Allotropa cf. citri Muesebeck

Montes-Rodríguez, José Mauricio, Kondo, Takumasa & Gaimari, Stephen D., 2024, Natural enemies of Maconellicoccus hirsutus (Green) (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Pseudococcidae), with description of a new species of Leucopina Malloch (Diptera: Chamaemyiidae), Zootaxa 5424 (4), pp. 423-436 : 426

Allotropa cf. citri Muesebeck

( Figs 1A–D )

Material examined. COLOMBIA: Norte de Santander: 1 ♂, Cucuta, Barrio Prados del Norte , 07°54′59″N, 72°30′04″W, 294 m a.s.l., 15.vii.2011, coll. J. Montes, ex Hibiscus sp. [ CTNI] ; San Andrés y Providencia: 1 ♂, San Andrés Island , Club Náutico , 12°34′52″N, 81°41′32″W, 18 m a.s.l., 18.i.2013, coll. T. Kondo, ex Malvaviscus arboreus , [ CTNI] ; 1 ♂, San Andrés Island, Diagonal Hotel Arena Blanca , 12°34′50″N, 81°41′22″W, 18 m a.s.l., 18.i.2013, coll. T. Kondo, ex Malvaviscus arboreus ; [ CTNI] ; Tolima: 1 ♀, 1 ♂, Espinal. Centro de Investigación Nataima , 04°11′31″N, 74°57′38″W, 376 m a.s.l., 12.ix.2019, coll. T. Kondo, ex Hibiscus sp. [ CTNI] .

Notes. Of the Allotropa species reported for the Neotropics by Buhl (2002), the above species is most similar to Allotropa citri Muesebeck. However , the character states of Allotropa cf. citri does not fully coincide with the description of All. citri because the scutellum of the female has a weak dorsolateral reticulation, although it is only clearly perceived in slide-mounted specimens ( Fig. 1C ), whereas Muesebeck (1954) and Buhl (2002) described the scutellum of All. citri as being completely smooth. The characteristics of the antennae also differ slightly because the setal length of the antennae do not match completely the information provided in Buhl's (2002) key, and in the male antenna, the length to width ratio of the flagellum (segments II to VI) described by Muesebeck (1954) is almost 2 X as long as it is wide, whereas in the material examined it is only about 1.7 X ( Fig. 1D ). According to a personal communication with Peter Buhl, it is possible that the species mentioned above is a new species, but it is necessary to study the type material of All. citri to confirm this hypothesis.

The congeners, Allotropa nr. japonica Ashmead and Allotropa nr. mecrida or Allotropa mecrida (Walker) have been reported parasitizing the PHM ( Mani et al. 1987; Roltsch et al. 2006). However, Veenakumari et al. (2013), discussed the presence of an unpublished record of All. citri parasitizing the PHM and rejected the report of Allotropa nr. japonica parasitizing the PHM. Furthermore, Allotropa nr. mecrida was released in North America with little success for the control of PHM ( Roltsch et al. 2006). There are no known releases of Allotropa with the purpose of controlling PHM in Colombia or neighboring countries, so the appearance of this platygastrid species seems to be a fortuitous introduction, similar to what was reported for A. kamali and G. indica ( Evans et al. 2012; Montes 2012).

Figures

FIGURE 1. A–D. Allotropa cf. citri. A. Dorsal view. B. Lateral view (the wings have been removed). C. Dorsal view of female scutellum. D. Male antenna. E–F. Prochiloneurus dactylopii. E. Lateral view. F. Female antenna. Scale bar represents 0.5 mm.