Pleurotroppopsis dentata ( Surekha & Narendran, 1988 )

Cao, Huan-Xi, Dale-Skey, Natalie, Burwell, Chris J. & Zhu, Chao-Dong, 2022, Review of the genus Pleurotroppopsis Girault (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) with interspecific phylogenetic relationships based on morphological characters, Zootaxa 5190 (4), pp. 451-484 : 460

Pleurotroppopsis dentata ( Surekha & Narendran, 1988)

( Fig. 4 )

Atullya dentata Surekha & Narendran, 1988: 195 . Holotype ♀, DZUC (not examined).

Pleurotroppopsis dentata ( Surekha & Narendran, 1988) , Gumovsky, 2007: 10.

Diagnosis. FEMALE. Antenna predominantly dark brown. Fore wing infuscate below STV and apical part of MV to broadly infuscate below MV, with speculum reduced ( Fig. 4b ). Frontovertex without a median groove below anterior ocellus; frontal carina sinuate because upper margin of scrobes incised in the middle ( Fig. 4d ). Ocelli in an obtuse-angled triangle. Occiput with irregular longitudinal carinae above transverse transoccipital ridge ( Fig. 4b ). MLM with raised reticulation, without a median groove ( Figs 4a, 4b ). Scutellum with sublateral and posterior grooves expressed as narrow punctures; posterior groove slightly incised medially ( Figs 4a–4c ). Axilla with numerous setae, mainly in anterior metallic part. Dorsellum with a row of punctures along anterior margin in anterior 1/2 ( Fig. 4c ). Propodeum with submedian areas with distinct punctures and some short transverse carinae except for depressed and irregularly sculptured anterolateral corners ( Fig. 4c ); spiracular areas setose and sculptured posteriorly. Gt 1 posteriorly with setae arranged in about 2 irregular rows and sculptured anteriorly ( Fig. 4a ); Gt 6 with a distinct horn in each posterolateral corner ( Figs 4a, 4b ). Metafemur with teeth along ventral margin.

MALE. Unknown.

Material examined. Type material. Paratype: 1♀, India, Kerala, Calicut University, coll. Narendran Party, 10.II.1987, labeled with ‘ Atullya dentata sp. N., det. Surekha & Narendran, 1988 ’ ( NHMUK) .

Other material examined. 1♀, India, Ut. Pr.: Dehra Dun 20.X.1979, Bouček, Bouček det. 1989 ( NHMUK) . 1♀, India, Ut. Pr.: Dehra Dun 21.X.1979, Bouček, Bouček det. 1989 ( NHMUK) ; 1♀, India, Tamil N., Madras , 2.XI.1979, Bouček, Bouček. Det. 1989 ( NHMUK) ; 1♀, India, Hyderabad, Patancheru , ICRISAT, VII-IX, 1980, M. Trap, coll. Bernays & Woodhead, det. Z. Bouček, 1988 ( NHMUK) ; 1♀, India, Hyderabad, Patancheru, ICRISAT, VII-IX, 1980, M. Trap , coll. Bernays & Woodhead, with an identification label “ Pleurotroppopsis javana , det. Bouček ”, det. Huan-Xi Cao 2017 ( NHMUK) ; 1♀, China, Yunnan, Malipo, Babuxiang, Jiangdong , 2.XI.2016, coll. Xue-Mei Yang ( IZCAS) .

Biology. Unknown.

Distribution. China: Yunnan (new distribution record); India.

Remarks. Females of Pleurotroppopsis dentata are uniquely differentiated by having distinct horns in the posterolateral corners of Gt 6. Females also have distinct longitudinal carinae on the occiput, which are also characteristic of 5 other species ( P. dactylispae , P. hirta , P. peukscutella , P. podagrica and P. tischeriae ), but in these latter species the carinae are weak and short and difficult to discern under the light of a stereomicroscope. There is, however, currently no other evidence supporting a possible close relationship between these species. In the parsimony analysis based on morphological characters, P. dentata was clustered with the clade of P. hirta and P. tischeriae , though the low bootstrap value indicates unreliable phylogenetic relationships between these 2 branches, each of which has 4 nonhomplasious characters (autapomorphies for the branch of P. dentata , and synapomorphies for the other branch) ( Fig. 19 ). This is possibly because of insufficient taxon sampling, and further sampling might reveal other undescribed species between these 2 branches. For now, the relationship between P. dentata and P. hirta and P. tischeriae remains uncertain.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Pleurotroppopsis dentata (Surekha & Narendran), paratype female. a–b, habitus in dorsal view; c, mesosoma in dorsal view; d, vertex; e, labels. Scale bar: 0.5 mm. ©The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London, and made available under Creative Commons License 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

FIGURE 19. Phylogenetic relationships of Pleurotroppopsis species based on morphological characters. Unambiguous apomorphies are mapped on branches using WinClada, with black circles representing nonhomplasious changes (synapomorphies or autapomorphies), and white circles representing homplasious changes. The mirror cladogram of the strict consensus tree with 89 steps obtained from parsimony analyses in TNT is shown on the right, with numbers above the nodes indicating bootstrap values.