Neuroscelio orientalis Masner & Valerio

Valerio, Alejandro A., Masner, Lubomír, Austin, Andrew D. & Johnson, Norman F., 2009, The genus Neuroscelio Dodd (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae s. l.) reviewed: new species, distributional update, and discussion of relationships, Zootaxa 2306, pp. 29-43 : 34-35

Neuroscelio orientalis Masner & Valerio , new species

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:D755A250-60F2-479A-AB5F-B8C3C411FF84 urn:lsid:biosci.ohio-state.edu:osuc_concepts:245135

Figures 19–25, 30; Morphbank11

Description. Female: Body length: 1.37 mm. Body color: head, mesosoma (except mesoscutellum) dark brown; mesoscutellum, metasoma generally lighter brown, T6–T7 conspicuously more yellowish, anterior edges of T1 and S1 as dark as mesosoma; coxae honey yellow, remainder of legs light yellow; A1–A5 yellow, A6–A12 slightly darker.

Head wider (0.44 mm) than long (0.28 mm); width of clypeus subequal to distance between outer margins of toruli (0.11:0.12); head coriaceous, except scrobe with transverse fine costae which bend towards malar space laterally; central keel very weakly developed; IOS:EH = 0.29:0.19; LOL:POL:OOL = 0.04:0.10:0.08; OD = 0.05; vertex without large setigerous punctures; gena weakly coriaceous; occipital carina crenulate medially; mandible bidentate, teeth elongate, acute, lower tooth clearly longer than upper; antennal clava (Figs. 19, 25) massive, thick, not much elongated; radicle short; A1 when antenna flexed surpassing vertex; antennal 10. http://hol.osu.edu/map-large.html?id=244588 11. http://www.morphbank.net/?id=465309

segments in the following proportions of length to width, A1 = 0.28:0.05, A2 = 0.11:0.40, A3 = 0.06:0.40, A4 = 0.04:0.40, A5 = 0.05:0.50, A6 = 0.06:0.09, A7 = 0.05:0.10, A8 = 0.05:0.10, A9 = 0.04:0.09, A10 = 0.04:0.09, A11=0.06:0.08, A12=0.05:0.05.

Mesosoma as long (0.44 mm) as wide (0.44 mm); pronotum coriaceous throughout, sculpture less well defined, denser at pronotal shoulders; mesoscutum wider (0.38 mm) than long (0.25 mm); mesoscutum and mesoscutellum densely coriaceous, no large setigerous punctures visible; notauli present in posterior one-third of mesoscutum, wide, with conspicuous ridges across its length; mesoscutellum wider (0.24 mm) than long (0.13 mm); transscutal articulation with dense well-marked subrectangular foveae which delineate anterior edge of mesoscutellum; metascutellum semicircular, large, posterior edge unarmed, convex; propodeum with short medial anterior triangular spine, in lateral view spine extends posteriorly well into propodeal nucha as median longitudinal carina, posterior edge of propodeum with two submedial depressions, posterolateral corners not conspicuously prominent, nucha short, remainder of propodeum longitudinally costate; upper mesopleuron with few fine longitudinal costae, anterodorsal one-third with few elongated drop-shaped foveae, mesopleural depression smooth, anteroventral half of mesopleuron rugulose, remainder of mesopleuron smooth; metapleuron with weak, coarse foveae, sculpture finer, sparser medially.

Fore wing similar to N. nervalis , except for more acute angle at union of M and 1Rs, M+Cu vein upcurved medially; R, R1, r-rs, Rs+M and M+Cu infuscate, Rs+M slightly darker; 2Rs, M not reaching distal wing margin, very slightly infuscate. Hind wing similar to N. storeyi except that the wing is narrower; veins Sc+R and R well infuscate, vein 1Rs slightly infuscate.

Metasoma length greater than width (0.60:0.43); T1 wider than long (0.64:0.30), with well-developed longitudinal costae, posterior margin smooth, median longitudinal area with costae sparser than laterally; T2 wider than long (0.43:0.27), with short, fine costae not exceeding basal fourth of length of tergite, otherwise smooth; T3–T6 strongly transverse, combined length (0.20 mm) slightly less than T2 length (0.27 mm); T3 sparsely setose, with one row of setigerous punctures; T4–T5 each with one row of setae across its width; T6– T7 smooth, with sparse setation at posterior margin; T7 subrectangular, with 2 long setae that curve anteriorly to reach mid length of T4 (Fig. 30, s); S1–S2 with few, well-developed, short longitudinal carinae anteriorly, otherwise smooth; S3 with short and thick ridges at anterior margin, anterior one-third with fine, very weak longitudinal costae, otherwise smooth except for extensive felt fields.

Male: unknown.

Diagnosis. This species is distinguished by the combination of the equally long costae on T2 (Fig. 22) and the coriaceous, but unpunctured vertex, mesoscutum and mesoscutellum (Fig. 24). It exhibits a mix of the characters that Galloway et al. (1992) used to distinguish their two unnamed species groups. The unarmed metascutellum, massive clava (Fig. 25 vs. Figs. 13, 26), bidentate mandible with acute, elongate teeth (Fig. 23) and small body size further characterize this species. Additionally, in N. orientalis the mesopleural sculpture and shape differs greatly from the observed sculpture in N. noyesi , N. doddi and N. lagunai n.sp. (Figs. 5, 6, 15 vs. Fig. 21).

Etymology. The epithet refers to the Oriental zoogeographical region from which it was collected.

Material Examined. Holotype female: VIETNAM: Hà Tĩnh, Hương Sơn, 600 m 18º22'N 105º13'E, 7– 14.IV.1998, L. Herman, Malaise trap ( OSUC 147263). Deposited in AMNH.

Link to Distribution Map.12

Comments. The discovery of N. orientalis in Vietnam is the first record for the genus outside of Australia and expands the known distribution of Neuroscelio into the Oriental region.

12. http://hol.osu.edu/map-large.html?id=195035