Scelio afer Kieffer

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 : 147-151

Scelio afer Kieffer Figures 7, 329-332, 335-340; Morphbank 70

Scelio afer Kieffer, 1905: 130 (original description); Kieffer 1908: 131 (keyed); Kieffer 1926: 310, 323 (description, keyed); Ferrière 1952: 118 (diagnosis); Masner 1976: 17 (lectotype designation).

Scelio (Scelio) afer Kieffer: Kieffer 1910: 74 (subgeneric assignment).

Scelio afer Scelio clarus Fouts, 1934: 102 (original description); Ferrière 1952: 118 (diagnosis); Bin 1974: 463 (type information).

Scelio afer http://zoobank.org/7359AD56-ACA0-4526-922D-9A6F4A2743C9

Scelio afer urn:lsid:biosci.ohio-state.edu:osuc_concepts:5198

Scelio africanus Risbec, 1950: 586 (original description); Nixon 1958: 311, 317 (keyed); Masner 1976: 17 (type information). New synonymy.

Scelio afer http://zoobank.org/65EE302A-8AF3-4CF5-8530-0741502E1247

Scelio afer urn:lsid:biosci.ohio-state.edu:osuc_concepts:5198

Description.

Female body length: 3.06-4.42 mm (n=18). Form of sculpture of frons below anterior ocellus in female: fine dorsoventral striae with few to no reticulations. Distribution of sculpture of frons posterior to anterior ocellus in female: with at least some obliterated or reduced patches of sculpture posteriorly. Color of pilosity of dorsomedial head in female: white or predominantly white. Sculpture of ventrolateral corner of frons adjacent to malar sulcus in male: predominantly dorsoventral. Form of anteclypeus between medial teeth in female: striplike, broadly concave. Form of anteclypeus between medial teeth in males: produced, rounded to truncate medially. Form of lateral gena below eye in anterior view in female: evenly rounded towards mandible, not bulging laterally. Sculpture of anteclypeus: smooth throughout. Sculpture of pronotal nucha in female: absent (smooth) in parts. Color of pilosity on mesonotum in female: predominantly white on mesoscutum, predominantly brown on mesoscutellum. Sculpture of mesoscutellum in female: predominantly irregular rugulose to reticulate. Sculpture of oxter: with prominent smooth patch. Pilosity of metapleuron overlapping or arising within posteroventral quadrant in female: 2 setae; 3 setae. Color of fore wing in female: evenly colored throughout. Color of fore wing in male: completely without color except at extreme base. Color of pilosity on lateral T2-T5 in female: T2-T5 white to off-white. Fine pilosity of lateral T1 in female: absent; present, not reaching posterior margin. Distribution of pilosity on metasomal terga 3-5 in female: more or less uniformly present throughout. Form of setae on lateral T2-T5: predominantly thick throughout. Pilosity of anterolateral corner of dorsal T3 in female: with patch of short appressed micropilosity. Form of medial surface of S3-S5 in males: broadly concave, S3 posterior concavity extending into anterior half of sclerite.

Diagnosis.

Scelio afer is similar to other species with a narrow, concave anteclypeus ( Scelio tritus , Scelio remaudierei , Scelio erugatus ). It may be differentiated from Scelio remaudierei by the slightly narrower gena (very broad in Scelio remaudierei ) and thicker and concolorous setae of the lateral metasoma (setae very thin in Scelio remaudierei , with those on T2 white and T3-T5 brown). Scelio afer differs from Scelio tritus by the presence of smooth patches on the pronotal nucha (robustly sculptured in all Scelio tritus ), and the presence of microsetae in the anterolateral corner of T3 (glabrous to very sparse in Scelio tritus ). Differing from Scelio popovi Nixon (described from Oman) by the pilosity of the lateral metasoma which is white and moderate to dense compared to brown and sparse.

Link to distribution map.

http://hol.osu.edu/map-large.html?id=5165

Associations.

Living in Acacia nilotica (Linnaeus) [Fabales: Fabaceae ]; emerged from ootheca of Acrida madecassa (Brancsik) [ Orthoptera : Acrididae ].

Material examined.

Lectotype, male, Scelio afer : GAMBIA: no date, Mocquerys (deposited in MNHN). Lectotype (present designation), male, Scelio africanus : CHAD: Chari-Baguirmi Rég., shore, Mandjafa (Mandjaffa), 1904, J. Decorse, OSUC 244194 (deposited in MNHN). Paralectotype, Scelio africanus : CHAD: 1 female, OSUC 244190 (MNHN). Holotype, female, Scelio clarus : SOMALIA [Italian Somaliland]: V. Duca Abruzzi, iii.926, Miss. Enr. Paoli; Ex-coll Paoli; TYPE Scelio clarus Fouts, Det. R.M. Fouts; "La Specola" Firenze 289; Rientrato nel giugno 2008 nel Museo Civ. di Storia Naturale "G. Doria"di Genova; Esemplare rimasto per molto anni nel Museo Zool. de "La Specola" di Firenze (deposited in MCSN). Other material: (209 females, 78 males, 9 unknowns) BENIN: 2 females, 2 unknowns, BMNH(E)#790385-790386 (BMNH); OSUC 211369, 211373 (CNCI). BOTSWANA: 2 males, OSUC 211265 (CNCI); OSUC 160044 (EMEC). BURKINAFASO: 2 females, OSUC 213082, 213093 (CNCI). GABON: 1 female, OSUC 213125 (CNCI). IVORY COAST: 9 females, OSUC 213059, 213065, 213068, 213072, 213226, 213235-213236, 213239-213240 (CNCI). KENYA: 9 females, 2 males, OSUC 212820, 214018, 214157, 214177 (CNCI); OSUC 56046, 58976, 59016, 59018, 59035, 59076, 70701 (OSUC). MADAGASCAR: 17 females, 1 male, OSUC 261341-261358 (MNHN). MALI: 1 unknown, BMNH(E)#790383 (BMNH). NAMIBIA: 1 female, 1 unknown, BMNH(E)#790382 (BMNH); OSUC 213023 (CNCI). NIGER: 2 males, OSUC 251072-251073 (TAMU). NIGERIA: 3 females, 7 males, OSUC 250766, 250770, 250778, 250946 (CNCI); OSUC 142619-142622, 59132, 59135 (OSUC). SOUTH AFRICA: 110 females, 44 males, 3 unknowns, BMNH(E)#790379, 790381, 790384 (BMNH); OSUC 211269, 211279, 211282, 211287, 211297, 211355-211356, 212319, 212366-212367, 212433, 212518-212522, 212539-212541, 212545, 212547-212548, 212550-212552, 212554, 212556-212557, 212559-212562, 212566, 212739, 212768, 212834, 212864, 212870, 212877, 212886, 212993, 213000, 213020, 213120, 213255, 214084, 234668, 234670-234672, 250685, 250688-250695, 250697-250703 (CNCI); OSUC 254548 (MZLU); OSUC 211757, 211862-211865, 213534, 213536, 213539, 213541, 213543-213546, 213657-213660, 213674-213677, 213679-213680, 213683, 213929-213931, 213933, 214183-214186, 222324-222329, 223325, 254536-254539, 254618-254623 (SAMC); OSUC 174706-174707, 213326, 213329, 213331-213332, 213339-213342, 213344, 213348, 213350-213352, 213373-213374, 213380, 213386, 213392, 213398, 213405, 213407, 213419, 213421-213422, 213425, 213427-213428, 213430, 213437, 213442-213444, 213446, 213450, 213453, 213483 (SANC). SUDAN: 1 female, OSUC 244078 (USNM). SWAZILAND: 1 female, OSUC 254698 (CNCI). TANZANIA: 2 unknowns, BMNH(E)#790378, 790380 (BMNH). YEMEN: 20 females, 14 males, OSUC 212485, 212488, 212491, 212494, 212936-212937, 212941-212943, 212946, 250875-250878, 250880-250882, 250884-250887, 250889-250894, 250897, 250899, 250901-250904, 250941 (CNCI). ZIMBABWE: 33 females, 6 males, OSUC 211254, 211347-211349, 212099, 212113, 212128, 212131, 212133, 212135, 212150, 212152, 212206, 212208, 212226-212227, 212230, 212234, 212337, 212413, 212592, 212640, 212645, 212648, 212830-212831, 212839-212840, 212902, 212906, 213005, 213018, 213043, 213045, 213058, 213201, 213219, 213233, 213252 (CNCI).

Comments.

Scelio afer is the most widespread and perhaps most common species of the Afrotropical walkeri-group. Based on past determinations and the description of Nixon (1958), it largely corresponds to the past concept of Scelio remaudierei . As presently defined it is also the most morphologically variable, with variation roughly tracking longitude. Even given this variation, there is a core set of characters: 1) the pilosity of the dorsomedial head and mesoscutum is predominantly white, often with mesoscutum entirely white except for 1 (Fig. 337) or more pairs of brown pilosity posteromedially; 2) the metasoma has thick, white, somewhat sparse pilosity throughout the lateral margins of T2-T5; 3) the anteclypeus is concave medially; and 4) the sculpture of the dorsal head is obliterated in parts. The last state is difficult to discern in some individuals in which only a few sculptural lines are broken or obliterated, and very obvious in others in which the large majority of the sculpture is absent. The former case is largely seen in smaller individuals, the latter in larger.

Mesoscutal sculpture in this and other species seems to be relatively variable and largely uninformative. Within Scelio afer the size and density of the cells formed by reticulations on the mesoscutum is quite variable with those individuals in the south generally exhibiting much smaller more compact cells and those in the north larger cells and more frequent indication of longitudinal sculpture. In general the anteriormost cells are the largest.

The anteclypeus width between the medial teeth is slightly variable, as is the degree of concavity. While most specimens are clearly concave a small number of individuals, primarily from South Africa, have a nearly truncate anteclypeus that has only a hint of concavity. The number of setae of the posteroventral quadrant of the metapleuron is typically 2-3, they are less commonly decreased by 1 or increased by 1-2. The color of the pilosity of the dorsomedial portion of the head is consistently white or off-white (the latter can be discerned by comparison to pilosity of the mesoscutellum, which will be distinctly darker). Males can be diagnosed by the relatively broad depressions medially on the metasoma sterna (Fig. 332).

Several reared series, previously determined as Scelio remaudierei , are known from Madagascar. In these specimens the sculpture of the mesonotum is slightly finer than typical, with a more prominent longitudinal trend, and the sculpture of the dorsal head is notable for the extreme reduction of sculpture. Within continental Africa this type of sculpture is typically seen in larger specimens. A single male is is present in the series, it matches well (broad deep sternal depression) with other males. The material from Madagascar may ultimately prove to be a separate species, though additional evidence is likely needed. Testing this hypothesis may prove to be difficult or impossible; despite the extensive recent collecting efforts in Madagascar no new material of Scelio afer has been collected since 1964.