Neastymachus punctatiscutellum Singh, 2012

Singh, Sudhir & Srinivasa, Y. B., 2012, A new species of parasitic wasp Neastymachus Girault (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Encyrtidae) collected by fogging Vateria indica L. (Dipterocarpaceae) canopy in the Western Ghats of India, Journal of Threatened Taxa 4 (9), pp. 2883-2888 : 2884-2887

Neastymachus punctatiscutellum Singh , sp. nov.

(Images 1–10)

Material examined: Holotype: 26.vi.2003, female (on card, with both antennae, wings, fore and middle legs and left hind leg mounted on a slide under five cover slips), (12004 ’39.2”N & 75043 ’33.6”E) in the Western Ghats ; ex. canopies of Vateria indica , located at an altitude of 128m; collected by canopy fogging, Makuta near Virajpet, Bannadapaare, Karnataka, India, coll. Y.B. Srinivasa. ( NFIC-FRI, Dehradun. Accession No. 21906).

Diagnosis: Female: Body pale yellow except scutellum and middle portion of scape brownish. Scutellum asetose, with distinct punctate reticulate sculpture and with conical distal margin, basal portion of fore wing naked.

Description: Female, length 1.65 mm (holotype).

Colour, setation and sculpture: Body completely

Images 1–4. Neastymachus punctatiscutellum Singh , sp. nov., female (holotype)

1 - body in dorsal view; 2 - body in lateral view; 3 - antenna;

4 - dentitions of mandibles.

© Sudhir Singh

pale yellow except central part of scutellum and middle portion of scape brownish. Head completely pale yellow with very faint and shallow reticulate sculpture, sculpture much distinct at ocellar region than around scrobes; setae translucent and very inconspicuous, along the inner margins of eye setae longer; eyes naked, light grey in colour, ocelli colourless; mandible with teeth reddish-brown; maxillary and labial palpi pale yellow. Antenna white, except scape with basal two-thirds of brown, ventral margin and apical third white; pedicel slightly pale yellow; funicle segments with translucent, fine and long setae. Mesosoma pale yellow except central area of scutellum brownish; collar of pronotum with about 20 moderately strong setae; mesoscutum pale yellow with faint and very shallow reticulate sculpture which is larger than that on head, with about 100 pale, inconspicuous and scattered setae; axillae pale yellow and smooth, with one or two setae; scutellum brown, except narrow pale yellow stripes on sides; brown area of scutellum with prominent punctate reticulate sculpture(Image8), setae absent; lateral pale stripes of scutellum smooth. Wings hyaline, venation almost translucent; setae transparent and hardly visible even under higher magnification of compound microscope; basal portion of fore wing naked. All legs pale yellow, lighter than mesosoma. Metasoma pale yellow, lighter than mesosoma, with inconspicuous setae.

Images 5–10. Neastymachus punctatiscutellum Singh , sp. nov., female (holotype)

5 - head in dorsal view; 6 - head in frontal view; 7 - mesosoma; 8 - part of mesosoma showing sculpture on the scutellum;

9 - part of the fore wing showing venation and 10 - basal part of the fore wing showing venation and setal pattern.

© Sudhir Singh

Structure: Head in dorsal view (Image 5) semicircular, anterior margin rounded, posterior margin concave; 1.8x as wide as long (587:317), 4.8x as wide as frontovertex width at level of median ocellus (587:120); ocelli in acute angle triangle; POL as long as, OCL 3.15x and OOL about 0.2x the diameter of middle ocellus (38:120:9:38); eye about 1.4x as long as wide (321:230). Head in frontal view (Image 6) rounded, slightly wider at eye and tapering towards genal area; 1.16 x as wide as long (586:504); inner eye margins smoothly curved and diverging anteriorly from level of median ocellus; eye 1.7x as long as wide (370:216); toruli 1.6x as long as wide (78:48), half their length below the line joining lower ends of eyes; distance between toruli 1.34x, distance between torulus and eye margin 1.53x, torulo-mouth margin distance slightly shorter than torular length (105:120:72:78); scrobes narrow, moderately deep, not meeting dorsally, reaching halfway between torulus and median ocellus (168:340). Head in profile (Image 2) triangular, anterior margin smoothly curved, 2.5x as high as malar space length (504:201); eye 1.12x as long as wide (360:321). Antenna (Image 3) with scape flattened and expanded beneath, 2.3x as long as wide (264:114); pedicel long conical, 1.87x as long as wide (91:48); all funicle segments longer than wide; F1 slightly longer than pedicel, 2.96x as long as wide (95:32); F2 as long and as wide as F1, F3 2.27x (82:36), F4 1.65x (68:41), F5 1.36x (68:50), F6 1.23x (68:55); club 2.36x as long as wide (182:77).

Mesosoma (Image 7): 0.9x head width (528:585); pronotum, visible part, narrow, about 9x as wide as long (432:48); mesoscutum convex from side to side, posterior margin at the middle curved and produced over the axillae separating them, 1.57x as wide as long (528:336); axillae rounded on sides, width of axillae 0.67x the thorax width (355:528); scutellum flat, conical apically, as long as wide (288); propodeum 11.2x as wide as long (538:48). Fore wing 2.5x as long as wide (1445:578); marginal vein (104) longer than postmarginal (68) as well as stigmal vein (91). Middle tibial spur slightly longer than basitarsus (211:192).

Metasoma (Image 1): Longer than mesosoma, 1.16x as long as wide (696:600), cercal plates situated slightly before middle of metasoma; hypopygium extending to two-thirds length along gaster; ovipositor length 0.73x the mid tibia length (456:624), ovipositor sheath length 0.17x the ovipositor length (77:456).

Male: Unknown.

Etymology

Named after the distinct punctate reticulate sculpture of the scutellum.

Distribution India: Western Ghats (Karnataka).

Comments

This is a distinct species and can be separated from other known species by shape (flat and apically v-shaped), colour (dark brown with lateral narrow white stripes) and sculpture (prominently deep punctuate reticulate) of the scutellum; flattened scape and the asetose scutellum. (See key to species.)