Anastatus gibsoni Rameshkumar, Ghosh & Sheela, 2025

Ghosh, Dipanjana, Sheela, S., Kumar, P. Girish & Rameshkumar, A., 2025, Description of two new brachypterous species of Anastatus (Chalcidoidea: Eupelmidae) from India, Zootaxa 5679 (1), pp. 123-132 : 126

2. Anastatus gibsoni Rameshkumar, Ghosh & Sheela sp. nov. ( Fig. 2 )

Material Examined: Holotype: 1♀, INDIA, Kerala, Palakkad, Parambikulam (10.4482°N, 76.7928°E), 27.xi.2018, Coll. Jafer Palot and party, deposited in National Zoological Collection, Zoological Survey of India , Kolkata.

Female: Holotype. Length 2.75 mm.

Colouration: Head metallic green with coppery tinge on frons and gena; eyes gray; ocelli pale reflecting yellow; antenna with scape and F2 to F7 pale yellow, pedicel and F1 brown with greenish refringence, clava black; maxillary palpi brown, mandible pale yellow basally with apex dark brown; pronotum yellowish brown with spiracular part black; mesoscutum and SAC pale yellow; acropleuron yellowish brown, a little darker anteriorly, propodeum brown, prepectus subtriangular; legs and coxae yellow, mid tarsi with black pegs; metasoma with T 1 whitish yellow; T 2 to T 5 orange brown with apical parts darker, T 7 with golden yellow reflection. Distal two fifths of forewing uniformly infumate with dense setae, a single line of setae present near the margin of costal cell and other parts asetose.

Head: In anterior view 1.2 × as wide as high, in dorsal view 1.2 × as wide as long, in lateral view 1.5 × as long as high, head width 3.5 × frontovertex width; MS 0.42 × EH in profile. Head sculpture reticulate. Frons with scattered punctures, IAA coarsely reticulate; scrobe deep, lateral margins carinate, separated from median ocellus by diameter of median ocellus, scrobal depression reticulate, median ocellus connected to scrobal depression by a weak groove. Frons, face, IAA, parascrobal area and gena with moderately dense white pubescence, lower face with comparatively denser pubescence. Vertex with dark setae. Antennal scape 8.4 × as long as wide and scape length 1.7 × of clava length.

Mesosoma: Pronotum with distinct median groove, concave posteromedially. Mesoscutum with middle lobe distinctly longer than broad, 0.7 × length of mesoscutum in dorsal view, not convex, flat, distinctly reticulate, asetose; LLM smooth and shiny, with sharply raised dorsal margin on anterior and posterior halves, area between lateral lobes behind MLM depressed, smooth shiny, with pubescence; SAC reticulate, scutellum slightly convex with sparse black pubescence. Acropleuron finely and longitudinally striate-reticulate. Brachypterous, forewing 4.5 × as long as wide, extending a little beyond posterior margin of T1; hindwing 6.5 × as long as wide. Mid tibial spur equal to basitarsus, mid tarsus with single row of black pegs ventrally on either side on basal three tarsal segments; hind basitarsus (0.23 mm) a little shorter than following three segments combined (0.31 mm).

Metasoma: A little longer (1.14: 1.19) than mesosoma, 5.2 × HT, T1 3.1 × as long as T2; T3 slightly longer than T2; T4 slightly longer and broader than T3; T5 a little narrower than and as long as T4. T6 and T7 narrower than T5. Ovipositor sheath not exserted.

Etymology. The species Anastatus gibsoni is named after the renowned chalcidoid taxonomist, Dr. Gary A. P. Gibson from Biodiversity and Integrated Pest Management, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, for his continuous contribution to chalcidoid taxonomy.

Male. Unknown.

Measurements (mm): Head: H = 0.59, W = 0.71; OOL: POL: LOL = 0.02: 0.07: 0.07; relative measurements of L:W of antennal segments: Scape = 0.41: 0.05, pedicel = 0.08: 0.05, anellus = 0.03: 0.04, F1 = 0.10: 0.04, F2 = 0.07: 0.05, F3 = 0.08: 0.06, F4 = 0.09: 0.07; F5 = 0.08: 0.07, F6 = 0.08: 0.08, F7 = 0.07: 0.08, clava = 0.23: 0.09; forewing: L = 0.80, W = 0.18; hind wing: L = 0.4, W = 0.06; HT = 0.83; length of metasomal segments: T1 = 0.31, T2 = 0.1, T3 = 0.14.

Comments: Anastatus gibsoni also closely resembles A. rufopostumus Narendran. The differences include the scape and F2 to F7 of the antenna being pale yellow, while F1 and pedicel are brown with a greenish refringence, and the clava is black. The distal one-fourth of the forewing is uniformly infumate without a pale yellowish area medially. The colour of the SAC is pale yellow, the legs are uniformly yellow, and the ovipositor sheath is not exserted. A. rufopostumus has dark brown antennae with only the scape pale yellowish-brown, the distal infumate part of the forewing with a lighter yellowish area medially, an SAC dark brown, legs dark brown with fore and mid coxae lighter brown, mid tarsus pale yellow, and an exserted ovipositor sheath. Anastatus gibsoni can easily be distinguished from A. narendrani in having antenna with F2 to F7 pale yellow, F1 and pedicel brown with green refringence, clava black; scrobal depression deeply carinate and separated from front ocellus by the diameter of front ocellus, connected to ocellus with a groove; around two fifth of the distal part of forewing infumate; narrower wings and shorter legs; no triangular flattening of distal segment of maxillary palp. The latter has antenna yellowish brown, only scape darker and gradually lighter towards apex and apical segment of clava brown; a non carinate scrobe separated from front ocellus by four times the diameter of front ocellus and without a groove; around one third of the distal part of forewing infumate and last segment of maxillary palp broadened and flattened into triangular shape.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Anastatus gibsoni sp. nov.: ♀, Holotype, A. Habitus, lateral view; B. Antenna; C. Forewing; D. Habitus, dorsal view; E. Head, dorso-lateral view.