Encarsia protransvena Viggiani, 1985

Schmidt, Stefan & Polaszek, Andrew, 2007, The Australian species of Encarsia Förster (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea: Aphelinidae), parasitoids of whiteflies (Hemiptera, Sternorrhyncha, Aleyrodidae) and armoured scale insects (Hemiptera, Coccoidea: Diaspididae), Journal of Natural History 41 (33 - 36), pp. 2099-2265 : 2224-2226

75. Encarsia protransvena Viggiani

( Figures 238–241 )

Encarsia protransvena Viggiani 1985b, p 89 . Holotype ♀, USA: Florida, Broward Co [unty]. F[or]t. Lauderdale , September 1984 (C. R. R. Thompson), ex Dialeurodes kirkaldyi (DEUN, examined).

Encarsia strenua (Silvestri) : Polaszek et al. 1992, p 388 (misidentification, in part, of E. protransvena ), Booth and Polaszek 1996, p 73; Schauff et al. 1996, p 29 (misidentification of E. protransvena ).

Description

Female. Colour: head yellow, body completely yellow without any dark pigmentation. Antenna yellow, apical one to two segments very slightly infuscate. Fore wing hyaline. Legs yellow.

Morphology: stemmaticum with reticulate surface sculpture ( Figure 240 ). Antennal formula 1,1,3,3. Pedicel shorter than F1 (0.76). F1 3.09 times as long as its maximum width, subequal to F2 (1.06) and shorter than F3 (0.85). Flagellomeres with the following numbers of sensilla: F1: 0, F2: 0, F3: 1, F4: 2, F5: 2, F6: 2. Midlobe of mesoscutum with nine setae (in the single Australian specimen known one seta in an asymmetrical position, usually eight setae in specimens from elsewhere), side lobes with three setae each. Scutellar sensilla close together, separated by a distance of about the width of a sensillum or less. Distance between anterior pair of scutellar setae distinctly smaller than between posterior pair. Fore wing 2.6 times as long as width of disc. Marginal fringe 0.23 times as long as width of disc. Submarginal vein with two setae, marginal vein anteriorly with eight setae. Basal cell with nine setae. Tarsal formula 5-5-5. Apical spur of midtibia longer than half the length of the corresponding basitarsus (0.79). Tergites laterally with the following numbers of setae: T1: 0, T2: 1, T3: 1, T4: 1, T5: 3, T6: 3, T7 with four setae. Ovipositor longer than midtibia (1.41) and 2.46 times as long as clava. Third valvula 0.30 times as long as second valvifer.

Male. No males of the species were collected in the study area. For a description of E. protransvena males from elsewhere see Heraty and Polaszek 2000, p 160.

Species group placement. E. strenua group. Distribution. Australia: Christmas Island. Pacific Islands: French Polynesia, Fiji. USA: California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii. China, Colombia, Cayman Islands, Honduras, Puerto Rico and Vieques Island, Spain.

Host. Not reared in the study area. The following hosts from elsewhere have been recorded ( Huang and Polaszek 1998; Schmidt et al. 2001): Aleurocanthus sp. , Aleurolobus sp. , Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) , Dialeurodes citri (Ashmead) , D. citrifolii (Morgan) , D. kirkaldyi (Kotinsky) , Trialeurodes packardi (Morrill) , T. vaporariorum (Westwood) .

Material examined

Christmas Island: 1♀, Central Area Workshop (10 ° 299S, 105 ° 389E), 14 April 1989 (J. C. Cardale), ex ethanol ( ZSMG) .

Figures

Figures 238–241. Encarsia protransvena Viggiani, female. (238) Mesosoma and gaster. (239) Antenna. (240) Stemmaticum. (241) Fore wing.