Ixodiphagus sureshani, Hayat, Mohammad & Kazmi, Sarfrazul Islam, 2011

Hayat, Mohammad & Kazmi, Sarfrazul Islam, 2011, On some Encyrtidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) from Namdapha Tiger Reserve in Arunachal Pradesh, India, Zootaxa 2830, pp. 1-19 : 13-14

Ixodiphagus sureshani sp. nov.

( Figs 32–36 )

Female. Holotype. Length, 1.84 mm. Body completely black, shiny; frontovertex dull bronzy, but vertex between posterior ocelli and eyes bluish green; scrobes violet above, but interscrobal area, face on sides of scrobes and malar space bluish; mesoscutum largely dull bronzy, anteriorly dull bluish black; scutellum mainly bronzy purple but sides in apical half and apex faintly green; prepectus, mesopleuron, metapleuron and gaster black, shiny. Antennal scape brownish yellow, with brown suffusions in about distal half; pedicel and flagellum black ( Fig. 32 ). Fore wing hyaline except for slight infuscation below marginal and stigmal veins; distal veins dark brown. Legs with coxae and trochanters black, otherwise brownish yellow with brownish suffusions except fore femur dark brown in about basal third, and last segment of fore and mid tarsus and tarsal segments 2–5 of hind tarsus dark brown.

Head dorsum with occipital margin concave and appearing sharp; frontovertex 0.5x head width and broader than length of antennal scape, nearly flat with anterior margin concave medially; eyes separated from occiput posteriorly; scrobes broadly U-shaped, with margins rounded; antennal toruli with upper margins above lower margins of eyes, and separated from mouth margin by distance greater than height of torulus; head, in profile, with height slightly more than 1.5x length; malar space with a sulcus; frontovertex very finely reticulate, with brown setae; eyes setose, setae pale brown, and each seta clearly longer than a facet; ocellar triangle with apical angle slightly obtuse; POL 2.2x OOL and 3.38x OCL; posterior ocelli nearer to occipital margin (OCL, 3.25) than to eye margins (OOL, 5). Mandible ( Fig. 33 ) with one small pointed tooth and a broad dorsal truncation. Maxillary palp 4-segmented, labial palp 3-segmented. Antenna ( Fig.32 ) with scape about 3.6x as long as broad; pedicel longer than F1; F1 longer than broad; F2–6 quadrate to broader than long; clava 3-segmented, but first segment clearly separated from second segment so that the funicle may appear 7-segmented, second suture oblique, and third segment obliquely truncate. Relative measurements — head dorsal width, 53; frontovertex width at anterior ocellus, 28; head frontal height, 38; torulus height, 7; distance between toruli, 11; distance from a torulus to mouth margin, 9.5; eye height, 25; malar space, 16; antennal scape length, 20.

Mesosoma. Pronotum with posterior margin slightly concave; mesoscutum flat; scutellum very slightly convex; propodeum short, medially one-ninth to one-tenth of scutellum length, with spiracles large and circular; mesoscutum with raised reticulate sculpture, the cells small, with sparse setigerous punctures; scutellum with fine, slightly raised, reticulate sculpture, sculpture shallower than on mesoscutum and with small, shallow setigerous punctures separated by much more than their own diameters; mesopleuron with fine lineolations in anterior third and with raised reticulate sculpture in posterior two-thirds; setae on dorsum of thorax brown; those on sides of propodeum silvery white. Fore wing ( Fig. 34 ) broad, 2.27x as long as broad; costal cell 7.6x as long as broad; costal cell with dorsal surface having 4 lines of setae in apical third, becoming 2 line towards base, and ventral surface densely setose; marginal vein punctiform and not touching anterior wing margin; linea calva complete, posteriorly interrupted by 1 or 2 setae. Hind wing ( Fig. 35 ) 2.8x as long as broad. Relative measurements — mesoscutum length (width), 37 (54); scutellum length (width), 34 (30); propodeum median length, 3.75; (paratype slide) — fore wing length (width), 225 (98.75); venation, 96.25; hind wing length (width), 140 (50), venation, 83.75.

Gaster shorter than mesosoma (60: 72); cercal plates (gaster slightly shrunken) situated slightly distal to middle of gaster; TI one-third length of gaster; hypopygium nearly extending to apex of gaster; ovipositor not exserted; third valvula distinct, articulated with second valvifer ( Fig. 36 ). Relative measurements (paratype, slide) — ovipositor length, 35; third valvula length, 5; mid tibia length, 54; mid basitarsus length, 20.5; mid tibial spur length, 15.

Male. Unknown.

Material examined. Holotype, female (on card) labelled “ INDIA: Arunachal Pr. Namdapha Tiger Reserve, Road to Ranijheel, 11.xi.2009, P. M. Sureshan” (“ NZSI 12346/H3” on a red ticket).

Paratype. 1 female (on slide, No. EH. 1316; head crushed), with same data as holotype ( ZDAMU, Registration No. HYM. CH. 621).

Host. Unknown.

Distribution. India: Arunachal Pradesh.

Comments. This new species runs to Ixodiphagus in the available keys to encyrtid genera ( Noyes 1980; Noyes & Hayat 1984; Trjapitzin 1989; and Noyes, Woolley & Zolnerowich 1997) and agrees with it in a majority of the characters. It appears similar to the recently described I. satan Noyes (2010) from Costa Rica, but differs in having the antennal scape about 3.6x as long as broad; scutellum with setigerous punctures small and shallow and separated by much more than their own diameters; fore wing with costal cell broad, 7.6x as long as broad, with dorsal surface having 4 lines of long setae in about apical third becoming 2 lines basally; and ovipositor 7x as long as third valvula. In I. satan : antennal scape about 2.5x as long as broad; scutellum with setigerous punctures deep and distinct, separated by about their own diameters; fore wing with costal cell 8x as long as broad, with setae arranged in 1 or 2 lines; ovipositor 5.25x as long as third valvula.

Etymology. This species is named after Dr. P. M. Sureshan, Western Ghat Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India, Calicut, who collected the encyrtids from the Namdapha Tiger Reserve.

Figures

FIGURES 32 – 36. Ixodiphagus sureshani sp. nov., female: 32, antenna; 33, mandible; 34, part of fore wing; 35, hind wing; 36, ovipositor.