Scelio remaudierei Ferriere

Yoder, Matthew J., Valerio, Alejandro A., Polaszek, Andrew, Noort, Simon van, Masner, Lubomir & Johnson, Norman F., 2014, Monograph of the Afrotropical species of Scelio Latreille (Hymenoptera, Platygastridae), egg parasitoids of acridid grasshoppers (Orthoptera, Acrididae), ZooKeys 380, pp. 1-188 : 166-168

Scelio remaudierei Ferriere Figures 383-388; Morphbank 78

Scelio remaudierei Ferrière, 1952: 116 (original description).

Scelio remaudieri : Nixon 1958: 309, 317 (keyed, spelling error).

Description.

Female body length: 3.14-3.71 mm (n=12). Form of sculpture of frons below anterior ocellus in female: fine dorsoventral striae with few to no reticulations. Distribution of sculpture of frons posterior to anterior ocellus in female: with at least some obliterated or reduced patches of sculpture posteriorly. Color of pilosity of dorsomedial head in female: brown or predominantly brown. Form of anteclypeus between medial teeth in female: striplike, broadly concave. Form of lateral gena below eye in anterior view in female: bulging, often surpassing eye laterally. Sculpture of anteclypeus: smooth throughout. Sculpture of pronotal nucha in female: absent (smooth) in parts. Color of pilosity on mesonotum in female: predominantly brown throughout. Sculpture of mesoscutellum in female: predominantly longitudinally rugulose. Sculpture of oxter: with prominent smooth patch. Pilosity of metapleuron overlapping or arising within posteroventral quadrant in female: none; 1 seta. Color of fore wing in female: evenly colored throughout. Color of pilosity on lateral T2-T5 in female: T2 white, T3-T5 brown. Fine pilosity of lateral T1 in female: absent. Distribution of pilosity on metasomal terga 3-5 in female: more or less uniformly present throughout. Form of setae on lateral T2-T5: uniformly thin throughout. Pilosity of anterolateral corner of dorsal T3 in female: with patch of short appressed micropilosity.

Diagnosis.

Within the study region this species is most similar to Scelio afer with which it shares a broadly concave anteclypeus and smooth sculptureless patches on the dorsal portion of the head. It differs from Scelio afer and all other Afrotropical species by the distinctly bulging gena. It may further be distinguished from other Afrotropical species by the fine, sparse pilosity throughout, particularly on the metasoma, a state which should only be confused with Scelio concavus .

Link to distribution map.

http://hol.osu.edu/map-large.html?id=5314

Associations.

Emerged from egg of Acrida turrita (Linnaeus) [ Orthoptera : Acrididae ]; emerged from egg of Acrididae [ Orthoptera : Acrididae ]; emerged from egg of Eyprepocnemis plorans plorans (Charpentier) [ Orthoptera : Acrididae , as Euprepocnemis senegalensis Bolívar)]; emerged from egg of Locusta cinerascens migratorioides (Reiche & Fairmaire) [ Orthoptera : Acrididae , as Locusta migratoria migratorioides ]; emerged from egg of Hilethera nigerica (Uvarov) [ Orthoptera : Acrididae , as Paracinema tricolor nigerica (Uvarov)].

Material examined.

Lectotype (present designation), MALI: Dogo, II-1950, Remaudière, BMNH(E)#790429 (deposited in BMNH). Paralectoype , female, MALI: Dogo, II-1950, Remaudière, OSUC 173945 (deposited in MNHN). Other material: (12 females, 5 unknowns) EGYPT: 3 females, OSUC 244121-244123 (USNM). KENYA: 1 female, OSUC 59038 (OSUC). MALI: 5 unknowns, BMNH(E)#790424-790428 (BMNH). NIGER: 1 female, OSUC 212203 (CNCI). SOUTHAFRICA: 4 females, OSUC 212538, 212542, 250686 (CNCI); OSUC 213385 (SANC). UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: 2 females, OSUC 214056, 214073 (CNCI). YEMEN: 1 female, OSUC 254783 (CNCI).

Comments.

We initially interpreted specimens of Scelio remaudierei as a monstrous form of Scelio afer . However, specimens with nearly identical morphology from a broad distribution suggests that this morphotype warrants species status. Our material examined matches well with the type (see http://www.waspweb.org/Platygastroidea/Platygastridae/Scelioninae/Scelio/Scelio_remaudierei.htm).

Scelio aegyptiacus shares the relatively sparse and fine pilosity of the metasoma, the predominantly longitudinally striate sculpture of the mesoscutellum, the partially obliterated sculpture of the dorsum of the head (also shared with Scelio afer ), and a relatively broad, but not as bulging gena. Given the available material the two species Scelio remaudierei and Scelio aegyptiacus are reliably separated by the presence ( Scelio remaudierei ) of sculpture on the lateral sternites (smooth in Scelio aegyptiacus ) and by the broader gena in Scelio remaudierei . Nixon’s (1958) concept of Scelio remaudierei appears to be broader and combines of the concepts of Scelio remaudierei and Scelio afer presented here. Scelio popovi Nixon (1958) may be a synonym of Scelio aegyptiacus . We do not formally proposed this at this point, but the issue should be reviewed in a future revision of the North African and middle Eastern Scelio .

The dorsoventral striae of the frons are somewhat more closely packed together in Scelio remaudierei than in most other species. The patches of obliterated sculpture on the dorsal head are smaller than those observed in Scelio afer , and the sculpture is also somewhat finer and more dense in Scelio remaudierei . The mandibles are very broad. It is difficult to discern if there are two setal types on the lateral portion of T2. T5 in females has a relatively well-developed median crease, and the lateral surface appears to be slightly pinched.