Ammonoencyrtus hyperion, Noyes, 2023

Noyes, John Stuart, 2023, ENCYRTIDAE OF COSTA RICA (HYMENOPTERA: CHALCIDOIDEA), 4 Subfamily Encyrtinae: tribes Arrhenophagini, Habrolepidini, Cerapterocerini, Cheiloneurini, Trechnitini, Cercobelini, Polaszekiini, Protyndarichoidini, Gahaniellini and Syrphophagini (part), mainly primary parasitoids and hyperparasitoids of Coccoidea and Psylloidea (Hemiptera), Taxonomic Monographs on Neotropical Hymenoptera (Oxford, England) 2 (11), pp. 1-921 : 520-522

Ammonoencyrtus hyperion sp.nov.

(Figs 1303-1307; Hab. E 190)

DIAGNOSIS. Female (length about 1.7-2.0mm): mouth margin orange brown to dark brown; mesoscutum and scutellum both dark brown with a strong metallic sheen; fore and mid coxae pale orange, hind coxa orange-brown; legs mostly orange, hind femur orange or largely dark brown; hind basitarsus yellow; head (Fig. 1305) about 6.5-10X as wide as frontovertex; antenna (Fig. 1303) with dorsal margin of pedicel produced in lateral view; sensory part of clava about 4X as long as straight part of ventral margin; frontovertex with more than 20 setae, excluding those along eye margin; scutellum mostly with very shallow, superficial sculpture that is clearly shallower than sculpture of mesoscutum; exserted part of ovipositor at least a little shorter than mid tibial spur. Male: Unknown.

Female (holotype): length, including ovipositor, 1.97mm; excluding ovipositor, 1.87mm (CPD).

Head generally orange with a very weak purple and brassy sheen; area delimited by ocelli with a metallic purple and blue-green sheen; area above transfacial carina metallic violet and dark blue, this continuing laterally, mixed purple and green, between eye and scrobal margin onto upper gena; temple brown with a moderate blue-green and green sheen; mouth margin mainly dark brown; setae on frontovertex, temple, gena and interantennal prominence dark brown; radicle dark brown; antenna (Fig. 1202) with scape, dark brown with a brassy and purple sheen, dorsal part of scape with a strong dark green sheen; pedicel and flagellum dark brown with a brassy and purple sheen; pronotum orange, posterior margin translucent, neck largely dark brown; propleuron mostly dark brown; prosternum orange-brown; mesoscutum metallic dark blue, narrowly margined posteriorly and laterally shining purple-brown, reticulate cells narrowly margined purple; tegula orange-brown with a weak brassy and purple sheen, apical margin dark brown; axilla dark brown with a weak brassy and purple sheen; scutellum metallic blue-green laterally and posteriorly, median one third or so coppery purple mixed blue-green and green; metanotum medially orange to dark orange-brown laterally; mesopleuron pale orange-brown with a mixed brassy, purple and dark blue sheen; fore coxa pale orange with a dark brown basal area posteriorly; fore femur pale orange, dorsally margined brownish, tibia and tarsus pale orange with apical tarsomere dark brown; mid coxa pale orange; mid femur pale yellow at extreme base, otherwise dusky pale orange, tibia proximally pale orange-brown, but mostly pale orange, spur and tarsus pale orange, apical tarsomere brown; hind coxa mostly dark brown, but pale orange in part externally and apically; hind femur brown, pale orange at extremities; tibia dark brown at extreme base, otherwise dusky pale orange, tarsus orange with apical tarsomere dark brown; fore wing (Fig. 1304) mostly infuscate but hyaline towards base and at apex, area proximad of anal angle clearly hyaline; venation brown, marginal vein dark brown, apices of postmarginal and stigmal veins connected by a fairly straight hyaline streak; hind wing hyaline; propodeum slightly dusky orange with a weak purple and brassy lustre, side with a purple and dark blue-green sheen, setae outside spiracle brown and moderately conspicuous; gaster dark brown, dorsally with a distinct purple, coppery and brassy sheen, side and venter more conspicuously mixed metallic green and blue; gonostylus apex pale orange.

; head

Head (Fig. 1305) about 6.5X as wide as frontovertex, in profile about 1.7X as long as deep, frontovertex evenly convex from occiput to top of scrobes then weakly curved to mouth margin with interantennal prominence slightly protuberant; vertex with a distinct, elongate, oval, shiny bottomed depression adjacent to eye margin between posterior ocellus and occipital margin; ocelli forming an angle of about 40°, anterior ocellus relatively large, its diameter about 0.6 X minimum width of frontovertex; frontovertex slightly shiny with very shallow, fine, polygonally-reticulate sculpture of cell diameter about 0.5X diameter of eye facet, completely smooth above transfacial carina; temple and gena with longitudinally elongate, imbricate-reticulate sculpture that is clearly shallower than that on frontovertex; eye reaching occipital margin, naked; occipital margin sharp, carinate; narrowest point between eye and transfacial carina about 3X diameter of facet; narrowest point of the connection of the interantennal prominence to the frontovertex flat and about 1.5X diameter of anterior ocellus; area immediately above transfacial carina with about 23 setae; narrowest point of frontovertex hardly in front of anterior ocellus; frontovertex about 4.1X as long as broad; antenna as in Fig. 1303; scape subtrapezoidal with proximal part of dorsal margin about 0.85X length of distal part and with the proximal part of the ventral margin about 1.3X as long as the distal part; distal part of dorsal margin of scape and dorsal margin of pedicel slightly concave and completely smooth and shiny; pedicel distinctly produced dorsally, about 0.4X as wide as F1, setae uniform; F1 about 1.3X as long as F2 and subequal in width, remaining segments progressively slightly narrower, clava about 0.9X as wide as F1; clava dorsally about as long as F2-F6 combined, sutures oblique, apex strongly obliquely truncate, sensory area about 4X as long as ventral margin; mandible with three teeth, lower teeth acute, upper tooth apically rounded tooth. Relative measurements: HW 97, HH 83, FVL 61; FV 15, POL 7, OOL 0, OCL 6.5, AOL 13.5, EL 55, EW 53, MS 45, SL (dorsal margin) 57.5, SL (lamina) 63, SW 45.

Thorax with polygonally reticulate to imbricate-reticulate sculpture on pronotum, mesoscutum and axilla that is slightly shallower than sculpture in ocellar area, but of similar mesh size; scutellum, in middle third with sculpture that is not deeper than that on mesoscutum, or hardly so, and laterally conspicuously shallower; visible part of mesoscutum about 1.5X as broad as long; scutellum about as broad as long; mid tibia with a weak external carina in proximal half; hind femur about 4.0X as long as broad; fore wing with venation and setation as in Figs 1304, 1306; costal cell with 9 or 10 setae dorsally at apex; apices of postmarginal and stigmal veins connected by a naked, hyaline streak; propodeum medially about 0.13X as long as scutellum and with some shallow, irregular sculpture, about 6 setae anterior to and outside spiracle. Relative measurements: FWL 97, FWW 46; HWL 69, HWW 22.

Gaster with hypopygium reaching about 0.4X to apex, without a median, posterior projection (mucro); last tergite about 0.9X as long as mid tibia, with apex broad and weakly angular; ovipositor slightly exserted, the exserted part about 0.5X as long as mid tibial spur or about 0.1.5X length mid tibia.

Paratype. Funicle with linear sensilla on F3-F6; hypopygium Fig. 1307. Relative measurements: OL 64.5, GL 19 [MT 44.5].

Variation. Females vary in overall length from 1.74-1.97mm, the head is 6.5-10X as wide as the frontovertex, the pronotum may be similarly coloured to the mesoscutum and the hind femur may be orange or largely dark brown.

Male. Unknown.

DISTRIBUTION. Costa Rica, Trinidad & Tobago,

HOSTS. Unknown.

MATERIAL EXAMINED.

Type material. Holotype E: COSTA RICA, Guanacaste, Est. Cacao (ACG), 1100 m, ii.2000 (J.S. Noyes) . Paratypes: COSTA RICA, 1E, Heredia, La Selva BS, 50m, MT/YPT, ii.1991 (J.S. Noyes) . TRINIDAD & TOBAGO, 1E, Trinidad, St George, St Augustine , Malaise trap, 15.vii-13.viii.1976 (J.S. Noyes) . Holotype in NHMUK, paratypes in MZUCR and NHMUK .

COMMENTS. Ammonoencyrtus hyperion can be distinguished from other species of the genus by the strongly metallic mesoscutum and scutellum and relatively shallow sculpture of the scutellum.