Psyllaephagus malloticolae Rawat & Kumar, 2023

Rawat, Sangeeta & Kumar, Sandeep, 2023, Psyllaephagus malloticolae sp. nov. (Hymenoptera, Encyrtidae) from India, a parasitoid of leaf gall former, Trioza malloticola (Crawford) (Hemiptera, Triozidae) on Mallotus philippensis, Journal of Insect Biodiversity and Systematics 9 (2), pp. 183-192 : 184-187

Psyllaephagus malloticolae Rawat & Kumar sp.nov. ( Figs 10–23)

https://zoobank.org/NomenclaturalActs/2d8e1f56-4c04-47e9-aa5a-138544bca3a6

Type material. Holotype: ♀ (on a slide), INDIA: Uttarakhand, Nainital, Suyalbari, Dhokaney waterfall, 4.xi.2021; ex Trioza malloticola ( Hemiptera , Triozidae ) forming leaf galls on M. philippensis . Paratypes: 7♀♀ 6 ♂♂, same data holotype, S. Rawat & S. Kumar, legs.

Description — Female. Body length 2.34 mm (Holotype), Average body length 2.30 mm (n = 08)

Head. 1.2× wider than long in frontal aspect ( Fig. 12); ocelli arranged in an acute-angle 44.88°, posterior ocelli close to eye margins; eyes 1.5× as long as wide; toruli inserted at the lower margins of eyes; ITD 1.5× more than TED; TVD 1.9× more than TMD; scrobes deep, clearly defined, well separated from eye margin; scape ( Fig. 13) conspicuously broadened and flattened about 2× as long as its greatest width, pedicel 1.4× long as wide, pedicel is smaller than F1, all funiclulars longer than wide, F1 the shortest and F5 the longest, F1 1.4× long as wide, F2 1.6× as long as wide, F3 1.8× as long as wide, F4 1.8× as long as wide, F5 2× as long as wide, F6 1.33× as long as wide, club segmented 2.6× as long as wide, sub equal in length to 2 preceding funiclulars (F5 and F6).

Mesosoma . Pronotum ( Fig. 14) 3.25× median width to its median length, single line of setae present on anterior region; Mesoscutum ( Figs 15–16) 1.22× as wide as long, Scutellum ( Figs 15–16) 0.73× shorter than mesoscutum; Scutellum 0.11× as long as wide; metanotum narrow; Propodeum ( Fig. 16) smooth with median carina and lateral carinae, propodeal spiracles oval, large, exposed and slightly separated from the anterior margin of propodeum.

Legs. Fore legs ( Fig. 20), coxa 1.46× as long as wide, 2× longer than trochanter; femur 3.4× as long as wide, 1.12× longer than the length of the tibia, TS1 sub equal to the length of the tibial spur. Mid legs ( Fig. 20), coxa 1.5× as long as wide, 1.5× longer than mid trochanter; femur 8× as long as wide, 0.86× less than the length of the tibia; tibial spur 1.2× longer than TS1 ( Fig. 21). Hind legs ( Fig. 20), coxa 1.4× as wide as long, 1.42× longer than hind trochanter; femur 6.7× as long as wide, 0.73× shorter than to the length of tibia in length; TS1 longer 1.9× than tibial spur length.

Wings. Fore wing ( Fig. 22) 2.25× as long as wide, 1.56× longer than the length of hind wing; CC 10.8× as long as wide, narrow, densely setose all over the surface; basal cell open, linea calva closed by one line of setae posteriorly; SMV setose with 18 setae across its length, PMV subequal to SV in length. Hind wing ( Fig. 23) 3.2× as long as wide, the length of the wing 1.5× than the length of the vein.

Metasoma. Metasoma ( Fig. 10) slightly longer than the mesosoma (1.06×); ovipositor ( Fig. 19) 1.6× as long as mid-tibia; gonostylus about as long as mid-tibial spur; outer plate 1.2× shorter than the second valvifer; Width of hypopygium at most 2.5× of its own lateral length ( Fig. 18).

Colouration and Sculpture. Head ( Figs 10–11) metallic green, clypeal and genal region metallic green with a golden tinge, lower half of the head reticulately-punctate, punctures large and shallow, thickly setose with silvery white setae ( Fig. 11); eyes black; ocelli black; mandible brown with 2 teeth and an upper truncation, maxillary and labial palpi yellow. Antenna: scape blackish brown except the basal and distal end translucent, pedicel and funiclars pale brown; club black. Mesosoma : pronotum, mesoscutum and scutellum metallic green with golden tinge ( Fig. 15); before KOH treatment, no sculpture seen on head and on mesoscutum except silvery seate on both; after KOH treatment head having small flower like sculptures, where as mesoscutum and scutellum with polygonal reticulation; dorsellum, metanotum and propodeum metallic green with no such tinge ( Fig. 17). Legs ( Fig. 20): all parts of legs yellow except hind and mid coxa brownish black ( Fig. 20), upper 1/3 part of mid coxa brownish black and remaining part yellow. Wings ( Fig. 22): forewing venation brown, tegula yellow. Metasoma ( Fig. 17): gaster black brown; ovipositor sheath yellow; hypopygium reaching more than half of the gaster, tergites with polygonal sculpture.

Relative measurement (Length:Width). Head (0.59:0.68), TED (0.1), ITD (1.5), TMD (0.2), TVD (0.38), Antenna (L:W): scape (0.26:0.13), pedicel (0.06:0.05), F1 (0.07:0.05), F2 (0.08:0.05), F3 (0.09:0.05), F4 (0.09:0.05), F5 (0.1:0.05), F6 (0.057:0.05), club (0.18:0.07), Mesosoma (L) (0.98 mm): pronotum (0.2:0.65), mesoscutum (0.49:0.6), scutellum (0.44:0.4), fore wing (1.98:0.85), SMV(L) (0.76 mm), MV (0.03 mm), SV (0.14 mm), PV (0.13 mm), Hind wings (1.23:0.38), venation (L) (0.8 mm), Fore legs: coxa (0.22:0.15), trochanter (L) (0.11 mm); femur (0.44:0.13), tibia (L) (0.39 mm), TS1 (L) (0.13 mm), spur (L) (0.12 mm). Mid legs: coxa (0.25:0.17), trochanter (L) (0.15 mm); femur (0.64:0.08), tibia (L) (0.74 mm); mid-tibial spur (L) (0.21 mm), mid-basitarsus (L) (0.17 mm). Hind legs: coxa (0.28:2), trochanter (L) (0.14 mm), femur (0.47:0.07), tibia (L) (0.64 mm), TS1 (L) (0.17 mm), spur length (L) (0.09 mm). Metasoma (L) (1.04 mm): ovipositor (1.2 mm), gonostylus (0.2 mm), second valvifer (0.93 mm), outer plate (0.78 mm), Hypopygium (L:W) (0.31:0.79).

Male ( Figs 24–33). Body length 1.53 mm ( Fig. 24); male generally very similar to female in appearance except for scape ( Fig. 28) conspicuously broadened and flattened about twice as long as its greatest width in female and sub-cylindrical in male. Head ( Fig. 25) 1.28× wider than long in frontal aspect; mesoscutum ( Fig. 26) 1.15× as wide as long; scutellum ( Fig. 26) markedly shorter than mesoscutum, scutellum 1.08× as long as wide; propodeum ( Fig. 26) 14.25× as wide as long; forewing ( Fig. 32) 2.25× as wide as long; hindwing ( Fig. 33) 2.7× as wide as long; male genitalia ( Fig. 30, 31) phallobase closed, digital sclerites with 2 hooks in it; parameral lobe with 1 seta each side; aedeagus broad at base and narrow at apical region.

Relative measurement (Length: Width). head (0.49:0.63), scutellum (0.37:0.34), propodeum (0.57:0.04), fore wing (1.53:0.68), hind wing (0.95:0.34).

Etymology. Name given after the specific epithet of the host, T. malloticola , a gall making psyllid, associated with Kamala tree, Mallotus philippensis .