Cheiloneurus castalia, 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 : 293-295

Cheiloneurus castalia sp.nov.

( Figs 726-730; Hab. E 110)

DIAGNOSIS. Female (length about 1.3-1.7mm): body mostly orange with mesoscutum and gaster dark brown with a weak to moderate metallic sheen; antenna ( Fig. 727) with scape white margined dark brown; pedicel and flagellum dark brown; mesoscutum with pale brown setae that may appear silvery; fore coxa white, mid and hind coxa white with some brown; legs mainly white to pale orange, tibiae brown proximally; fore wing ( Fig. 730) mostly infuscate with a vaguely V-shaped hyaline area in basal cell, a small hyaline area at apex of venation and opposite on posterior wing margin, apex a little paler; head ( Fig. 729) about 4X as wide as frontovertex, in facial view very slightly longer than broad, subcircular, genae converging, evenly curved towards mouth margin; frontovertex naked medially; eye separated from scrobe by about 1.3X diameter of anterior ocellus, area between eye and scrobe with deep, polygonally reticulate sculpture, scrobal margin sharp; interantennal prominence dorsally rounded with about 40 inconspicuous setae; mandible with one, lower acute tooth and a broad concave truncation; antenna ( Fig. 727) with scape about 2.8X as long as broad; funicle with F1-F3 slightly longer than broad, remaining segments transverse; head width about 0.9X length of flagellum; linear sensilla on all funicle segments; clava 3-segmented, about as long as F4-F6 combined; sensory area large and forming an oblique truncation, extending about 0.3X along ventral margin; mesoscutum mostly with coarse, polygonally reticulate sculpture, that is more longitudinally elongate in anterior one-third and on side; scutellum with a distinct apical tuft of setae; wings fully developed; fore wing ( Fig. 730) about 2.6-2.8X as long as broad; parastigma clearly curved downwards; costal cell dorsally with one or two setae at apex and a complete line of setae ventrally; area below proximal part of parastigma with a group of about 20 dark setae; apices of postmarginal and stigmal veins connected by a naked hyaline area that extends a little way into disc ( Fig. 726); apical bristle of postmarginal vein slightly more than 1.1X as long as marginal vein; mid tibial spur slightly longer than basitarsus; propodeum with about 11 setae around each spiracle, side naked; syntergum about 0.8X as long as mid tibia; ovipositor ( Fig. 728) about 4.7X gonostylus or 1.1X as long as mid tibia; gonostylus about 0.8X as long as mid tibial spur; ovipositor not exserted. Male: unknown.

Female (holotype): length, including ovipositor, 1.66mm; excluding ovipositor, 1.64mm (CPD).

Head mostly orange, frontovertex with a weak brassy and purple sheen; temple and gena brown with a weak metallic blue-green and purple lustre; area between eye and torulus slightly dusky; interantennal prominence dorsally brown with a slight purple and blue sheen; frontovertex clothed with inconspicuous, pale brown setae; antenna ( Fig. 727) with radicle pale orange; scape mostly white, ventral margin dark brown in proximal two-thirds, dorsal margin internally dark brown in its distal half; pedicel and flagellum dark brown; maxillary palpus dark brown; thorax mostly orange; neck of pronotum dark brown, posterior margin and sides orange; mesoscutum dark orange-brown with a purple sheen anteriorly and a mixed blue and purple sheen posteriorly, clothed with evenly distributed, translucent pale brown setae that appear slightly silvery in some lights, setae in anterior one-third more golden brown and less translucent; tegula with base orange and apex dark orange-brown with a slight purple sheen; axilla orange, with golden brown to brown setae; scutellum orange, anteriorly with pale brown setae, posterior setae and subapical tuft conspicuous and black; metanotum dark orange-brown with a very slight purple sheen; mesopleuron orange with a very weak brassy sheen; fore coxa white; fore femur virtually white, but pale orange ventrally and towards apex, ventral margin distally dark brown, fore tibia pale orange, externally dark brown, fore tarsus pale orange-brown; mid coxa ventrally brown, otherwise white to pale orange; mid femur white with a pale brown mark on dorsal margin subapically, tibia pale orange with a subbasal white ring and a dark brown streak dorsally in basal half, tarsus pale orange; hind coxa largely white but externally with proximal two-thirds dark brown; hind femur brown, hind tibia pale orange with a diffuse brown mark along dorsal margin proximally, hind tarsus pale orange; fore wing ( Fig. 730) mostly infuscate, hyaline towards base; submarginal vein mostly pale yellow-brown, rest of venation pale brown; propodeum orange-brown with a weak purple lustre, slightly blue and green laterally, side with a weak metallic green, coppery and purple sheen; side of propodeum with a few inconspicuous translucent setae surrounding spiracle; gaster orange-brown, dorsally mixed coppery, purple, green and brassy, Gt3-Gt6 medially dark brown, sides with a stronger green, blue, coppery and purple sheen; gonostylus very pale orange.

Head ( Fig. 729) about 4X as wide as narrowest point of frontovertex, in profile about 1.9X as high as deep with interantennal prominence slightly protuberant below toruli, otherwise anteriorly fairly straight from top of scrobes to clypeus; occipital margin sharp, not carinate; occiput without a median groove above foramen; ocelli forming an angle of about 80°; frontovertex slightly shiny, with shallow, fairly regular, polygonally reticulate sculpture of mesh size clearly less than diameter of eye facet; interantennal prominence and mouth margin with similar sculpture to frontovertex; temple and posterior part of gena with moderately coarse, irregular sculpture that is slightly deeper than that on frontovertex; anterior part of gena below eye with conspicuous sculpture that is coarser and deeper than that on frontovertex; area between eye and scrobe with distinct, but irregular sculpture; scrobes deep, meeting dorsally, ∩-shaped, but relatively short, dorsally not longer than torulus, sharply margined laterally, but not dorsally; antenna as in Fig. 727; scape slightly broadened and flattened, broadest above middle, about 2.8X as long as broad; funicle with F1-F3 slightly longer than broad, remaining segments transverse, segments broadest distad; clava slightly broadened, about as long as F4-F6 combined, sutures oblique, sensory area enlarged, extending ventrally about one-third along clava, giving it a distinct, obliquely truncate appearance; eye very nearly reaching occipital margin, separated by much less than diameter of facet, appearing naked, but clothed with inconspicuous setae, each much shorter than diameter of facet; inner eye margins slightly diverging anteriorly; malar sulcus more or less present, but very inconspicuous; clypeal margin medially very slightly convexly rounded; mandible with 1 tooth and a broad, slightly concave truncation; apical segment of maxillary palpus slightly enlarged, about 2X as long as radicle. Relative measurements: HW 83.5, HH 87, FV 21.5, OD 6, POL 13.5, OOL 0, OCL 6.5, AOL 11.5, EL 54, EW 42, MS 39, SL 37, SW 13.

Thorax with irregular, polygonally reticulate sculpture on pronotum, about as deep as that on frontovertex in ocellar area but of slightly smaller mesh size; most of mesoscutum with slightly shallower, but similar polygonally reticulate sculpture to that on pronotum; axilla and scutellum with similar sculpture to that in ocellar area but a little deeper and coarser; visible part of mesoscutum about 1.9X as broad as long; scutellum about 1.25X as broad as long with a distinct subapical tuft, setae mostly about half as long as scutellum; hind femur about 4.2X as long as broad; fore wing with venation and setation as in Figs 726, 730; costal cell with 2 or 3 setae dorsally at its apex; apices of postmarginal and stigmal veins connected by a distinct, naked, hyaline streak ( Fig. 726); propodeum with 10 to 12 setae surrounding spiracle, side with some distinct, shallow, polygonally reticulate sculpture, medially about 0.25X as long as scutellum and with some shallow, irregular, polygonally reticulate sculpture. Relative measurements: FWL 74.5, FWW 27; HWL 66, HWW 17.

Gaster with hypopygium reaching about one-third to apex; syntergum about 0.8X as long as mid tibia, with apex broadly rounded; ovipositor not exserted, or hardly so.

Paratype. Antenna with linear sensilla present only on F1-F6; gaster without “gland-like” structures on Gt1 or Gt5; ovipositor Fig. 728. Relative measurements: OL 42.5, GL 9 [MT 37].

Variation. Females vary in overall length from 1.29-1.66mm, otherwise very little in material available, although the mesoscutum may be slightly more strongly metallic than in the holotype and the exserted part of the ovipositor may be about one-third as long as mid tibial spur.

Male. Unknown.

DISTRIBUTION. Costa Rica.

HOSTS. Unknown.

MATERIAL EXAMINED.

Type material. Holotype E: COSTA RICA, Guanacaste, S(an)ta Rosa NP, Hacienda 1-0, 18.i-8.ii.1986 (Janzen, Gauld) . Paratypes: COSTA RICA, 16E, Guanacaste, Santa Rosa NP , various localities and dates 17.vi.1985 - 25.iv.1987 (D. Janzen, I. Gauld); 3E, Guanacaste, NW Volcan Orosi, Cerro El Hacha, 1986; 1E ,

Guanacaste, 12km SE La Cruz, Cerro El Hacha, LN 329200 238000, Malaise #7499 ( GNP Biodiv. Inv.); 1E, Guanacaste, Maritza ( ACG) 700m, 20.i-24.ii.1996 (J.S. Noyes); 2E, Guanacaste, PN Palo Verde, Sector Palo Verde, Campo Aterrizaje, LN 388400 259050, 10m, 10.i-9.ii.2001 (I. Jiménez); 1E, Guanacaste, PN Palo Verde, Sector Catalina, Fila Catalina, LN 257400 400000, #62105, 13.iii-19.iv.2001 (I. Jiménez); 1E, Guanacaste, BN Diría, Ret. Alr. Torre Control de Incendio , 600-700m, LN 238550 358650, #66659, xii.2001 - i.2002 (I. Jiménez). Holotype in MZUCR, paratypes in NHMUK, MZUCR and USNM.

COMMENTS. Cheiloneurus castalia is relatively easy to recognise because of the combination of the continuous area of polygonally reticulate sculpture between the eye and scrobal margin and the large, strongly setose, triangular, infuscate area below the proximal part of the parastigma.