Noyesaphytis Polaszek and Woolley, 2020

Polaszek, Andrew, Lahey, Zachary & Woolley, James B., 2020, Noyesaphytis (Chalcidoidea: Aphelinidae) - an unusual new genus from Madagascar, and a reassessment of Aphelininae classification based on morphology, Journal of Natural History 54 (9), pp. 647-664 : 656-660

Noyesaphytis Polaszek and Woolley gen. nov.

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Type species Noyesaphytis lasallei Polaszek & Woolley sp. n.

( Figures 1–13 )

Description/generic diagnosis

Female (holotype).

Colour ( Figures 1 and 2 ). Dark brown with lighter brown and pale areas; no metallic or iridescent reflections. Eyes bright red in uncleared specimens.

Morphology

Body elongate ( Figure 2 ), metasoma more than 1.5x length of mesosoma. Antenna ( Figures 3 and 4 ) with seven antennomeres (excluding radicle): scape, pedicel, four anelli (of which the fourth and largest could be considered as a single funicle segment) and a single clava. Scape narrow, length 4x maximum width. Maximum width of pedicel approximately equal to maximum width of scape. All anelli transverse, the fourth considerably larger than the preceding three. Clava/flagellum length 5.8 x maximum width, and 1.9x scape. Head ( Figures 5 and 6 ) oval in facial view, not strongly transverse, as wide as maximum width of mesosoma in dorsal view. Mandible large, with two teeth and a broad truncation; mandibular glands elongate, parallel-sided before their constriction. Maxillary palp 3-segmented ( Figure 6 ), labial palp 1-segmented. Lateral ocellus separated from eye margin by about half maximum width of ocellus. Pronotum divided centrally, with a lateral row of three fine setae on each side, and two more robust setae centrally. Mid lobe of mesoscutum with two longitudinal rows of three setae; no seta in the anterior corner of the mesoscutum. Each side lobe of mesoscutum with four setae, the anterior pair much smaller; tegula with a robust seta; axilla with one seta reaching to the base of the axilla; axillula (=parascutellum or ‘post-axilla’ of Hayat 1998) well-developed, as large as axilla, and present as a sharply-angled apparent continuation of the axilla (see Figure 10 ); scutellum transverse, with 2 pairs of setae, the posterior pair more widely separated than the anterior pair. Scutellar sensilla small, elliptical, close to longitudinal mid-line of scutellum. Propodeum longer centrally, projecting posteriorly. Propodeal spiracle with anterior groove. Mesofurca ( Figure 9 ) of Aphytini form (see Heraty et al. 1997), without furcal processes. All tarsi 5-segmented. Fore wing ( Figure 7 ) 2.5x as long as maximum width of disc (excluding marginal fringe); submarginal vein with 5 setae; stigmal vein small. Fore wing uniformly setose. Metasomal sterna with broad anterior projections ( Figure 10 , and see Woolley 1988, p. 469). T1-T5 of gaster each with a lateral seta, T5 with two additional pairs of setae centrally; T6 with one additional pair of setae centrally T7 (syntergum) with four terminal setae. Cercal plate with two long setae and one shorter seta; syntergum undivided.

Male (two paratypes).

Colour and morphology largely as in female, with the following differences: Pale longitudinal streak absent from mid lobe of mesoscutum; metanotum and propodeum uniformly brown; legs more evenly brown than in female, sharply contrasting pale and brown areas absent. Wing less strongly infuscated.

Dorsal mesosomal sculpture tending more towards reticulate rather than aciculate. Antennal formula 1,1,4,1,1. Four anelli present, followed by a single elongate funicle, and 1-segmented clava ( Figures 10–12 ). Genitalia as in Figure 13 , phallobase elongate, with digiti and claspers present.

Comments

Noyesaphytis presents a unique combination of characters, some of which initially suggested affinity with Azotidae and others that directly counter that affinity. The latter characters ally Noyesaphytis with the Aphytini of the Aphelinidae . Of the former characters the two strongest apparent autapomorphies for the Azotidae are the groove anterior to the propodeal spiracle, and the metasomal sterna with anterior projections, although these are broad in Noyesaphytis and narrow in Ablerus . The main characters that refute membership of the Azotidae are the fused syntergum without a separate epiproct, and the structure of the male genitalia ( Figure 14 ). In the case of the latter, examination of the abundant illustrations of male genitalia across the Aphelinidae (at that time including the currently recognised Azotidae and Eriaporidae ) provided by Viggiani and Battaglia (1984) leads to the conclusion that Noyesaphytis belongs to the Aphytini , possibly close to the unusual genus Botryoideclava Subba Rao. The presence of digiti with apical claspers ( Figure 13 ) excludes the possibility of Noyesaphytis belonging to the Azotidae . Further evidence of this relationship comes from the wing structure and especially the undivided syntergum.

Figures

Figure 1. Noyesaphytis lasallei holotype female; 1. Dorsal habitus, critical-point-dried, card-mount.

Figure 2. Noyesaphytis lasallei holotype female; 2. Slide-mount, composite image.

Figure 3. Noyesaphytis lasallei holotype female; 3. Right antenna, internal aspect.

Figure 4. Noyesaphytis lasallei holotype female; 4. Right antenna, internal aspect, detail of anelli.

Figure 5. Noyesaphytis lasallei holotype female; 5. Head, facial aspect.

Figure 6. Noyesaphytis lasallei holotype female; 6. Head, occipital aspect.

Figure 7. Noyesaphytis lasallei holotype female; 7. Fore wing.

Figure 8. Noyesaphytis lasallei holotype female; 8. Metasomal sternal apodemes (arrowed).

Figure 9. Noyesaphytis lasallei holotype female; 9. Mesofurca.

Figure 10. Noyesaphytis lasallei paratype male; 10. Scanning electron micrograph, dorsal head and mesosoma.

Figure 11. Noyesaphytis lasallei paratype male; 11. Antenna, internal aspect.

Figure 12. Noyesaphytis lasallei paratype male; 12. Antenna, external aspect.

Figure 13. Noyesaphytis lasallei paratype male; 13. Genitalia (note damage to left distal end).

Figure 14. One of eighteen most parsimonious trees generated using successive approximations weighting from a phylogenetic analysis of 50 morphological characters (Length: 252; CI: 0.32; RI: 0.72). Bootstrap values greater than 50 are shown above branches. Eretmocerus hayati was designated as the outgroup. Taxa followed by an asterisk were described since Kim and Heraty (2012)