Synopeas pauropsyllae Veenakumari & Buhl, 2018

Veenakumari, Kamalanathan, Buhl, Peter Neerup & Mohanraj, Prashanth, 2018, A new species of Synopeas (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae) parasitizing Pauropsylla cf. depressa (Psylloidea: Triozidae) in India, Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 58 (1), pp. 137-141 : 138-140

Synopeas pauropsyllae Veenakumari & Buhl sp. nov. ( Figs 1–8 )

Material examined. HOLOTYPE: ♀, INDIA: KARNATAKA: Bengaluru, Hebbal , 13°02 ′ 08 ″ N 77°35 ′ 49 ″ E, 906 m, 02.XII.2011 ( NBAIR, registration no. ICAR / NBAIR / P1920 ) . PARATYPES: 11 ♀♀ (nos. ICAR / NBAIR / P1921–P1931) and 2 (nos. ICAR / NBAIR /P1932–P1933), same data as holotype ( NBAIR).

Description. Adult female. Body length: 1.24–1.37 mm (mean = 1.3, SD = 0.04, n = 11; holotype = 1.3 mm).

Colour. General body colour black. A1 and legs golden yellow except dark brown coxae, apices of femur and tibia and basitarsi of hind leg; clava dark brown, other antennomeres golden yellow ( Figs 1, 5 ).

Head ( Figs 1, 2, 4, 5 ). FCI = 1.23; LCI = 1.44. IOS 0.65× width of head, shortest at the level of mid-frons; frons finely reticulate, sparsely setose; inverted V shaped striae present above toruli; hyperoccipital carina distinct, joining the posterior orbits; hyperoccipital carina extending anteromedially; occiput finely reticulate; compound eye bare, L/W= 19.4/13.1; posterior ocellus contiguous with orbits; POL>LOL in ratio of 24.4/10.5; clypeus rectangular (L/W = 2.3/12.7); interantennal process projecting; length to width of antennomeres in ratios of 25.1/5.1, 6.7/3.1, 2.8/1.9, 5.5/2.0, 2.5/2.3, 3.7/3.0, 4.2/4.7, 5.1/5.7, 5.1/6.6, 7.7/5.7, respectively; radicle 0.1× length of A1.

Mesosoma ( Figs 1–3 , 6, 8 ). Mesoscutum as long as wide (L/W = 29.5/30.6), convex, sparsely setose, finely reticulate, reticulations longitudinally elongate medially; posteromedial margin of mesoscutum extending as a short triangular midlobe over mesoscutellum; axilla large, triangular, covered with 12 long white setae; scutoscutellar sulcus non-foveate; pronotum clearly visible from above, reticulate, sparsely setose; epomial carina faint; cervical pronotal area finely reticulate with anterior rim of pronotum smooth; upper lateral pronotal area reticulate and sparsely setose; lower lateral pronotal area smooth; entire mesopleuron smooth; metapleuron smooth with dense long white setae; mesoscutellum triangular, convex, smooth with a short upturned spine with a lamella posteromedially, L/W = 13.7/20.4; lateral keel broad anteriorly and narrow posteriorly; metascutellum rectangular, smooth; metanotal trough smooth with two transverse median carinae ( Fig. 8 ); propodeum with two median carinae placed close to each other; lateral propodeal area smooth with dense long white setae. Forewing (L/W = 88.7/39.4) and hind wing (L/W = 77.5/14.1) hyaline, with sparse microtrichia; forewing with no marginal cilia; hind wing cilia 0.25× width of wing.

Metasoma ( Figs 1 , 6 ). L/W = 41.6/34.4; T1 short with median and submedian carinae; T2, entirely smooth with a row of long white setae on anterior margin; remaining tergites anteriorly smooth and with faint reticulations and sparse setae posteriorly; length and width of tergites T1–T 6 in ratios of 3.9/11.6, 30.3/18.2, 2.3/32.7, 2.0/28.1, 1.4/24.1, 3.5/18.7, respectively; anterior margin of S2 with dense setae.

Adult male. Similar to female. Body length 1.24–1.28 mm (mean = 1.26, SD = 0.03, n = 2).

Length and width of antennomeres A1–A 10 in ratios of 25.6/5.2, 6.2/3.2, 2.2/2.1, 5.8/2.6, 4.3/2.5, 5.0/3.1, 6.0/3.6, 6.1/3.7, 6.0/3.7, 10.0/3.5, respectively ( Fig. 7 ). A3–A10 densely setose, length of setae 0.1× length of A1. Metasoma L/W = 37.3/30.1, with seven tergites; length and width of tergites T1–T 7 in ratios of 3.6/14.1, 24.0/17.6, 2.9/29.3, 2.9/26.5, 2.1/21.2, 1.7/14.8, 1.3/8.3, respectively.

Variability. Not much variation was found between specimens except for differences in size as mentioned above. This could possibly be the result of all specimens being obtained from a single batch of galls.

Differential diagnosis. This new species of Synopeas is similar to S. involutum Kieffer, 1926 , S. pinnei Buhl, 2009, S. mangiferae Austin, 1984 and S. fuscum Buhl, 1998 but differs from them in the following combination of character states: presence of hyperoccipital carina, OOL not distinct, dense setae along hind margin of mesoscutum, shape of scutellum and unusually short female T3–T6. While S. involutum , S. pinnei and S. fuscum are distributed in the Palaearctic Region, S. mangiferae is an Oriental species known from India ( KIEFFER 1926; AUSTIN 1984; BUHL 1998, 2009).

Biology. All specimens emerged from galls induced by Pauropsylla cf. depressa ( Hemiptera : Psylloidea: Triozidae ) on isolated trees of Ficus benghalensis ( Figs 9–12 ) situated in rainfed agricultural land. The adult male psyllid that emerged from the galls closely resembles P. depressa Crawford, 1912 as redescribed by MATHUR (1975) in the structure of the head and antenna, the shape and venation of the fore wing and probably also in the paramere shape, but a more detailed study of the material is needed to confirm the identity (I. Malenovský & D. Burckhardt, pers. comm.). Pauropsylla depressa is a widely distributed species in India including Karnataka; it has so far been known to induce galls on Ficus racemosa L. ( MATHUR 1975, D’SOUZA & RAVISHANKAR 2014). Etymology. This species is named ‘ pauropsyllae ’ based on the generic name of the host of this parasitoid; noun in genitive case standing in apposition.

Figures

Figs 1–5. Synopeas pauropsyllae sp. nov. 1 – habitus, dorsal view; 2 – head and mesoscutum; 3 – mesoscutum, lateral view; 4 – frons; 5 – frons and female antenna.

Figs 6–8. Synopeas pauropsyllae sp. nov. 6 – propodeum and metasoma; 7 – male antenna; 8 – metanotum and propodeum, lateral view.

Figs 9–12. Host of Synopeas pauropsyllae sp. nov. 9 – galls on Ficus benghalensis leaves; 10 – cross section of a gall showing two nymphs of Pauropsylla cf. depressa Crawford, 1912 in the cavities; 11 – close up of a nymph of P. cf. depressa; 12– lateral view of an adult male of P. cf. depressa.