Playaspalangia Yoshimoto, 1976

Gibson, Gary A. P., 2009, 2259, Zootaxa 2259, pp. 1-159 : 18-20

Playaspalangia Yoshimoto, 1976

Playaspalangia Yoshimoto, 1976: 475–477 . Type species: Playaspalangia rothi Yoshimoto , by original designation.

Diagnosis. Head (Fig. 10), pronotal collar and mesonotum (Fig. 16) coriaceous without setiferous punctures or crenulae, but with quite long and conspicuous, curved, brownish setae (Figs 15, 16). Head without occipital carina (Fig. 11); lower face bent at about 90° angle to torulus, in lateral view rim of torulus slightly raised into very short tube but not lobe-like projecting beyond level of base of mandible (Fig. 10). Maxillary and labial palpi 1-segmented (Fig. 13). Wings fully developed (Fig. 15) to strongly reduced (Fig. 16); fully developed fore wing uniformly setose. Mesopleuron, including pectal region, bare; with shallow furrow indistinctly differentiating mesepimeron from upper mesepisternum, but acropleuron and pectal region not distinctly differentiated and upper mesepisternum smoothly merged into lower mesepisternum without transepisternal line or line of setae (Fig. 19). Propodeum (Fig. 17) variably finely coriaceous, without distinct postspiracular sulcus; plical region without paramedian crenulate furrows. Petiole (Fig. 18) smooth to very finely coriaceous, only about as long as maximum width, pentagonal, and with acutely pointed anterolateral angles directed laterally. Gaster with tergites not strongly sclerotized, more or less collapsed in air dried specimens, with conspicuous, long, curved, brown setae (Fig. 20); Gt 1 broadly and shallowly concave anteriorly, but depressed area not carinately margined (Figs 18, 20); tergites posterior to Gt 1 all of similar length (Fig. 20).

Relationships. Yoshimoto (1976) established Playaspalangia for his new species P. rothi . Although monotypic, several putatively plesiomorphic features suggest that P. rothi is the sister group of Spalangia rather than just a secondarily highly modified species that renders Spalangia paraphyletic. The petiole is comparatively short and smooth, and although it has acute anterolateral angles these project laterally (Fig. 18) rather than anteriorly so that the petiole and posterolateral margins of the propodeal foramen do not interdigitate to the same extent as in Spalangia (e.g. Figs 71, 89, 201, 355). Furthermore, the body (Fig. 15) is not only comparatively lightly sclerotized but also more or less uniformly coriaceous (including the propodeum, Fig. 17), the gastral tergites are subequal in length (Fig. 20), and Gt 1 (Figs 16, 20) lacks the deep, carinately margined anteromedian depression that is correlated with the longer tubular petiole of Spalangia (e.g. Figs 121, 229, 230). The mesepimeron and upper mesepisternum are differentiated by a shallow furrow (Fig. 19) that appears to be intermediate in structure between the oblique femoral depression of many Pteromalidae and the more distinct longitudinal episternal line and/or episternal scrobe that characterizes Spalangia (e.g. Fig. 6). Furthermore, the other mesopleural regions that characterize Spalangia are only obscurely differentiated by slight sculptural differences in P. rothi , the bare pectal region (Fig. 19) lacks even the single posteroventral seta that characterizes Spalangia (e.g. Figs 34, 44, 54), and the upper and lower mesepisternum are not differentiated by either a transepisternal line or a line of setae (Fig. 19). The head also lacks an occipital carina (Fig. 11) and the lower face is not acutely angled under the face so that in lateral view the toruli are not tube-like extended beyond the base of the mandible (Fig. 10), though this is also true for some Spalangia , particularly males. Based on comparison with other Pteromalidae , most of the above features of Playaspalangia , including probably absence of an occipital carina, likely are symplesiomorphic features. However, the 1-segmented maxillary and labial palpi of Playaspalangia (Fig. 13) undoubtedly are apomorphic relative to the 2-segmented palpi of Spalangia (Fig. 116, insert).

Figs 1–9. Morphological terms used for Spalangiinae (see Appendix for abbreviations). 1–3, head: 1, Spalangia nigra ♀, 2, S. nigripes ♀, 3, S. longepetiolata ♁; 4, head and pronotum, S. alyxia ♀; 5, pro- and mesonotum, S. endius ♀; 6, mesopleuron, S. alyxia ♀; 7, propodeum and petiole, S. nigroaenea ♁; 8, antenna, S. imitator ♀ (inserts: S. subpunctata ♀, S. drosophilae ♁); 9, fore wing, S. fuscipes ♀.

Figs 10–18. Playaspalangia rothi Yoshimoto. 10 & 11, ♁ head: 10, frontolateral view, 11, posterior view; 12, ♀ antenna (insert: fu 7); 13, ♁ mouthparts, ventral view; 14, ♁ antenna; 15, lateral habitus of macropterous ♀; 16, micropterous ♁ mesosoma, dorsal view; 17, ♀ scutellum–petiole, posterolateral view; 18, ♁ petiole, dorsal view.