Proaphelinoides Girault, 1917

Menakadevi, C. & Manickavasagam, S., 2012, A new species of Proaphelinoides Girault (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) with a key to world species and additional records from Tamil Nadu, India, Zootaxa 3193 (1), pp. 62-68 : 63

Proaphelinoides Girault, 1917

Proaphelinoides Girault, 1917: 4 . Type-species: Proaphelinoides elongatiformis Girault , by original designation.

Bestiola Nikol’skaya, 1963: 186–189. Type- species: Bestiola mira Nikol’skaya, by original designation. Synonymy by Rosen, 1980 [Dec.]: 299; also Hayat, 1981 [Jan.]: 469.

Diagnosis. Body elongate and flattened. Antenna with 6 segments, 1122 or 1131. Mandibles with two teeth and a truncation. Maxillary palp 2-segmented; labial palp unsegmented. Frontovertex about 0.33× head width; eyes large, finely setose; frontovertex with prominent dark brown setae, 2 pairs of very long setae along vertexo-occipital margin. Pronotum dorsally long, medially divided by a suture; mid lobe of mesoscutum and scutellum with a fine mid-longitudinal line/groove; mesothoracic spiracle prominent; scutellum with a notch in posterior margin; setae dorsally on thorax long, and brown to dark brown; midlobe with 12–16, side lobe with 2, axilla with 1, and scutellum with 4 setae; metanotal tubercle present; propodeum medially long, more than 3.0× as long as metanotum and with a fine, sinuous ridge mesad each spiracle, and with 3–6 setae on each side distad spiracle; posterior margin of propodeum with very fine crenulae, but only sometimes detectable at high magnification. Fore wing broad, with or without dark setae in a bunch behind proximal half of marginal vein; linea calva distinct or not clearly defined, proximally bordered by 1–4 lines of setae; submarginal vein with 2 setae, the distal setae very long; marginal vein distinctly longer than costal cell and with very long setae; stigma with four sensilla. Hind wing broad, with disc sparsely to moderately densely setose. Legs long and slender; tarsal formula 5-5-5. Gaster at least as long as head plus thorax; last tergum latero-ventrally continuous with outer plates of ovipositor; sometimes TVII appearing as a narrow band partly separated from TVIII; ovipositor long, slightly exerted at apex; TI and other terga with small sensory peg-like setae arranged in groups ( Hayat 1998).

Species and distribution. Four world species ( Australia, Oriental, Palaearctic): P. anomalus ( India, Peoples’ Republic of China (Guangxi)); P. australis ( Australia) ; P. bendovi (Peoples’ Republic of China); P. elongatiformis (Caucasus, Georgia, Guam Island, Japan, Peoples’ Republic of China (Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi), Sri Lanka and Transcaucasus) ( Noyes 2011).

Hosts. Parasitoids of diaspidid scales of the Tribe Odonaspidini (Homoptera: Diaspididae ) ( Hayat 1998).

Comments. This genus is extremely close to Aphytis Howard , differing in its elongate-flattened body, very long setae on the head and thorax, prominent mesothoracic spiracles, nearly straight posterior margin of the propodeum, which medially is apparently smooth, very long distal seta on the submarginal vein, and long syntergum (= last tergum). There are apparently only two derived characters of Proaphelinoides — the prominent mesothoracic spiracles and the medially smooth propodeum. All other characters appear to be symplesiomorphies or homoplasius, being also found in Aphytis Howard, 1900 or Botryoideclava Subba Rao, 1980 or Centrodora Foerster, 1878 ( Hayat 1998) .