Psyllaephagus tangae Zou & Zhang, 2023

Zou, Boyu, Hu, Hongying, Zhang, Lanwei & Zhang, Yanzhou, 2023, A taxonomic study of Psyllaephagus Ashmead (Hymenoptera, Encyrtidae) from China, ZooKeys 1184, pp. 327-359 : 327

Psyllaephagus tangae Zou & Zhang sp. nov.

Fig. 17

Psyllaehagus nikolskajae Trjapitzin: Tang et al. 2016: 74 (misidentification).

Type material.

Holotype ♀ [on slide], China - Xinjiang, Changji, 21.Jul.2012, by sweeping, leg. HY Hu’s group (deposited in ICXU); Paratypes 11♀♀, same data as holotype.

Diagnosis.

Female. Body length ~ 1.0 mm; all coxae dark brown, hind femur dark brown; F4 smaller than F3 in size (Fig. 17A ); clava longer than F3-F5 combined; sculpture of scutellum with large cells in basal half and small cells near apex (Fig. 17C ); OL ~ 1.2 × MT.

Description.

Female. Body length ~ 1.0 mm, with greenish blue sheen; head and face generally dark with blue reflections; axillae with purple sheen; mesoscutum, axillae, and scutellum with bronze sheen; tegula entirely yellow; scape dark brown except apex yellow; basal 1/2 of pedicel dark brown, the remainder yellow; funiculus yellow; all coxae dark brown; hind femur dark brown but yellow at apex (Fig. 17D-F ); wings hyaline, venation brown.

Head with reticulate sculpture HW ~ 2.5 × FV, HW ~ 3.2 × HL, head finely reticulate, overlaid with regularly spaced shallow punctuations; ocelli forming an obtuse triangle, angle ~ 120°; OCL ~ 0.9 × diameter of posterior ocellus; OOL ~ 0.6 × diameter of posterior ocellus; mandible with two teeth and a broad truncation; antenna with scape 5.0 × as long as wide; pedicel ~ 1.6 × as long as wide; F1-F4 broader than long, F5 subquadrate, F6 quadrate; clava 3-segmented but not obvious; mandible with two teeth and a broad truncation. HW 17; HL 5.3; FV 7; OCL 1.4; OOL 0.96; SL 7.2; SW 1.4.

Mesoscutum distinctly convex; dorsally with reticulate sculpture similar to that on frontovertex; sculpture of scutellum with large cells in basal half and small cells near apex; marginal vein punctiform, slightly longer than wide; postmarginal vein ~ 1.5 × as long as wide; stigmal vein 4.7 × as long as wide, STV ~ 3.0 × PMV; mid tibia spur ~ 0.6 × as long as basitarsus. FWL 31.6; FWW 18.1.

Metasoma slightly shorter than mesosoma; cercal plates located in the posterior 1/2 of metasoma; hypopygium with apex reaching ~ 2/3 of metasoma; ovipositor not exserted (Fig. 17G ); OL ~ 5.6 × GL, and 1.2 × MT.

Male. Unknown.

Etymology.

This species named after Miss Tang who contributed so much to the study of Encyrtidae .

Host.

Unknown.

Distribution.

China (Xinjiang).

Comments.

This species had been erroneously treated as P. nikolskajae in Tang et al. (2016). Further study of the morphological characters indicate it is an undescribed species. Using the key of Trjapitzin (1989), the species runs to P. tokgaevi Myartseva but differs as follows: clava nearly as long as F2-F6 combined (in Psyllaephagus tokgaevi , clava approximately as long as F3-F6 combined); OL ~ 5.6 × GL (in Psyllaephagus tokgaevi , OL ~ 4.5 × GL). Psyllaephagus tangae is similar to P. belanensis but can be separated from P. belanensis by F4 smaller than F3 (in P. belanensis , F4 not smaller than F3 according to Trjapitzin 1968); F1 and F2 quadrate (in P. belanensis , F1 and F2 longer than wide); head as wide as thorax (in P. belanensis , head distinctly wider than thorax).

Figures

Figure 17. Psyllaephagus tangae sp. nov. ♀ A antenna B fore wing C mesonotum D fore leg E mid leg F hind leg G ovipositor.