Microterys axonis Hayat

Hayat, Mohammad, Ahmad, Zubair & Khan, Farmanur Rehman, 2014, Encyrtidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Zootaxa 3793 (1), pp. 1-59 : 39-41

Microterys axonis Hayat , sp. nov.

( Figs 96–100 )

Female. Holotype. Length, 1.40 mm Head yellowish brown, above scrobes with a dark brown streak. Mandible with apex black. Antenna largely brownish yellow; distal part of radicle dark brown; both margins of scape brown; basal segment of clava brownish yellow, distal two segments brown. Mesosoma brown to yellowish brown; pronotum brownish yellow, anteriorly dark brown and collar dark brown; mesothoracic dorsum brown; tegula brownish yellow; mesopleuron brownish yellow; propodeum brownish yellow. Fore wing ( Fig. 100 ), including costal cell, infuscate from base to apex. Hind wing hyaline. Legs, including coxae, but excluding tarsi, yellowish brown; fore tarsus brownish yellow; mid tarsus with basitarsus white, segments 2–4 brownish yellow, fifth segment pale brown, tibial spur dark brown (but brownish yellow in paratype); hind tarsal segments 1–4 yellowish white, fifth segment pale brown. Gaster dark brown to brown, but TVII brownish yellow; third valvula brownish yellow.

Head. Occipital margin sharp; frontovertex width 0.29× head width; ocellar triangle with apical angle nearly a right angle; posterior ocellus nearly touching margin of eye; POL 2.5× OCL; head, in frontal view ( Fig. 97 ), 1.15× as broad as high; scrobes inverted U-shaped, margins rounded except margins sharp in lower half; torulus with upper margin slightly below lower margin of eye; [malar space with a very fine sulcus, but this is not visible in the slide-mounted head of the paratype, being obscured by the sculpture]; eye height 2.15× malar space; frontovertex with fine polygonal reticulate sculpture, the cells small, and those on malar space slightly elongated; head with fine, hyaline setae; eye appears bare. Mandible tridentate, dorsal tooth rounded ( Fig. 98 ). Antenna ( Fig. 96 ) with scape 4× as long as broad; pedicel nearly as long as F1 and F2 combined; F1–F4 each longer than broad; F1 1.23×, F2 1.3×, F3 1.28×, F4 1.13×, as long as broad; F5 and F6 quadrate; F1 without longitudinal sensilla; clava very slightly longer than preceding three funicle segments combined. Relative measurements —head dorsal width, 44; frontovertex width, 13; head frontal height, 38; eye height, 28; malar space, 13; antennal scape length, 17.

Mesosoma ( Fig. 99 ). Pronotum, visible part, about 11× as broad as long; mesoscutum 2.5× as broad as long, with posterior margin slightly convex; axillae nearly touching each other; scutellum 1.2× as broad as long, with apex nearly pointed; mesoscutum with irregular polygonal reticulate sculpture, the cells in about anterior fourth transversely elongate; scutellum with sculpture similar to that on mesoscutum, but cells smaller and very slightly deeper than those on mesoscutum; setae on mesothorax brown; in paratype, scutellum with 23 setae; propodeum distal to spiracles with a few long, silvery white setae. Fore wing ( Fig. 100 ) 2.5× as long as broad; venation 0.57× wing length; costal cell with a line of setae in distal half or so on dorsal surface, and ventral surface with a line of setae in distal three-quarters, and 2–3 lines of setae in basal fourth; disc setose to base; linea calva open posteriorly; marginal and postmarginal veins subequal in length, each slightly shorter than stigmal vein. Relative measurements— mesosoma length, 44; pronotum, visible part, length (width), 3.5 (39); mesoscutum length (width), 16 (40); scutellum length (width), 20 (24); fore wing length (width), 88 (35). (Paratype, slide)—mid tibia length, 42; mid basitarsus length, 13.5; mid tibial spur length, 11.

Metasoma. Ovipositor with second valvifer 3.65× as long as third valvula; second valvifer distally with a line of 7–8 setae on ventral surface; ovipositor 1.6× as long as mid tibia. Relative measurements (paratype, slide)—TVII length, 48; ovipositor length, 69.75; third valvula length, 15.

Male. Unknown.

Material examined. Holotype ( NPC, registration No. 136/11/157/8), ♀, labelled “ KSA: AL-BAHA: Qunfudah, vi.2012, (MT), Coll. Z. Ahmad”. [After noting down the body colour, and taking measurements, the specimen got dislodged from the card leaving four legs attached, and the head got separated from the mesosoma. The head and body are remounted on the same card.]

Paratype. 1 ♀ (on slide under 5 coverslips, slide No. EH.1591), with same data as holotype ( ZDAMU, registration No. HYM. CH.688).

Distribution. Saudi Arabia : Al-Baha.

Etymology. The species name is derived from an arbitrary combination of letters, and may be taken as a noun in apposition.

Comments. We have checked the available descriptions and keys to species of Microterys Thomson ( Prinsloo 1975; Trjapitzin 1989; Xu 2002; Hayat 2006; Noyes 2010), and found that out of the 202 described species ( Noyes 2013), there are only 3 species ( M. danzigae Sugonjaev – see Trjapitzin 1989; M. unicoloris Xu , in Xu & Chen 2000; M. godonyae Noyes 2010 ) characterized by a completely infuscated fore wing, without even a hyaline apex. Microterys unicoloris and M. godonyae differ from the new species in having F5 and F6 pale yellow to white, basal 4 funicle segments either completely brown or pale orange becoming dark brown on F4, and clava dark brown. In addition to this difference in the colour of the flagellar segments, the two species also differ in the relative dimensions of the scape, funicle segments, relative width of the frontovertex to head width, and several other characters. Microterys danzigae has the frontovertex orange yellow, body bronzy black to black, funicle segments dark brown with only F5 yellowish, and F1 2.5× as long as broad. The new species differs from these three species by the following combination of characters: head and mesosoma brown to brownish yellow; antenna brownish yellow with only distal two segments of clava brown; frontovertex width less than one third (0.29×) of head width; antennal scape 4× as long as broad; pedicel nearly as long as F1 and F2 combined; F1 shorter than F2; F1–F4 each longer than broad, and F5 and F6 quadrate; marginal vein subequal in length to postmarginal vein, and each shorter than stigmal vein; scutellum (in paratype) with 23 setae; ovipositor 1.6× as long as mid tibia; second valvifer 3.65× as long as third valvula, the latter 1.36× as long as mid tibial spur.

Figures

FIGURES 96 – 100. Microterys axonis Hayat, sp. nov. Female: 96, antenna; 97, head, frontal view; 98, mandibles; 99, mesosoma; 100, fore wing.