Pediobius setigerus Kerrich, 1970

Gumovsky, Alex, 2021, Review of the species of Pediobius (Hymenoptera, Eulophidae) having extreme dorsal setation and description of a new species from East Africa, Zootaxa 4999 (5), pp. 423-438 : 425-427

Pediobius setigerus Kerrich, 1970

( Figs 1 , 4A, C, E , 5A, C )

Pediobius setigerus Kerrich, 1970: 327 .

Diagnosis. Pronotal collar with 20 strong bristles (10 on each side); mesoscutum with two groups of strong bristles, which have no distinct limits: median, between notaular depressions (about 20 bristles), and lateral, laterad of each notaular depression (about 8 bristles); mesoscutellum with a row of 15-20 strong bristles on each side (30-40 in total, Fig. 5A, C ); mesoscutum and mesoscutellum with light reticulation, anterior margin of mesoscutellum with a small notch; propodeum with submedian carinae distinctly diverging posteriorly; metasomal petiole short ( Fig. 5B ), gaster ovate, mostly about 1.5× as long as broad, Gt 1 occupying about 1/2 of length of gaster.

Additionally, head in dorsal view about 2.0× as broad as long, with light alutaceous sculpture ( Fig. 4A, E ), medially flat; angle of ocelli about 80–85˚; metatibial spur nearly 1.6–1.7× as long as breadth of metatibia, nearly as long as metabasitarsus; subcosta of submarginal vein with two short setae; forewing speculum open below; fore wing transparent; WIP with wide violet field along apical margin, followed by small green patch and another violet field behind it, under marginal vein.

Type material studied. Holotype ♀ ( Fig. 1A, C ), “ Ghana, Western reg., Pretsea, 30 m, N 4.55 – W 1.52, ex lar- vae of Coelaenomenodera elaeidis Mlk. , 18.i.1967, no—leg. Endrödy-Younga ” (deposited in NHMUK) . Paratype ♀, ibid. (deposited in NHMUK, Fig. 5A ) .

Material labelled similarly to the type series. 2♀ (ID Z. Bouček, 1976), Ghana (W.): ‘nr. Takoradi, Pretsea, 16.I.1967, S.A. Younga, Assoc with oil palm hispid, C. elaeidis Maul’ (handwritten by? G.Kerrich, ID Z. Bouček, 1976, Fig. 1B, D ); 3♀ (on the same card), Côte d’Ivoire: Ivory coast, Aug. 1970 (IRHO, J. Mariau), ex Coelaenomenodera elaeidis (ID Z. Bouček, 1976, Fig. 4A ); ♂, Ghana, Western reg., Pretsea, 30 m, N 4.55 – W 1.52, ex larvae of Coelaenomenodera elaeidis Mlk. , 17.i.1967, no—leg. Endrödy-Younga (deposited in NHMUK, main collection, Figs 1E, F , 4E ).

30♀, ♂, Ghana , Western reg., Pretsea, 30 m, N 4.55 – W 1.52, ex larvae of Coelaenomenodera elaeidis Mlk. , 5.7.1966 - 23.8.1966, no—, leg. Endrödy-Younga (deposited in NHMUK, accession collection: likely a part of the type series, but not labelled as such) ; ♀, Ghana , Central reg., Bunsu, 300 m, N 6.17 – W 0.28, ex larvae of Coelaenomenodera elaeidis Mlk. , primary par., 12.12.1966, no—, leg. Endrody-Younga (deposited in NHMUK, accession collection: likely a part of the type series, but not labelled as such; Bunsu was not among the type localities in Ghana) .

Other material. 14 ♀, the Republic of Guinea, ‘ Guinea (Conakry), Nimba Mountain, Gouan Camp , Gallery forest of Zié , nr. “Station de Pompage Zié”, canopy of trees, “Nimba 050”, under-story shrub layer, Fogging 01, Mt Nimba , Zié forest’, N 07° 40’ 23’’, W 08° 22’ 24’’, 1250 m, fogging Fog. 01, 3.X.2011 (A. Hernard & D. Van den Spiegel) (deposited in RMCA) ; ♀, Central African Republic: Sangha-Mbaéré Prefecture: Dzanga-Ndoki National Park, Mabéa Bai , 21.4 km 53°NE Bayanga, 03°02’01” N 16°24’57” E, 510 m, 1–2.V.2001, Malaise trap, lowland rainforest, marsh clearing, CAR01-M04, SAM-HYM-P066657 (S. van Noort) (deposited in SAMC) ; ♀, the Demo- cratic Republic of Congo, Kisangani, UNIKIS, partly cultivated fields behind Faculté des Sciences (weeds, maize etc.) leg. A. Gumovsky, DRC 13, 30-31.I.2013 ; ♀, Yangambi, roadside: between WWF-headquarters and Ilongo river , 22.I.2013 (Gumovsky & Bakondongama) ; ♀, Uganda, Semuliki National park , ~ 3.5 km SW Bundimasoli, open green area in a forest, 19.III.2013 (Gumovsky) (deposited in SIZK) ; ♀, Uganda, Kibale National Park, Kan- yawara, Makerere University Biological Field Station , 1523m, 0º33.836’ N 30º21.700’ E, 6.viii.2008, UG08-KF8- S01, Sweep, primary mid-altitude Rainforest (S.van Noort), SAM-HYM-P069295 (deposited in SAMC) .

Distribution. Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire ( Kerrich 1970, 1973), the Republic of Guinea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda (new records).

Host. Leaf beetles ( Coleoptera : Chrysomelidae ): Coelaenomenodera elaeidis on Elaeis guineensis (Arecaceae) ( Kerrich 1970, 1973; Mariau & Morin 1971) and Platypria coronata (Guérin-Méneville) and Pueraria phaseoloides (Roxb.) Benth. (Fabaceae) ( Bernon & Graves 1979). This species is a gregarious larval endoparasitoid and has been considered a biocontrol agent against oil palm pests ( Mariau & Morin 1971; Bernon & Graves 1979); occasionally being confused with other parasitoids of C. elaeidis (as Pleurotroppopsis podagrica Waterston : Aneni et al. 2014a) or misspelt (as ‘ Petiobus setigerus’: Aneni et al. 2014b).

Comparative remarks. The species is very similar to P. multisetis , which was originally considered to be a variant of P. setigerus ( Kerrich 1970, 1973). The main differences ( Bouček, 1976) are an elongate gaster and slightly shorter head in P. multisetis (see below, Table 1).

In the original description of P. setigerus, Kerrich (1970) mentioned the female holotype from Ghana (near Pretsea [not to be confused with the Prestea town ]), reared from Coelaenomenodera elaeidis by S. Endrödy-Younga) and ‘ Paratypes. GHANA: numerous females, same locality, host and captor, various dates’. He also provided data on 4 other female paratypes from Aburi ( Ghana ) and 23 female paratypes from La Mé ( Côte d’Ivoire ). No males were listed as paratypes, although the description contained a paragraph on male features. The main collection of NHMUK houses the holotype and a series of specimens labelled as paratypes, most of which bear identification labels in Z. Bouček’s handwriting: only the specimens that came to NHMUK in the K.-J. Hedqvist collection bear labels in Kerrich’s handwriting. Apart from these paratypes, numerous unidentified specimens (including two males) from Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire labelled similarly to the above mentioned paratypes were found in the acces- sion collection of NHMUK. Since it is difficult to decide whether the unlabeled specimens form part of the type series, they are reported above as ‘material labelled similarly to the type series’, and clarification of their status would require further evidence .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Pediobius setigerus (all from NHMUK, Ghana):A–C, E, habitus (A, B, E, dorsal; C, lateral); D, F, posterior mesosoma and anterior metasoma: A, C, female holotype; B, D, female from Takoradi (accession collection, likely part of the same rearing as the type series); E, F, male: E, identified by Z. Bouček, from main collection; F, from accession collection.

FIGURE 4. Pediobius setigerus (A, C, E) and P. multisetis (B, D, F, paratypes NHMUK). Head plus anterior mesosoma (A–D, females; E, F, males): A, B, E, F, dorsal view; C, lateral view; D, fronto-dorsal view. A, ♀ from Ghana (ID Z. Bouček, 1976, NHMUK, main collection); B, ♀ from CAR (SAMC); E, ♂, Ghana (NHMUK, main collection).

FIGURE 5. Pediobius setigerus, female paratypes (A, NHMUK; C, RMCA) and P. multisetis, female paratype, NHMUK (B): A, B, in dorsal view; C, lateral view.