Paranastatus parkeri Scallion

Scallion, Melanie L., Gibson, Gary A. P. & Sharanowski, Barbara J., 2016, Revision of Paranastatus Masi (Eupelmidae, Eupelminae) with descriptions of four new species, ZooKeys 559, pp. 59-79 : 68-69

Taxon classification Animalia Hymenoptera Eupelmidae

Paranastatus parkeri Scallion sp. n. Fig. 24

Material examined.

Holotype female, dry pinned, deposited in BPBM (Type No. 17541). Label data: "FIJI: Viti Levu, 3.5 km N Veisari Stlmt, logging rd to Waivudawa, 14. II– 8.III.03, 300m, Malaise 3, coll. E. Schlinger, M. Tokota’a 18.068°S, 178.367°E. FBA 136331."

Diagnosis.

The unique female of Paranastatus parkeri is differentiated by the following combination of features: vertex and temple smooth; frontovertex smooth with a few small bumps; face smooth to alutaceous; mandible quadridentate; mesoscutum smooth except faintly coriaceous in posteromedial concavity.

Description.

Female. Length: 2.2 mm.

Colour. Head with vertex coppery between ocelli, metallic green to blue-purple posterior to ocelli; temple shining metallic green-purple dorsally to metallic blue-purple laterally; gena shining metallic coppery-green; entire face metallic dark purple-brown; frontovertex blue-green with brown centrally. Antenna with scape lightly shining green; pedicel, anellus (flagellomere 1), and flagellomeres 2-6 brown, 7, 8 and club white. Pronotum coppery-green; mesoscutum purplish-coppery, slightly bluish-green posteriorly; scutellar-axillar complex dull black; mesopleuron purple-coppery. Legs with procoxa dark brown, protrochanter light brown; mesocoxa light yellow-brown; metacoxa brown basally and white apically; remaining leg segments straw-yellow. Fore wing very lightly infuscate with hyaline band below distal half of submarginal vein; hind wing hyaline. Gaster green apically, tergites otherwise dark coppery-green and sternites brown. Colour of setae on various body regions discussed in appropriate sections below.

Head. Vertex and temple smooth; gena smooth to alutaceous along occipital margin; lower face smooth to alutaceous centrally, scrobes smooth to weakly alutaceous, interantennal area alutaceous; occipital margin straight in dorsal view; frontovertex smooth with a few small bumps. Mandible quadridentate. Entire head with sparse brown setae; eyes with sparse, very short white setae.

Mesosoma. Pronotum smooth; mesoscutum smooth to slightly coriaceous posteromedially, distinctly concave posteromedially; scutellar-axillar complex reticulate; mesopleuron coriaceous. Pronotum, mesoscutum, and scutellar-axillar complex with very few brown setae; mesopleuron with few short white setae anteriorly, remainder bares. Fore wing with dense, short brown setae; hind wing with relatively fewer short, brown setae.

Metasoma. Entirely coriaceous with long, brown setae sparsely distributed.

Male. Unknown.

Etymology.

Named in honour of Parker Brant, nephew of Barb Sharanowski, born November 2, 2012 in Australia to Julie and Billy Brant. This is a noun in the genitive case.

Distribution.

Viti Levu, Fiji.

Biology.

Unknown.

Remarks.

Abdomen was broken and lost after description and imaging had been completed. Antennae cannot be used as an identifying character in this species because the antennal colouration is the same as that of Paranastatus nigriscutellatus .