Apleurotropis Girault

Hansson, Christer, 2010, Apleurotropis Girault (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) new to tropical America, including six new species and biological records, Zootaxa 2563, pp. 35-52 : 36-37

Apleurotropis Girault

Apleurotropis Girault, 1913: 77 –78. Type species: Apleurotropis viridis Girault , by original designation.

Apleurotropopseus Girault, 1913: 146 . Type species: Apleurotropopseus albipes Girault , by original designation. Synonymized by Bouċek, 1988: 711.

Epentedon Girault, 1915: 186 . Type species: Epentedon unnotipennis Girault , by original designation. Synonymized by Bouċek, 1988: 711.

Horismenella Girault, 1915:189 . Type species: Horismenella clariviridis Girault , by original designation. Synonymized by Bouċek, 1988: 711.

Pleurotropomyia Girault, 1913: 145 . Type species: Pleurotropomyia grotiusi Girault , by original designation. Synonymized by Bouċek, 1988: 711.

Propleurotropis Girault, 1937:1 –2. Type species: Propleurotropis minii Girault , by original designation. Synonymized by Bouċek, 1988: 711.

Diagnosis. Eyes with dense long hairs (e.g. Figs 7 , 12 ); vertex with a pit or a short groove in front of anterior ocellus (e.g. Figs 4 , 9 ); frons just above frontal suture raised to form a carina, V-shaped, straight or slightly down-curved laterally (e.g. Figs 2 , 17 , 22 ); pronotum with a transverse carina close to posterior margin (e.g. Figs 5 , 10 ), laterally also with a complete longitudinal carina ( Fig. 31 ); mesoscutum usually with a median groove in posterior 1/3–1/2 (e.g. Figs 5 , 15 ); mesoscutum and scutellum with engraved and strong reticulation (e.g. Figs 10 , 20 ); postmarginal vein long, 2.4–3.7X as long as stigmal vein; propodeum with complete and more or less parallel plicae and with a complete median carina (e.g. Figs 6 , 11 , 16 ).

Description. Flagellum with a two-segmented clava in both sexes; male flagellomeres with scattered setae; male scape enlarged, ventral sense area present along entire scape; sensilla ampullacea symmetric and short, present on all flagellomeres. Antenna with discoid anelli. Mandibles with two large teeth at apex and with one small tooth above large teeth. Clypeus not delimited. Malar sulcus present. Upper frons just above frontal suture as a raised carina, straight or slightly down-curved laterally; antennal scrobes reach frontal suture separately. Occipital margin rounded; occiput without median groove or fold above foramen magnum.

Pronotum with a transverse carina close to posterior margin. Midlobe of mesoscutum with two pairs of setae; mesoscutum and scutellum with engraved reticulation; mesoscutum with a shallow median groove in posterior 1/3–1/2; notauli distinct in anterior ½, in posterior ½ present as weakly delimited notaular depressions that are usually smooth. Scutellum with or without lateral grooves in anterior 1/2–2/3; with one pair of setae. Transepimeral sulcus weakly curved. Dorsellum visible in dorsal view. Postmarginal vein 2.4– 3.7X as long as stigmal vein. Propodeum smooth and shiny with complete median carina and parallel and complete plicae.

Petiole 0.5–2.0X as long as wide, smooth and shiny or with irregular carinae, with or without a spine medially to either side of the petiole, ventral surface smooth. The male genitalia are similar to the majority of Entedoninae , i.e. with two digital spines and with volsellar setae thin and narrow (see e.g. Hansson 1996).

Biology. Primary parasitoids on leaf-mining larvae of sawflies ( Hymenoptera ), Agromyzidae (Diptera) , Hispinae ( Coleoptera , Chrysomelidae ), and various Lepidoptera groups ( Bouček 1988). Hosts for the species described here are mainly from leaf-mining Lepidoptera , with one record from a leaf-mining Diptera and one from an unidentified gall (all new records): Bucculatrix sp. ( Lepidoptera : Bucculatricidae ) on Forsteronia spicata (Apocyanaceae) ; Elachista sp. ( Lepidoptera : Elachistidae ) on Olyra latifolia (Poaceae) ; Marmara sp. ( Lepidoptera : Gracillariidae ) on Heliconia sp. ( Heliconiaceae ); Phyllocnistis sp. ( Lepidoptera : Gracillariidae ) on Trichilia havanensis (Meliaceae) ; Tischeria spp. ( Lepidoptera : Tischeriidae ) on Coussapoa villosa (Moraceae) and Gouania polygama (Rhamnaceae) ; unidentified Elachistidae (Lepidoptera) mining leaves of Bambusa (= Guadua ) angustifolia (Poaceae) ; unidentified lepidopteran leafminers on Saurauia sp. ( Actinidiaceae ), Trichilia havanensis , Peperomia peltata (Piperaceae) , unidentified Asteraceae , Heliconiaceae and Melastomataceae ; Agromyzidae indet. ( Diptera ) on Tradescantia sp. ( Commelinaceae ); from a leaf pustule gall on Ficus hartwegii (Moraceae) .

Distribution. Australia, India, Japan, Madagascar, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Tanzania. Tropical America (all new records): Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, Peru.

Remarks. Apleurotropis shares some characters with Achrysocharoides Girault : hairy eyes, frons just above frontal suture raised and forming a carina, lateral downsloping part of pronotum with a longitudinal carina. This latter character is somewhat different in the two genera, in Achrysocharoides it is incomplete, present only in posterior ½, whereas it is complete in Apleurotropis . The two latter characters are as far as is known present only in these two genera, hence indicating a possible relationship. These genera differ as follows. Apleurotropis has antennal scrobes in females joining frontal suture separately, mesoscutum and scutellum with engraved reticulation, postmarginal vein 2.4–3.7X as long as stigmal vein, propodeum with a distinct and strong median carina; Achrysocharoides with antennal scrobes in females joining below frontal suture, mesoscutum and scutellum with raised reticulation or partly smooth — sometimes with pits, postmarginal vein 0.5–1.5X (usually about 1X) as long as stigmal vein, and propodeum without strong median carina.

Identification. In the key to the Nearctic genera of Eulophidae by Schauff et al. (1997) Apleurotropis runs to couplet 119 where the genera Entedon and Pediobius are keyed out. Apleurotropis differs from both in having engraved reticulation on midlobe of mesoscutum and scutellum (mesoscutum and scutellum with raised reticulation in both Entedon and Pediobius ), and in having a very long postmarginal vein (2.4–3.7X as long as stigmal vein), in Entedon and Pediobius the postmarginal vein is at most 1.7X as long as stigmal vein but usually these two veins are subequal in length. It differs from Entedon in having distinct propodeal plicae and from Pediobius in having medioposterior part of propodeum short and anterior part of petiole narrow — in Pediobius the medioposterior part of propodeum is extended backwards to varying degrees to form a nucha, and anterior part of petiole is wide and concave to embrace the extended medioposterior part of propodeum. Another option for identification is to use the multiple entry key to the Neotropical genera of Entedoninae on the website www.neotropicaleulophidae.com.

Figures

FIGURES 7 – 11. Apleurotropis albiscapus sp. nov. 7, head frontal, female. 8, head frontal, male. 9, vertex, female. 10, mesosoma dorsal, female. 11, propodeum, female.

FIGURES 12 – 16. Apleurotropis anemia sp. nov. 12, head frontal, female. 13, head frontal, male. 14, vertex, female. 15, mesosoma dorsal, female. 16, propodeum, female.

FIGURES 2 – 6. Apleurotropis albicaulis sp. nov. 2, head frontal, female. 3, head frontal, male. 4, vertex, female. 5, mesosoma dorsal, female. 6, propodeum, female.

FIGURES 17 – 21. Apleurotropis assis sp. nov. 17, head frontal, female. 18, head frontal, male. 19, vertex, female. 20, mesosoma dorsal, female. 21, propodeum, female.

FIGURES 22 – 26. Apleurotropis ficaria sp. nov. 22, head frontal, female. 23, head frontal, male. 24, vertex, female. 25, mesosoma dorsal, female. 26, propodeum, female.

FIGURES 27 – 31. 27 – 30. Apleurotropis strix sp. nov. 27, head frontal, female. 28, vertex, female. 29, mesosoma dorsal, female. 30, propodeum, female. 31, A. anemia sp. nov., pronotum lateral, female, arrow points at longitudinal carina.