMBIQUE: 1Ƥ, same information as holotype ( MNHN); ZIMBABWE: 13 “ Rhodesia, Salisbury, A. Watsham / WF 96, xii 74 ”, “ Caenocrepis ” [Bouček’s handwriting] ( BMNH).

Diagnosis. The female is easily distinguished from females of all the other species by its strong bluish metallic reflections, eye obviously narrowing in lower part, and short metasoma ( Fig. 7 ). The male, if correctly associated, has small eyes and thus very broad temples, and the metallic reflections are weaker ( Fig. 8 ).

Description. Female. Body length. 2.75 mm.

Colour. Head mainly bluish except gena and occiput mainly black. Eyes and ocelli light grey. Antenna with scape, pedicel and anelli orange, pedicel darker dorsally; funicle dark brown, F1 lighter ventrally. Mandible light brown. Mesosoma mainly bluish dorsally with some violet reflections which are almost black in posterior part of mesoscutum; axillae, frenum, mesopleuron and metapleuron dark violet to black. Propodeum mainly bluish laterally, median area darker. Wings hyaline, tegula and venation brown. Coxae black with some faint violet reflections; trochanters brown; femora brownish-black; tibiae brown with pale yellow knees; tarsi pale yellow, last segment brown. Metasoma greenish-blue at base, the rest blackish, with some bronze reflections.

Head. Uniformly reticulate except clypeus. In dorsal view about 2.3× as broad as long and in frontal view about 1.2–1.3× as broad as high. Posterior part obviously concave, vertex becoming abrupt behind posterior ocelli. Temple short in dorsal view, about one quarter length of an eye. POL about 1.3× OOL. Eyes large, about 1.5× as high as long, with inner margins slightly diverging. Malar space about half eye height and about 0.7× eye length. Clypeus striate, face with a small convexity above it; clypeal margin deeply incised, delimiting one small lobe on each side of the incision ( Fig. 11 , 13 ). Antennal scrobes not obviously developed, but a small depression above both toruli present. Antennae inserted very slightly above lower ocular line, separated by less than diameter of a torulus; scape not reaching median ocellus, short; combined length of pedicel and flagellum about 0.7× head width and about 2.2–2.3× scape length; pedicel length about 1.5× width in lateral view; both anelli transverse, the first slightly longer and narrower than the second; funicle with proximal F slightly longer than broad (F1 length 1.25× width), distal funiculars from slightly elongate to slightly transverse (F6 length 0.9–1.1× width), and with sensilla arranged in two rows on each segment; clava short, its apex rounded, length about 1.8× width.

Mesosoma. Slightly narrower than head, from about as long as broad to 1.1× as long as broad and 1.35–1.37× as long as high. Mesoscutum about twice as broad as long. Scutellum slightly convex, width about 1.1–1.2× length, slightly shorter than mesoscutum. Dorsellum as a transverse lamina, lateral panels of metanotum uniformly reticulate. Propodeum short, width about 3.8–4.0× median length; plicae not raised but median area clearly delimited and median carina slightly indicated among raised reticulation; sides with shallow engraved reticulation; nuchal area not developed, almost smooth, delimited from median area by a depression; spiracle elongate, not touching metanotum. Fore wing length about 2.3–2.4× width; M:S:P = 9:14:20; stigma moderate, uncus small; costal cell ventrally with many rows of hairs distally; basal cell pilose in distal third; speculum short, not reaching proximal end of M; disc densely pilose, without bare areas below M or between S and P; marginal fringe short.

Metasoma. Short-acuminate, distinctly shorter and narrower than mesosoma, length about 1.2–1.5× width; most tergites collapsed; Gt1 about as long as rest of tergites combined. Ovipositor sheaths distinct in dorsal view.

Male. Differs from the female mainly in the following characters: body length 2.5 mm; colour darker, metallic reflections less evident; head in dorsal view with width about 2.2× length, and in frontal view width almost 1.5× height; temple larger due to small eye, in dorsal view about half eye length; eye much smaller than for female, height about 1.3× length; clava longer, length 2.25× width; mesoscutum longer, width about 1.8× length; gaster oval, flattened, Gt1 not distinctly enlarged.

Etymology. I dedicate this new species to my wife.

Remarks. If the male is correctly associated with the female, this is the first instance of strong sexual dimorphism in Caenocrepis , the male having small eyes and broad temples compared to females.

Distribution. Afrotropical: Mozambique, Zimbabwe.

Hosts. Unknown. Palaearctic species of Caenocrepis develop as egg parasitoids of Curculionidae (Coleoptera) such as species of Pachycerus Schoenherr and Asproparthenis Gozis. It is therefore plausible that the hosts of C. simonae belong to the same group, especially because there are several known Afrotropical species of Pachycerus ( Meregalli 2009) .

Figures

FIGURES 7 – 12. 7 and 8, Caenocrepis simonae sp. nov., lateral habitus: 7, female holotype; 8 male paratype. 9 and 10, C. formidolosa sp. nov., lateral habitus: 9, female holotype; 10, male paratype. 11 and 12, head in frontal view: 11. C. simonae, female holotype; 12. C. formidolosa, female paratype.

FIGURES 13 – 18. 13 and 14, clypeus: 13, C. simonae sp. nov., female holotype; 14. C. formidolosa sp. nov., female paratype. 15 – 18, fore wings: 15, C. arenicola, female; 16, C. bothynoderi, female; 17, C. simonae, female holotype; 18, C. formidolosa, female holotype.