Aphelinoidea (Aphelinoidea) melanosoma Nowicki, 1940

Triapitsyn, Ś. Serguei V., 2018, Review of the Palearctic Aphelinoidea (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae), with focus on the species described by Ś. Nowicki, Israel Journal of Entomology 48 (2), pp. 33-81 : 57-61

Aphelinoidea (Aphelinoidea) melanosoma Nowicki, 1940

( Figs 40–50)

Aphelinoidea (Aphelinoidea) anatolica Now [icki]. subsp. melanosoma Nowicki, 1940:659–660 . Type

locality:­Warsaw,­Poland­(“taken­by­sweeping­grass­on­the­Warsawian­town­filters”).

Aphelinoidea melanosoma Nowicki : Doutt & Viggiani 1968: 530 (list); Fursov 2007: 967 (key, dis-

tribution); Walker et al. 2005: 10, 12 (discussion; paratype in BMNH); Viggiani 2011: 104

(list); Rakitov & Triapitsyn 2013: 544 (key, distribution).

Aphelinoidea (Aphelinoidea) melanosoma Nowicki : Trjapitzin 1995: 302 (listed in the anatolica spe-

cies group of Aphelinoidea s.str.), 305 (key, distribution), 307–308 (compared with A. ana-

tolica and A. turanica ).

Diagnosis: Aphelinoidea melanosoma belongs to the plutella species group of A. ( Aphelinoidea ) ­as­defined­by­Walker­ et al. (2005) (= the renamed anatolica species group of Trjapitzin (1995)), because it has a hyaline, sparsely setose path on the fore wing disc beyond the venation ( Figs 45, 50). It is almost indistinguishable from A. anatolica ( Table 1) except for the darker color of the mesosoma, but that may be due to its more northern distribution where specimens can be often darker colored than­the­conspecific­ones­from­more­southern­areas.­However,­in­the­absence­ofany supporting biological or molecular data it would be premature to speculate any­further­about­their­possible­conspecificity.­Also­in­this­mix­of­the­difficult­torecognize nominal species of the plutella species group of Aphelinoidea s.str. is the eastern Nearctic A. plutella Girault ( Table 1), which could also potentially occur in the western Palearctic region, being possibly described there under one of Nowicki’s names.

Redescription: Female (holotype). Head of slide-mounted specimen ( Fig. 44) apparently much lighter than rest of body; mesosoma and gaster apparently mostly dark brown except mesoscutum and scutellum apparently slightly lighter (?­brown);­antenna­mostly­brown­except­first­segment­of­clava­a­little­lighter;­legsbrown to dark brown except apices of tibiae light brown.

Antenna ( Fig. 43) with scape minus radicle 3.8× as long as wide; pedicel 2.05× as­long­as­wide;­first­anellus­much­larger­than­second,­the­latter­partially­imbedded­into­first­claval­segment;­clava­3.8×­as­long­as­wide,­2.5×­length­of­pedicel;­apicalsegment of clava 2.1× length of basal segment, the latter incompletely, obliquely divided in middle on its inner side; basal segment of clava with 1 mps, apical segment with several mps.

Mesosoma ( Fig. 44) shorter than metasoma. Mesoscutum and scutellum with faint cell-like sculpture. Fore wing ( Fig. 45) 2.2× as long as wide; disc almost hyaline beyond and strongly infuscate behind venation, with a distinct hyaline, sparsely setose (most setae very short) path across wing just beyond venation, more or less uniformly setose in apical 0.45 of wing (beyond hyaline area) except for a few distinct setal lines; longest marginal seta 0.11× greatest width of wing.

Ovipositor short, 1.2× length of metatibia, occupying about 0.5× length of gaster ( Fig. 44) and not exserted beyond its apex. Hypopygium apparently extending to about 0.8× length of gaster.

Measurements of the remounted holotype (µm). Body, 756; mesosoma, 289; metasoma, 351; ovipositor, 197. Antenna, radicle, 15; rest of scape, 92; pedicel, 59; clava (given as lengths of basal/apical segments), 47/98. Fore wing, 536:239; longest marginal seta, 27. Metatibia, 167.

Variation (paratypes and non-type specimens of Nowicki). Antenna with scape minus radicle 3.2× as long as wide; clava 3.2× as long as wide and 2.6× length of pedicel; apical segment of clava 2.8× length of basal segment. Hind wing ( Fig. 46) about 12× as long as wide, disc almost hyaline (slightly infuscate behind venation) and with 3 rows of setae; longest marginal seta 1.4× greatest width of wing. Ovipositor 1.3–1.4× length of metatibia.

In the specimens from Krasnodar, Russia, the fore wing is a little narrower, 2.4× as long as wide.

Male (paratype). Body length 763 µm (slide-mounted, remounted specimen, Fig. 47). Similar to female in color. Antenna ( Fig. 48) with scape minus radicle 2.3× as long as wide; clava 1.75× as long as wide. Fore wing ( Fig. 50) 2.2× as long as wide. Genitalia ( Fig. 49) with aedeagal apodemes.

Type material examined: ­ Holotype­ ♀ ­of­ A. anatolica subspecies melanosoma [ DEZA], remounted at UCRC in December 2011 from a cracked, slightly darkened water-soluble mountant ( Fig. 41) in the original Nowicki-style micro-slide on a pin ( Fig. 40) onto a normal slide in Canada balsam ( Fig. 42) and labeled as follows: (1) [on the underside of the original micro-slide, written faintly in pencil]­“Filtry­[i.e.,­filters­in­Polish]­20.VIII.35­ Aph-ea ”; (2) [added after remounting] “Remounted from dry liquid Faure at UCR/ERM by V.V. Berezovskiy 2011 in Canada balsam”; (3) [red, added after remounting] “ Aphelinoidea anatolica melanosoma Nowicki ,­1940­HOLOTYPE­ ♀ ­Det.­by­S.­V.­ Triapitsyn 2011”. The holotype is in fair condition, almost complete (of the wings, only one fore wing and bases of the other fore wing and one hind wing remain) .

Paratypes (those from Poland remounted at UCRC from the original individual Nowicki-style micro-slides): Hungary: ­ Pest­ County ,­ Vác ,­ Tudóc­ Hill ,­ 13.vii.1930,­ L.­ Biró­ [1♀ ­ in­ a­ darkenedmedium in a Nowicki-style micro-slide on a pin, BMNH] (labeled: (1) “Vácz.Tudócdomb, Biró. 1930. VII.13. ”,­(2)­“Det.­S.­Novickij­ ♀ ­ Aphelinoidea melanosoma var. angustipennis n.ssp. [a manuscript name­ of­ Ś.­ Nowicki]­ Type”,­(3)­“B.M.­ 1981–209­Novitzky”,­ (4)­“ ♀ ­ Aphelinoidea anatolica ssp. melanosoma ­Now.­Det.­Z.­Bouček,­1981­PT:­1940.Z.aE.26:660”,­(5)­[yellow­circle]­“Para­type”;­(6)­ [barcode database label] “NHMUK011507543” ). Poland: Masovian Voivodeship, Warsaw, “E.K.D.” (specimens­were­collected­by­Ś.­Nowicki­using­an­aspirator­on­window­panes­in­cars­of­the­electrictrain Warsaw – Grodzisk Mazowiecki; it is an abbreviation standing for “ Elektryczne Koleje Dojazdowe ”­in­Polish,­the­suburban­railway­line­that­operated­during­1922–1947),­ 2.vii.1938 ­[1♀,­ DEZA]­ (original labels: (1) [in pencil, on the underside] “EKD 2 VII 38”, (2) “ melanosoma Nov”); Podlaskie Voivodeship, Wysokie Mazowieckie County, “swept in the woods of the estate Klukówek” (Nowicki 1940: 660; probably now within Wyszonki-Klukówek Village in the administrative district of Gmina Klukowo),­ 17.vi.1935 ­[1♀ ­ 1♂,­ DEZA]­(original­labels­as­in­Fig.­47) .

Other material examined: Poland: ­ 3♀,­Masovian­ Voivodeship,­? Warsaw ,­ “E.K.D.”­ (see­ above),­ 19.vi.1939, 6.vii.1939, vi.1941 [ DEZA] . Russia: ­ 2♀ ­ 1♂,­ Krasnodar­Territory ,­ Krasnodar,­All­Russian­ Research­Institute­of­Biological­Plant­Protection,­ 11–12.viii.2001 ­(1♂),­ 17–18.viii.2001 ­(1♀),­ 26–27. viii.2001 ­(1♀),­V.V.­Kostjukov­ [all­ UCRC] .­ Spain: ­ 1♀,­Madrid­ Province,­Sierra­ de­ Guadarrama,­ Valle de los Caídos , 1200 m, 21.v.1988, L. Masner [ UCRC]. Country and locality unknown (almost certainly­from­Europe:­illegible­handwriting­of­the­collection­localities) :­ 2♂ ­ 17.vi.1942,­ 16.vii.1942 ­ [ DEZA]­(these­non­type­specimens­were­collected­and­identified­as­ A. melanosoma by­Ś.­Nowicki­ and remounted at UCRC from his original individual micro-slides) .

Distribution: Czech Republic ( Kalina 1989), Hungary and Poland (Nowicki 1940), as well as Russia and Spain (new records).

Hosts: Unknown.