Arabencyrtus qahtanii Hayat

Hayat, Mohammad, Ahmad, Zubair & Khan, Farmanur Rehman, 2014, Encyrtidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Zootaxa 3793 (1), pp. 1-59 : 12-13

Arabencyrtus qahtanii Hayat , sp. nov.

( Figs 18–22 )

Female. Holotype. Length, 1.7 mm. Head with frontovertex brown; face brownish yellow to mouth margin. Antenna ( Fig. 18 ) with scape basally brown, becoming brownish yellow distally; pedicel brown; flagellum dark brown. Mesosoma with pronotum brown; mesoscutum blackish brown with faint bluish shine; axilla dark brown; scutellum brown; tegula brown; propodeum dark brown; mesopleuron dark brown. Fore wing with infuscation as given in the generic description ( Fig. 20 ). Hind wing hyaline. Fore leg with coxa white; femur white with irregular brownish suffusions; tibia brownish yellow; tarsus pale brown. Mid leg with coxa dark brown; femur dark brown, whitish along ventral margin and apical fifth or so; tibia dark brown, apical fourth or so yellowish white; spur pale brownish yellow; tarsal segments 1 and 2 brown, 3 pale brown, 4 white, and 5 brown. Hind leg with coxa white with a dark brown ring at base and another at apex and a streak connecting these two rings; femur dark brown; tibia dark brown with basal seventh or so and a streak extending from base to proximal third on ventral side, white; tarsus white, with a small oblique patch on basitarsus, and the fifth segment, dark brown. Metasoma with petiole brown; gaster dark brown except TI with sides and posterior third white; TII laterally in anterior fifth and apex of TVII, white.

Morphological characters as given in the generic description, and the following:

Head. Ocellar triangle with apical angle slightly acute, OOL, POL, OCL ratios–1:8:4.5; frontovertex with regular, polygonal raised reticulate sculpture, the cells becoming smaller on face; setae silvery white; eye with setae hyaline, each seta shorter than a facet. Relative measurements (holotype, card)—head dorsal width, 35; frontovertex width, 13; head frontal height, 39; eye height, 28; malar space, 10; antennal scape length, 25.

Mesosoma. Pronotum with fine, irregular polygonal reticulate sculpture, the cells transversely elongate; mesoscutum with fine, regular polygonal reticulate sculpture; axilla with slightly raised reticulate sculpture; scutellum with distinct, raised, reticulate sculpture, clearly deeper than on mesoscutum; setae silvery white including those distal to each propodeal spiracle. Relative measurements (holotype, card)—mesosoma length, 53; pronotum length (width), 15 (28); mesoscutum length (width), 17 (31); scutellum length (width), 18 (16); propodeum median length, 6. (From slide)—fore wing length (width), 94 (34); hind wing length (width), 78 (16); mid tibia length, 66; mid basitarsus length, 24; mid tibial spur length, 25.5.

Metasoma. Relative measurements (From slide)—TVII length (width), 14 (12); ovipositor length, ca 52.

Male. Unknown.

Material examined. Holotype ( ZDAMU, registration No. HYM. CH.681), ♀ (on slide under 5 coverslips, slide No. EH.1487), labelled “ KSA: AL-BAHA: Qunfudah, i–iv.2011, (MT), Coll.: S. Qahtani”.

Distribution. Saudi Arabia : Al-Baha.

Etymology. The species is named after S. Qahtani who collected this beautiful insect.

Figures

FIGURES 18 – 22. Arabencyrtus qahtanii Hayat, gen. et sp. nov. Female: 18, antenna, with clava enlarged; 19, head, frontal view; 20, fore wing, with veins enlarged; 21, mesosoma; 22, apical tergites of gaster with ovipositor, with apical part of second valvifer enlarged, arrow points to the third valvula and its posterior ribbon-like extension. pr = paratergite.