Omphale lugens (Nees)

Hansson, Christer & Shevtsova, Ekaterina, 2012, Revision of the European species of Omphale Haliday (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea, Eulophidae), ZooKeys 232, pp. 1-157 : 114-117

Omphale lugens (Nees) Figures 2, 6453-467501536

Eulophus lugens Nees, 1834:176. Neotype female in RMNH, designated here.

Entedon navius Walker, 1839:92. Lectotype female in BMNH, examined. Synonymized by Bouček and Askew (1968:134).

Entedon coactus Ratzeburg, 1848:167. Type material lost ( Graham 1963). Synonymized by Bouček and Askew (1968:134).

Secodes fagi Förster, 1856:81. Type material not located. Synonymized by Bouček and Askew (1968:134).

Omphale lugens (Nees), Bouček and Askew (1968:134).

Designation of neotype.

Apart from specimens collected by Nees now in the Haliday collection in Oxford, all specimens of the Nees collection have been destroyed ( Graham 1988). As there are no specimens of Eulophus lugens in Oxford ( Graham 1988) this species is therefore not fixed by any type material. To maintain a stable nomenclature a neotype for Eulophus lugens is designated here. As neotype a female from Germany: Bavaria, Obersdorf, reared from Mikiola fagi is selected. The material from the original description was from Sickershausen, which is in Bavaria in Germany, collected from a window. The neotype agrees well with the original description.

Material.

Type material. Neotype female of Eulophus lugens in RMNH, lectotype female of Entedon navius , type no. 5.2035 in BMNH. Additional material. 439♀ 22♂: Austria 1♀ 1♂ (RMNH), Croatia 17♀ 3♂ (BMNH), France 4♀ 1♂ (RMNH), Germany 1♀ 1♂ (RMNH), Greece 2♀ 2♂ (RMNH), Hungary 1♀ (BMNH), Netherlands 10♀ 3♂ (BMNH, RMNH), Sweden 226♀ 1♂ (BMNH, CH, LUZM, NHRS, RMNH), United Kingdom 177♀ 10♂ (BMNH).

Diagnosis.

Female flagellum short (Fig. 453), pedicel and flagellum 1.3 × as long as distance between eyes; legs completely dark (Fig. 453); wing shape characteristic with a short, high and rounded forewing (Fig. 458); stigmal vein enlarged and elongate (Fig. 458); mesoscutum and scutellum dark and drab, contrasting against bright bluish green metallic propodeum (Figs 454, 455); male genitalia very different from other Omphale species: aedeagus with very long apodemes (Fig. 501); phallobase with volsellae strongly protruding and with volsellar setae at apex (Fig. 501), digitus drawn out (downwards in illustration) with a terminal hook.

Description.

Female. Length of body 1.0-1.7 mm. Antenna dark brown; pedicel + flagellum 1.3 × as long as distance between eyes; first flagellomere 1.4 × as long and 1.3 × as wide as second flagellomere (Fig. 461); flagellomeres 1-4 ventrally with one set of setae, attached at base and reaching beyond apex of flagellomere attached to; clava 2-segmented. Face golden (Fig. 456) or golden red, strigose-reticulate (Fig. 462); cly-peus golden green, smooth, rectangular and 2.5 × as wide as high; gena golden purple; lower frons golden green to green metallic, with raised reticulation; antennal scrobes join frontal suture separately; frontal suture V-shaped; upper frons golden green with weak reticulation; vertex black with golden green tinges, with raised and weak reticulation (Fig. 463). Occipital margin rounded (Fig. 463).

Mesoscutum golden green, purple metallic, to dark brown with green to purple metallic tinges (Fig. 454), with raised reticulation (Fig. 460), midlobe with two pairs of setae; notauli as indistinct impressions in posterior ½. Scutellum purple metallic, to dark brown with green to purple metallic tinges (Fig. 454), with raised reticulation (Fig. 460); 1.0 × as long as wide, with anterior margin smoothly curved forwards. Axillae bluish green metallic (Fig. 454). Dorsellum golden green (Fig. 454), with weak reticulation and slightly convex (Fig. 460), 0.3 × as long as wide, and 0.6 × as long as length of median propodeum. Lateral thorax golden green (Fig. 453); transepimeral sulcus curved forwards. Propodeum bright bluish green metallic (Fig. 454), smooth (Fig. 460); propodeal callus with two setae. Coxae and femora dark brown with bluish green metallic tinges (Fig. 453); tibiae and tarsi dark brown. Forewing transparent, veins yellowish brown and setae dark brown (Fig. 458); speculum closed; admarginal setae 3-4, arising from marginal vein; radial cell bare; stigmal vein enlarged and elongate. Hind wing transparent, apex rounded (Fig. 458). Forewing WIP (Fig. 459) unicoloured in blue with a narrow area just behind marginal vein with narrow bands in yellow and magenta.

Petiole dark brown. Gaster with first tergite bluish green metallic, remaining tergites dark brown with metallic tinges, elongate and 1.2 –1.5× as long as length of mesosoma; 7th tergite 0.06 × as long as length of gaster.

Male. Length of body 1.1-1.4 mm. Features as in female except as follows. Antenna with pedicel + flagellum 1.9 × as long as distance between eyes; flagellomeres 1-4 with a single basal whorl of setae (Fig. 465). Face, clypeus and frons blue metallic (Fig. 457).

Phallobase and aedeagus as in Fig. 501.

Hosts.

Mikiola fagi ( Dziurzynski 1961), Contarinia tiliarum & Dasyneura alni (Gij- swijt 1976), Placochela nigripes (new record), all hosts are Diptera : Cecidomyiidae .

Distribution.

Austria ( Kirchner 1867), Azerbaidzhan ( Bouček and Askew 1968), Croatia (new record), Czech Republic ( Kirchner 1854), France (new record), Germany ( Nees 1834), Greece (new record), Hungary ( Erdös 1956), Moldova ( Bouček 1965), Netherlands ( Gijswijt 1976), Poland ( Dziurzynski 1961), Sweden ( Thomson 1878), Switzerland ( Ratzeburg 1848); United Kingdom ( Walker 1839) (Fig. 536).

Remarks.

Externomorphologically Omphale lugens fits best in the same group as Omphale phruron , something also suggested by Graham (1963). However, if male genitalia are considered, a character-set unknown to Graham, then Omphale lugens is something quite unique and far removed from the species in the phruron-group.