Scelio susurro Yoder

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 : 90-92

Scelio susurro Yoder sp. n. Figures 28, 205-210; Morphbank 49

Description.

Female body length: 4.90-5.88 mm (n=2). Male body length: 4.41-4.80 mm (n=15). Color of pilosity of dorsal head in female: golden to brown. Occipital ca rina in female: percurrent. Color of pilosity of the frons below the anterior ocellus in female: predominantly golden to brown. Pilosity of eye in female: absent. Medial keel on interantennal process: absent. Width of lower gena in lateral view: wide, posterior margin of lower half of gena parallel to posterior orbit. Genal carina: absent. Color of genal pilosity: white. Color of scape in female: brown to dark brown throughout; yellow in basal half, darkening to light brown in apical half. Surface of the pronotal nucha in female: predominantly sculptured. Color of pilosity of pronotal shoulder in female: white to light brown, lighter than that of mesoscutum; golden to dark brown, concolorous with that of mesoscutum. Sculpture of medial mesoscutum in female: predominantly angular reticulate to rugulose. Color of pilosity of mesoscutum in female: predominantly light brown to brown. Notaulus in female: not delimited; present as more or less uninterrupted channel in posterior 1/2 of mesoscutum. Notaulus in male: delimited by row of cells. Form of axillular carina in female: small, not particularly expanded or projected from the lateral edge of the mesoscutellum. Pilosity of propodeal nucha: absent. Pilosity of netrion: absent. Surface of mesopleural depression in female: with small smooth patch ventrally. Form of ventral margin of villus in female: bent ventrally in posterior, obviously not straight throughout. Color of coxae in female: brown. Color of hind femur: dark brown throughout. Color of hind tibia: yellow at extreme base, otherwise light brown. Fore wing length in female: apex between anterior margin of T5 and posterior margin of T6. Color of metasoma: entirely dark brown. Sculpture of laterotergites in female: predominantly smooth. Pilosity of laterotergites in female: absent. Sculpture of medial T1 in female: most prominent elements predominantly longitudinal. Sculpture of medial T2 in female: most prominent elements predominantly reticulate rugulose; most prominent elements predominantly longitudinal. Pattern of sculpture on T3-T5 in female: T3 predominantly reticulate, T4-T5 predominantly longitudinally striate to strigose. Color of pilosity on lateral T3-T5 in female: predominantly white. Lateral profile of T6 in female: more or less horizontal. Sculpture of T6 in female: predominantly rugulose to reticulate. Sculpture of lateral metasomal sternal bar in female: predominantly smooth to slightly irregularly rugose; minutely reticulate throughout. Distribution of felt fields: 2 pairs present (S2, S3).

Diagnosis.

Most similar to Scelio fremo which shares similar setal patterns on the gena, lateral metasomal tergites and to some extent the pronotal shoulder and frons. In both species there are both white and golden brown setae in these areas, their distribution on the lateral metasoma is towards the posterior (anterior glabrous to sparsely setose, Fig. 210). Differing from Scelio fremo by the shorter metasoma and fore wings that surpass T5, the curved ventral margin of the villus, and the small obliterated patch of sculpture on the ventral mesopleural depression.

Etymology.

The epithet is used as a noun in apposition derived from the Latin word for murmur, whisper, hum, or buzz.

Link to distribution map.

http://hol.osu.edu/map-large.html?id=244985

Material examined.

Holotype, female: CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Sangha-Mbaéré Préf. Écon., 38.6km (173°) S Lidjombo, lowland rainforest, CAR01-M177, Dzanga-Ndoki National Park, 02°21.60'N, 16°03.20'E, 350m, 22. V– 23.V.2001, malaise trap, S. van Noort, OSUC 213654 (deposited in SAMC). Paratypes: (1 female, 15 males) CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: 7 males, OSUC 212523-212526 (CNCI); OSUC 211831, 213672, 214189 (SAMC). GHANA: 6 males, OSUC 212502-212503 (CNCI); OSUC 250737-250740 (OSUC). GUINEA: 1 female, OSUC 213136 (CNCI). LIBERIA: 1 male, OSUC 244096 (USNM). NIGERIA: 1 male, OSUC 211382 (CNCI).

Comments.

At present only two females are known, and while we here treat them as one species, they may ultimately warrant division. There is some difference in the general robustness of sculpture between the two individuals, the larger (OSUC 213654) being more robust in general, with less of a longitudinal trend on the mesoscutum and a broader gena (lateral view). Scelio susurro appears to be related to Scelio exaratus (Kieffer) from the Seychelles (not treated here, but see http://hol.osu.edu/index.html?id=5226), the two sharing obliterated patches on the mesopleural depression, the arrangement of setae on the lateral metasoma, infuscate wings, and a similar habitus. The pattern of sculpture on the mesoscutum (predominantly longitudinal with few reticulations) and narrow gena differentiate Scelio exaratus from the present species. Scelio susurro is somewhat intermediate between the brown and white subgroups, with a "salt and pepper" setal pattern (both white and brown mixed together) in various locations on the body (see Diagnosis). The brown pilosity of the mesoscutum is more typically found in brown subgroup species. Some of the tentatively associated males have the posterior lateral tergal setal patches brown contrasting with the predominantly white setae in females. The base of the scape in the two females is slightly lighter than the apex. In one the scape could be considered dark yellow, though we expect the scape to be brown throughout in a majority of individuals.