Scelio variegatus Kozlov & Kononova, 1990

Yoder, Matthew, Polaszek, Andrew, Masner, Lubomir, Johnson, Norman & Valerio, Alejandro, 2009, Revision of Scelio pulchripennis - group species (Hymenoptera, Platygastroidea, Platygastridae), ZooKeys 20 (20), pp. 53-118 : 112-115

Scelio variegatus Kozlov & Kononova

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:94A7C307-6A43-4806-B7C0-C66A067AA187 urn:lsid:biosci.ohio-state.edu:osuc_concepts:5353

Figs 121–126; Morphbank 29

Scelio variegatus Kozlov & Kononova, 1990: 220 , 223 (original description. keyed); Kononova & Kozlov, 2008: 143 (as junior synonym of Scelio poecilopterus Priesner ).

Description. Female body length: 2.68–2.96 mm (n=4). Color of antenna in female: A1–A2 yellow to light brown, remaining brown. Color of head in female: black. Color of mesosoma in female: orange brown, rarely with darker patch on medial dorsal mesoscutum. Color of coxae in female: yellow to light brown, or amber-orange. Color of leg past coxa in female: amber-orange. Color of metasoma in female: amber-orange to orange at base (typically T1–T3) to brown to dark brown at apex.

Sculpture of lower frons in female: predominantly transverse to slightly arcuate striae. Sculpture of ventrolateral frons in female: very fine transverse striae with fine interstitial sculpture, appearing granular. Form of malar sulcus in female: sulcus percurrent, slit, groove or carina extremely narrow but course well defined. Sculpture of upper frons of female: very fine rugulae, almost granular in appearance. Sculpture of dorsal head between and posterior to lateral ocelli in female: obliterated to fine coriaceous sheen. Mandible of female: upper tooth slightly elongate, elongate-triangular, lower tooth absent to almost imperceptible, a slight extension of the inner-ventral margin.

Transverse pronotal carina in female: well developed, linear or with extremely slight deviations, contiguous with mesoscutum or interrupted by a single subpolygonal cell, anterior shoulder relatively abruptly transitioned to anterior pronotum. Sculpture of medial mesoscutum in female: parallel striae in posterior 2/3, anterior third with sculpture reduced to absent. Sculpture of notaular course in female: more or less undifferentiated to slightly more robust and coarse relative to medial sculpture. Sculpture of lateral mesoscutum in female: absent, or with obliterated patch that covers at least 1/2 of area. Sculpture of mesoscutellum in female: longitudinally striate, with few to no reticulations. Sculpture of lateral pronotum in female (excluding interstitial sculpture): with or without slight smooth patch below lateral epomial carina, otherwise loosely longitudinally carinate, with very few to no reticulate elements. Pronotal verricule in female: apparently absent, or base more or less unmodified, with tightly clumped clump of extremely short setae. Pronotal setal patch posteroventral to end of lateral epomial carina in female: sparse (around 2–5) scattered, shorter semidecumbent to erect setae.

Figures Ι2Ι–Ι26 .69 Scelio variegatus Kozlov & Kononova (OSUC 235091). Ι2Ι Habitus, dorsal view Ι22 Habitus, lateral view Ι23 Mesosoma, dorsal view Ι24 Mesosoma, lateral view Ι25 Head, anterior view Ι26 Metanotum, dorsal view. Scale bars in millimeters.

Sculpture of mesopleural depression in female: anterior 1/3 to 1/2 smooth, posterior longitudinally striate, with few to no reticulations. Pilosity of anteroventral metapleuron in female: glabrous, or sparsely setose. Dorsal surface of hind tibia in female: typical distribution and moderate length, setae appressed to loosely appressed, more or less straight. Shape of hind femur in female: narrow, dorsal and ventral surfaces relatively symmetrical. Basal pigmented spot of fore wing in female: percurrent from submarginal vein to posterior margin, striplike (a band), divided only by hyaline course of M+Cu. Basal fascia of fore wing in female: subrectangular, striplike, percurrent from anterior to posterior margin. Apical fascia of fore wing in female: broad, hyaline, percurrent from anterior to posterior fore wing margin, apex of fore wing past fascia only slightly darker.

Sculpture of dorsal T 1 in female: longitudinally striate, with few to no transverse divisions or reticulations, interstices smooth or with very slight irregular microsculpture. Sculpture of dorsal T 2 in female: appearing smooth, with extremely slight sculpture (shagreen) visible at oblique angles, fine parallel to slightly reticulate striae with minutely colliculate to transverse sculpture within interstices. Sculpture of anterior T2 through anterior depression in female: interrupted with by a smooth strip, majority of sculpture not contiguous with that of posterior T2. Sculpture of dorsal T 3 in female: dense minute reticulations, with slight longitudinal elements absent to very sparse. Medial sculpture of T 4 in female: obliterated to smooth. Medial sculpture of T 5 in female: obliterated to smooth. Sculpture of T2–T5 curved transition from dorsal to lateral terga in female: obliterated to smooth. Profile of female metasoma in lateral view: dorsal and ventral surfaces more or less evenly convex. Sculpture of lateral T2–T 6 in female: predominantly smooth, in some specimens with very small patch of striae to obliterated grooves ventrally. Pilosity of laterotergites in female: present on T1–T2.

Diagnosis. Scelio variegatus can be confused only with the larger S. poecilopterus with which it shares a similar body color. It differs from S. poecilopterus by the fine, almost granular sculpture throughout the head (sculpture absent dorsally in S. poecilopterus ), and the longer, more well-impressed, fine longitudinal striae of the medial mesoscutum (short, irregular, and present only along the posterior margin in S. poecilopterus ).

Link to distribution map. [http://osuc.biosci.ohio-state.edu/HymOnline/maplarge.html?id=5353]

Material examined. Other material: (8 females) INDIA: 1 female, OSUC 235082 ( CNCI). SAUDI ARABIA: 1 female, OSUC 211570 ( CNCI). SPAIN (Canary Islands): 3 females, OSUC 254451–254453 ( BMNH). UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: 2 females, OSUC 254454 ( BMNH) ; OSUC 235091 ( CNCI). YEMEN: 1 female, OSUC 211569 ( CNCI) .

Comments. The sculpture of the frons is particularly fine, and the interstices are densely sculptured as well resulting in an almost granular appearance. Th ere is much less variation in the length and degree of impression of the longitudinal striae of the medial mesoscutum in S. variegatus than in S. poecilopterus .

We saw the holotype of the species prior to undertaking this study; we were subsequently unable to reexamine the specimen. However, based on the original description (largely repeated in Kononova and Kozlov 2008), we feel that our concept well matches that originally provided by Kozlov and Kononova (1990). Kononova and Kozlov (2008), apparently on the basis of Priesner’s original description of S. poecilopterus , treated S. variegatus as a junior synonym of S. poecilopterus . We have no doubt that two very similar species exist in this small complex (see diagnoses), and the description of variegatus corresponds well to one of these. Therefore, we have elected to remove S. variegatus from synonymy and treat it as a valid species.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to: J. Cora who provided invaluable database, software, and specimen support; S. Hemly for specimen preparation; and E. Talamas, L. Musetti, C. Taekul for helpful comments and discussion. This work was made possible through the collection and curation of material from the museums listed in material and methods. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under grant No. DEB-0614764 to N.F. Johnson and A.D. Austin.