Pseudoheptascelio cornopis (Masner)

Johnson, Norman F. & Musetti, Luciana, 2011, Redescription and revision of the Neotropical genus Pseudoheptascelio Szabo (Hymenoptera, Platygastridae, Scelioninae), parasitoids of eggs of short-horned grasshoppers (Orthoptera, Acrididae), ZooKeys 136, pp. 93-112 : 96-99

Pseudoheptascelio cornopis (Masner) Figures 110Morphbank10

Tanaoscelio cornopis Masner, 1972: 1214 (original description).

Pseudoheptascelio cornopis (Masner): Masner, 1976: 18 (generic transfer).

Description.

Body length of female: 4.37-5.45 mm (n=11). Body length of male: 4.58-5.22 mm (n=4). Mesosoma color: black. Body microsculpture pattern: smooth.

Rugae on occiput: reticulate. Microsculpture between occipital rugae: foveolate (Fig. 10). Setae on crests of occipital rugae: absent. Shape of female A4: length subequal to width. Shape of female A5: transverse. Shape of female A6: distinctly transverse.

Setation of pronotal depression: moderately to densely setose. Setation of netrion: moderately to densely setose (Fig. 2). Sculpture of midlobe of mesoscutum: foveate to areolate anteriorly, sculpture effaced, sparser posteriorly (Figs 4, 10). Number of trabecula across transscutal articulation: 7-8, widely spaced. Shape of metascutellum: short, shallowly cleft medially (Fig. 4). Sculpture of mesopleural depression: almost entirely sculptured, with transverse rugulae and interspersed irregular fovea.

Sculpture of T2-T3: irregularly reticulate, without longitudinal orientation. Length/width of female T5: 1.61-2.22 mm (n=12). Length/width of female T6: 1.10-1.50 mm (n=11). Sculpture of T6: with reticulate microsculpture only. Apex of male T7: pointed laterally, shallowly excavate or straight medially (Fig. 8).

Diagnosis.

Pseudoheptascelio cornopis is distinguished from Pseudoheptascelio muesebecki by the densely and finely sculptured vertex and the more elongate T5 (length/width 1.6-2.2).

Link to Distribution Map.

11 [http://hol.osu.edu/map-full.html?id=5132]

Associations.

Data from specimen labels: emerged from egg of Cornops Scudder: [ Orthoptera : Acrididae ]; solitary egg parasitoid of Cornops Scudder: [ Orthoptera : Acrididae ]; unspecified association Cornops frenatum (Marschall): [ Orthoptera : Acrididae ]; emerged from egg of Cornops longicorne (Brunner): [ Orthoptera : Acrididae ]; solitary egg parasitoid of Cornops longicorne (Brunner): [ Orthoptera : Acrididae ]; emerged from egg on Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.): [ Liliales : Pontederiaceae ]; solitary egg parasitoid ex Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.): [ Liliales : Pontederiaceae ]; unspecified association Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.): [ Liliales : Pontederiaceae ]

Material Examined.

Holotype , female, Tanaoscelio cornopis : TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO: Trinidad Isl., Débé, V-1970, B.M. TYPE HYM. 9.772 (deposited in BMNH). Paratypes: TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO: 3 females, 1 male, 2 unknowns, BMNH (E)#790244-790245 (BMNH); OSUC 186160-186162 (CNCI); OSUC 248318 (USNM). Other material: (9 females, 2 males) BOLIVIA: 7 females, 1 male, OSUC 186242, 186245-186250, 186253 (CNCI). BRAZIL: 1 female, 1 male, OSUC 186241 (CNCI); OSUC 131887 (OSUC). GUYANA: 1 female, OSUC 215796 (BPBM). Allotype: TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO: 1 male, BMNH(E)#790243 (BMNH). VENEZUELA: 1 female, OSUC 221615 (MIZA).

Comments.

In the brief key to species Masner (1976) stated that the stigmal vein (r-rs) is embedded in a milky spot, forming a pseudostigma. The species Pseudoheptascelio muesebecki , in contrast, was characterized as having the area around the stigmal vein transparent. We find that there is considerable variability in the development of the pseudostigma and that it is present in all specimens of Pseudoheptascelio .