Cheiloneurus mora, Noyes, 2023

Noyes, John Stuart, 2023, ENCYRTIDAE OF COSTA RICA (HYMENOPTERA: CHALCIDOIDEA), 4 Subfamily Encyrtinae: tribes Arrhenophagini, Habrolepidini, Cerapterocerini, Cheiloneurini, Trechnitini, Cercobelini, Polaszekiini, Protyndarichoidini, Gahaniellini and Syrphophagini (part), mainly primary parasitoids and hyperparasitoids of Coccoidea and Psylloidea (Hemiptera), Taxonomic Monographs on Neotropical Hymenoptera (Oxford, England) 2 (11), pp. 1-921 : 434-436

Cheiloneurus mora sp.nov.

(Figs 1105-1110)

DIAGNOSIS. Female (length about 1.2mm): body mostly orange with some brown areas with a weak to moderate metallic sheen on head, mesoscutum and gaster; mouth margin narrowly dark brown; temple with a distinct diagonal, brown streak to gena; antenna (Fig. 1106) with scape mostly pale orange with ventral margin broadly brown; pedicel pale orange with a dark brown longitudinal streak; funicle brown; clava dark brown; posterior part of mesoscutum with dense silvery setae; fore and hind coxae white, mid coxa pale orange; legs mostly white to pale orange with some dark brown areas; fore wing (Fig. 1108) mostly infuscate with basal cell almost completely hyaline, a small hyaline area at apex of venation and an opposite hyaline area on posterior wing margin, apex with a triangular hyaline area; head about 4X as wide as frontovertex, in facial view slightly longer than broad, subcircular with genae converging and evenly curved; frontovertex naked medially above scrobes; eye separated from scrobe by about diameter of anterior ocellus, area between eye and scrobe completely smooth, scrobal margin rounded; interantennal prominence with about 25 inconspicuous setae and with a weak, dorsal, median ridge; mandible with two teeth and a truncation, almost tridentate; antenna (Fig. 1106) with scape about 3.5X as long as broad; funicle with F1 quadrate, remaining segments transverse; head width about 1.2X flagellum length; linear sensilla on F3-F6; clava 3-segmented, slightly shorter than funicle; sensory area enlarged and forming an oblique truncation, extending nearly 0.5X along ventral margin; mesoscutum (Fig. 1105) anteriorly with coarse, longitudinally elongate, striate-reticulate sculpture; scutellum with a distinct, apical tuft of setae; wings fully developed; fore wing (Fig. 1108) about 2.5X as long as broad; parastigma slightly downcurved; costal cell dorsally naked but ventrally with a complete line of setae; area below proximal part of parastigma with a group of about 14 setae that continue part way along cubital vein track toward wing base; apices of postmarginal and stigmal veins connected by a naked hyaline area that continues a little way into disc (Fig. 1109); apical bristle of postmarginal vein about 0.6X as long as marginal vein; mid tibial spur very slightly shorter than basitarsus; propodeum with about four or five setae adjacent to spiracle, side naked; syntergum about as long as mid tibia; ovipositor (Fig. 1110) about 4.2X gonostylus or about 1.5X as long as mid tibia; gonostylus very slightly longer than mid tibial spur; exserted part of ovipositor about 0.3X as long as mid tibial spur. Male: unknown.

Female (holotype): length, including ovipositor, 1.23mm; excluding ovipositor, 1.19mm ( CPD) .

Head generally pale orange; occiput with a brown, triangular mark above foramen; frontovertex slightly dusky with a weak purple, blue and green lustre, strongest in ocellar area; temple and upper gena with a weak green and purple sheen, lower gena with a blue, coppery and brassy sheen; area between eye and scrobe with a weak green and purple sheen; lower face with a curved, dark brown line between toruli and mouth margin that connects with a diagonal brown line from temple; frontovertex clothed with inconspicuous, translucent, pale brown setae, a line of fine, translucent setae between eye and scrobe; maxillary palpus white; antenna (Fig. 1106) with radicle pale orange; scape pale orange, internally with ventral margin broadly dark brown in proximal half; pedicel pale orange with a dark brown streak internally along its length; funicle brown, F6 partially orange-brown and clava dark brown; pronotum orange with neck broadly dark brown; prosternum orange, dark brown outside coxa; mesoscutum orange in anterior onefifths, posterior two-fifths with a strong, dark, metallic blue and purple sheen, posterior margin purple-brown, anterior part clothed in relatively sparse dark brown setae, posterior part clothed in relatively dense, translucent, silvery setae mixed with a few dark brown setae; tegula orange with apex orange-brown; axilla and scutellum orange clothed with dark brown setae, subapical tuft black; metanotum orange-brown; mesopleuron pale orange, posteriorly orange-brown, anterior part with a very weak brassy sheen, posterior part with a weak brassy, coppery and purple sheen; fore coxa white; fore femur white with apical one-third pale orange, weakly marked pale brown, tibia largely pale orange with a very weak subbasal, pale brown band, tarsus pale orange; mid coxa pale orange; mid femur white, apex pale orange, tibia mostly pale orange but with an incomplete subbasal brown band and with dorsal margin brownish for about half its length, spur and tarsus pale orange; hind coxa white; hind femur white proximally with distal two-thirds pale orange, knee narrowly brown, tibia pale orange with an incomplete, brown, subbasal band and a diagonal brown stripe externally for about two-thirds of its length, tarsus pale orange; fore wing (Fig. 1108) mostly infuscate, hyaline towards base and at apex; parastigma yellow, remainder of venation brown; propodeum orange, side brown with a weak green and purple sheen, about 5 or 6 pale, translucent setae near spiracle; gaster mainly dark brown with a green, brassy, coppery and purple sheen, anterior part of syntergum and side of gaster orange; gonostylus pale orange.

Head about 4X as wide as frontovertex, in profile about 1.6X as high as deep, anteriorly interantennal prominence hardly protuberant level with torulus; occipital margin sharp, not carinate; ocelli forming an angle of about 60°; frontovertex quite shiny, with shallow, fairly regular, polygonally reticulate sculpture of mesh slightly smaller than diameter of eye facet, ocellar area with slightly deeper sculpture; narrowest area between eye and scrobe slightly wider than diameter of anterior ocellus, area immediately below lowest part of eye completely smooth and shiny; scrobes shallow, broadly ∩-shaped, not sharply margined; interantennal prominence with similar sculpture to frontovertex, clothed in sparse translucent setae, dorsally acute and with a weak median ridge, scrobes meeting; temple virtually smooth with very shallow, irregular, elongate sculpture; gena with slightly deeper, irregular, reticulate sculpture; antenna as in Fig. 1106; scape broadened and flattened, about 3X as long as broad, broadest in middle; funicle with F1 quadrate, F2-F6 clearly transverse; linear sensilla present only on F3-F6; clava clearly broadened, slightly shorter than funicle, sutures oblique, sensory area enlarged, extending ventrally about 0.4X along clava, giving it an obliquely truncate appearance; eye reaching occipital margin, naked; inner eye margins more or less parallel; malar sulcus absent; clypeal margin weakly concave medially; mandible tridentate with 2 acute teeth and a broadly rounded upper tooth; apical segment of maxillary palpus not enlarged, about as long as radicle. Relative measurements: HW 60, HH 57.5, FV 15, POL 6, OOL 0, OCL 3.5, AOL 7.5, EL 38, EW 28, MS 29, SL 26, SW 8.5.

Thorax (Fig. 1105) with irregular, polygonally reticulate sculpture on pronotum that is about as deep as that on frontovertex; mesoscutum in posterior half with fairly regular, polygonally reticulate sculpture that is clearly deeper than that on frontovertex, sculpture in anterior half coarse striate-reticulate and about as deep as that on pronotum; axilla with similar sculpture to pronotum, scutellum slightly deeper and more longitudinally elongate sculpture; axilla and scutellum with similar sculpture to that on anterior part of mesoscutum, elongate on sides of scutellum; visible part of mesoscutum about 2.2X as broad as long; scutellum about 1.1X as broad as long with a distinct subapical tuft, setae mostly about 0.4X as long as scutellum; mid tibia without a distinct, external carina; hind femur about 3.8X as long as broad; fore wing with venation and setation as in Figs 1108, 1109; costal cell dorsally with 1 seta at apex; apices of postmarginal and stigmal veins connected by a distinct, naked, hyaline streak (Fig. 1109); propodeum (Fig. 1105) medially about 0.13X as long as scutellum and virtually smooth, side virtually completely smooth. Relative measurements: FWL 53, FWW 21; HWL 45, HWW 11.5.

Gaster without “gland-like” structures on Gt1 or Gt5; hypopygium (Fig. 1107) reaching about half-way to apex; syntergum about as long as mid tibia, with apex weakly angular; ovipositor (Fig. 1110) slightly exserted, the exserted part about one-third length of mid tibial spur or about 0.1X mid tibia. Relative measurements: OL 39.5, GL 9.5 [MT 27].

Variation. Only holotype examined.

Male. Unknown.

DISTRIBUTION. Costa Rica.

HOSTS. Unknown.

MATERIAL EXAMINED.

Type material. Holotype E: COSTA RICA, Guanacaste, RF Monte Alto, Send. La Ceiba , LN 221100 382950, 600m, #65008, 21.ix-22.x.2001 (I. Jiménez) . Holotype in NHMUK .

COMMENTS. Cheiloneurus izhevskyi Trjapitzin & Triapitsyn (2007) , described from Mexico, may run to mora in the key to Costa Rican species presented here because the scape is described as being brown-yellow with only the ventral margin dark brown. These authors compared izhevskyi with noxius and lineascapus, two species that are considered here to be close to nigrescens Howard , all three species having a characteristic light stripe along the middle of the scape. For this reason, I think it is unlikely that izhevskyi is similar to mora , and should be easy enough to distinguish from it because the scrobes of izhevskyi are sharply margined, whereas in mora and similar species the scrobal margins are rounded.

See also comments under cero (p. 415).