Comperiella, Howard, 1906

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 : 142-143

Genus COMPERIELLA Howard

Comperiella Howard, 1906:121-122 . Type species: Comperiella bifasciata Howard , by monotypy.

Pseudanusia Girault, 1915a:155 . Type species: Pseudanusia pia Girault , by original designation. Synonymy with Comperiella by Girault, 1917a:37.

Habrolepistia Mercet, 1921:668 . Type species: Habrolepistia cerapterocera Mercet , by original designation. Synonymy with Comperiella by Mercet (1926:320).

Female. Overall length about 0.5-1.4mm.

Body slightly dorsoventrally flattened, generally dark brown with a weak metallic sheen, some areas strongly metallic; frontovertex with a pale yellow band adjacent to each eye and a median dark brown, slightly metallic band; pronotal collar with a median rectangular yellow area, sometimes divided into two longitudinally; mesoscutum with a longitudinal median metallic green or blue-green stripe margined laterally by a dark purple and coppery area; scutellum with a moderate to strong metallic sheen; legs mostly dark brown with yellow areas on fore and mid tibia; tarsi mostly yellow; fore wings with a pattern of hyaline and infuscate areas, usually with one or two longitudinal infuscate streaks apically; hind wing hyaline.

Head in profile strongly triangular with frontovertex more or less straight, strongly angled at top of scrobes and from there straight to the mouth margin, angled formed by frontovertex and face about 65°; top of scrobes delimited by a sharp, transfacial carina; antenna attached about half way between mouth margin and transfacial carina; scrobal area with shallow sculpture; frontovertex with fine, polygonally reticulate sculpture, a little shallower in front of anterior ocellus; scape broadened and flattened, in most cases subtrapezoidal; pedicel and flagellum usually strongly broadened and flattened, rarely subcylindrical; pedicel dorsally very slightly convex and very shiny; funicle 6-segmented, the segments usually strongly transverse; club 3-segmented with a weak to strong oblique apical truncation; mandible with one tooth and a broad, straight truncation, with a distinct socketed peg, near ventral margin on inner surface; palp formula 4-3.

Mesoscutum with imbricate-reticulate sculpture, notaular lines absent; scutellum dorsally flat with transversely elongate lineolate-aciculate sculpture, side and apex completely smooth and shiny; mesopleuron reaching level with posterior margin of propodeum; fore wing about 2.5-3.3X as long as broad; submarginal vein with parastigma slightly to strongly expanded and slightly downcurved, junction with marginal vein with a hyaline break; marginal vein about 2.5-3X as long as broad and about as long as stigmal vein; postmarginal vein absent or virtually so; filum spinosum present.

Gaster slightly shorter than thorax; hypopygium reaching about 0.7X along gaster; paratergites absent; ovipositor a little longer than mid tibia, slightly exserted with exserted part shorter than mid tibial spur; gonostylus free.

Male. Overall length about 0.5-1.1mm.

Similar in general habitus to female, but for colouration and structure of head, antenna and genitalia; head with ocellar area dark brown bordered by yellow, rest of head, thorax and gaster dark brown with a very weak metallic sheen; legs largely dark brown with fore and mid tibiae and tarsi largely white; fore wing completely hyaline; head about 2X as wide as frontovertex; antenna with scape slightly broadened, flagellum filiform with all funicle segments longer than broad, clava entire, about as long as F5-F6 combined, segments clothed in long setae; phallobase about 2.3-4.3X as long as wide; aedeagus about 0.4-0.6X as long as mid tibia with apex tapered, acute; digitus with a single apical hook.

DISTRIBUTION. Cosmopolitan, introduced into Americas.

HOSTS. Primary parasitoids of a variety of armoured scale insects ( Hemiptera : Diaspididae ).

BIOCONTROL. Comperiella bifasciata ( Howard, 1906) , mainly originating from China, has been released in many countries throughout the world (e.g. Chile, France, Greece, Morocco, Turkey, Zambia, Indonesia and Philippines) in attempts to control Aonidiella aurantii (Maskell) , A. citrina (Coquillett) , A. inornata McKenzie and Aspidiotus destructor Signoret ( Hemiptera : Diaspididae ). In most cases control attempts have failed (Gonzalez & Rojas, 1966; Greathead, 1976, Argyriou, 1974; Bennett et al., 1976; Trjapitzin, 1989; Uygin & Sekeroglu, 1987; Dean 1955; CIBC 1978, 1979, 1980; Vandenberg, 1929; Hoyt, 1957; Voute, 1937). However, in Australia, partial control of Aonidiella citrina was achieved in Victoria (Bennett et al., 1976) , and successful control of Aonidiella aurantii in Queensland (Murray, 1976; Smith, 1978, 1981; Wilson, 1960). Partial control of Aonidiella aurantii in Swaziland was achieved by releases of the parasitoid in 1969-1970 (Catling, 1971; Atkinson, 1977). The same parasitoid was introduced into South Africa in 1966 and again in 1981-1983 and resulted in the successful control of Aondiella aurantii (Bruwer & Villiers, 1988; Greathead, 1971) and similar results were obtained in Mexico by releases of the parasitoid against the same pest in 1989 (Altieri et al., 1989). Most success has been achieved in California ( USA) where multiple releases of the parasitoid up to 1969 have led to the successful control of Aonidiella aurantii and A. citrina (Compere, 1956; DeBach, 1955; Rao et al., 1971). Comperiella bifasciata was also used in biological control programmes in a various countries (e.g. USA, spain, Italy, Greece, Israel, South Africa, Mauritius, Philippines) against Chrysomphalus aonidum (Linnaeus) , C. bifasciculatus Ferris , C. dictyospermi (Morgan) , Comstockaspsis perniciosa (Comstock) , Hemiberlesia rapax (Comstock) and Pseudaulacaspis pentagona (Targioni Tozzetti) ( Hemiptera : Diaspididae ) but did not contribute to control of any of these pests (see summary in Noyes & Hayat, 1994).

Comperiella unifasciata Ishii was introduced from Japan into Fiji, Mauritius and Indonesia in 1926-1938 for the control of Aspidiotus destructor but without success (Taylor, 1935; Moutia & Mamet, 1946; Reyne, 1947).

COMMENTS. Comperiella can be distinguished from other encyrtid genera by the combination of the flattened scape, pedicel and flagellum (except apoda Prinsloo, 1996 from south Africa), yellow frontovertex with a median dark stripe and the partially infuscate fore wing with oblique apical stripes (except ponticula Prinsloo & Annecke, 1976 from southern Africa and the Cape Verde Islands). It is probably closest to Ceraptroceroideus Girault, 1916a and Spaniopterus Gahan, 1927 known only from North America and Indonesia respectively. However, females of both Ceraptroceroideus and Spaniopterus lack a sharp, transfacial carina that extends laterally between the eye and facial depression and the funicle in Spaniopterus is only 4-segmented and the clava 2-segmented. Ceraptroceroideus currently includes two described species: cinctipes Girault, 1916 and idahoensis Trjapitzin & Gordh, 1979. The type species of Ceraptroceroideus (cinctipes) is known only from brachypterous females that differ from known species of Comperiella by having a single orange median stripe on the frontovertex bordered by brown lines along each eye margin (opposite of the character state in Comperiella ), a yellow band across the face below the eyes and a completely dark brown mesoscutum with a slight brassy sheen. The second species is similar but is fully winged and lacks the median orange stripe on the frontovertex.

IDENTIFICATION. Worldwide 11 species. See Hayat, 2006 ( India; key to 5 species); Prinsloo 1996 (southern Africa; key to 9 world species); Hayat & Veenakumari, 2014 (new species description); Barrion et al. 2016 (new species description);