Description of three new species of PsiloceraWalker from India, with a key to the Oriental species (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Pteromalidae)
P.M. Sureshan
Zoological Survey of India, Western Ghats Regional Centre, Jafferkhan Colony, Eranhipalam.P.O., Kozhikode, Kerala 673006, India
pmsuresh43@yahoo.com
Abstract: Three new species of PsiloceraWalker (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae), P. keralensis sp. nov., P. intermedia sp. nov. and P. namdaphaensissp. nov., are described. The latter two new species were earlier
described by Sureshan (2011) in an electronic
publication not recognized by the ICZN and have, therefore, become unavailable
names. The affinities of the new
species with the other known species are discussed. A key to the oriental species of Psilocera is also provided.
Keywords: Hymenoptera, new species, Psilocera, Pteromalidae.
Abbreviations: F1–F6 = funicular segments 1 to 6; ICZN = International
Commission on Zoological Nomenclature; MV = marginal vein; OOL = ocellocular distance; PMV = post- marginal vein; POL =
post-ocellar distance; SMV = submarginalvein; STV = stigmal vein; T1–T5 = gastral tergites 1–5; ZSIK
= Zoological survey of India, Western Ghats Regional Centre, Calicut, India.
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o3654.5851-7 | ZooBank: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:2DB6DFC5-771A-40FE-A51A-516F95285083
Editor: Mohammad
Hayat, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India. Date
of publication: 26 June 2014 (online & print)
Manuscript details: Ms #
o3654 | Received 07 June 2013 | Final received 13 June 2014 | Finally accepted
14 June 2014
Citation: Sureshan, P.M. (2014).Description of
three new species of Psilocera Walker from
India, with a key to the Oriental species (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea:Pteromalidae). Journal
of Threatened Taxa 6(6): 5851–5857; http://dx.doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o3654.5851-7
Copyright: © Sureshan 2014. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use of this article in any medium,
reproduction and distribution by providing adequate credit to the authors and
the source of publication.
Funding: The work is based on the
annual research programme of Zoological Survey of
India, WGRC, Calicut ( Ministry of Environment & Forests, Govt. of India).
Competing Interest: None.
Acknowledgements: I am grateful to Dr. K. Venkataraman, Director, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata for providing the facilities for the work and
constant encouragement. I am also
thankful to Sri. K. Nikhil, research scholar, Zoological Survey of India,
Western Ghat Regional Centre, Calicut for the helps
rendered in photography. Thanks are
also due the Chief Wildlife Warden, Kerala and the forest officials of Periyar Tiger Reserve for granting permission for faunal
survey and collection and the helps rendered during field
work.
The genus Psilocera Walker
(Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) is known from 30
described species throughout the world, with nine species from the oriental
region (Noyes 2012). The oriental species of this genus were reviewed by Sureshan (2011). Other contributions on the taxonomy of
the oriental Psilocera are by Rao (1981), Sureshan (2000,
2001), Sureshan & Narendran(1995) and Narendran & Kumar (2009). Among the described species of Psilocera from India, two names, viz., Psilocera intermedia Sureshan, 2011, and Psilocera namdaphaensis Sureshan,
2011, were published in an e-journal and have become ‘unavailable’ names, as
publications of new names prior to 2012 in e-journals [without a print edition]
were not recognized by the International Commission of Zoological Nomenclature
(ICZN 1999, 2012). Therefore, both
these species are described here as new species to make the names available. In addition to these two species, one
new species of Psilocera is also described
based on the collections made from the forested tracts of southern Western
Ghats of Kerala. Affinities of the
new species with the other known species are discussed and a key to the
oriental species of Psilocera is provided.
Psilocera namdaphaensis sp.nov.
(Image 1)
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:84478FA5-1A03-4589-906E-FA053906041D
Psilocera namdaphaensis Sureshan, 2011. Online publication. Name not
available according to ICZN (2012).
Material examined
Holotype:(ZSIK # ZSI/WGRS/IR-INV/2070), female, 9.xi.2009, 27031’31.1”N & 96030’20.7”E, way to Daphabum, Firmbase Road, Namdapha National Park, Arunachal Pradesh, India, coll.
P.M. Sureshan.
Paratypes: (ZSIK # ZSI/WGRS/IR-INV/2071, 2072) two females, 11.xi.2009, 27032’20.3”N & 96029’17.5”E, way to Ranijheel, Namdapha National
Park, Arunachal Pradesh, India, coll. P.M. Sureshan.
Female: Holotype. Length, 3.0mm. (Range
2.8–3.0 mm). Head and mesosoma black without metallic reflection, gaster brownish-black with metallic bluish reflection
dorsally. Antenna with scape,
pedicel and F1 testaceous, remainder brownish-black,
upper third of scape darker; eye violet black; ocellibrown; mandible brown. Tegula brown, wings hyaline, veins and pubescence
brown. Coxae concolorous with mesosoma,
fore femora brown, rest of legs testaceous with tips
of tarsi brown.
Head: In
dorsal view, 2.21× as broad as long; POL 0.9× OOL; temple
0.5× eye height; vertex sharply declivitous; head, in frontal view, width
1.3× height; eyes separated by 1.5× their height at the level of toruli; malar space 0.6× eye height in front view;
anterior margin of clypeus with two distinct teeth, radiatelystriated, striae reaching almost up to base of eye;
face moderately reticulate, except for a broad shining area above clypeus;
pubescence white, sparse, denser on lower part of face; scrobedeep, reaching median ocellus. Antenna inserted below
middle of face; scape just short of reaching median ocellusby a distance which is slightly less than its diameter; scape 0.7× eye
length; pedicel as long as F1; pedicel plus flagellum 0.9× head width;
flagellum strongly clavate; anellitransverse, second little longer than first; F1 as long as F2; all funicular
segments with one row of long sensillae; F1–F3
longer than broad, equal, F4 quadrate, a little shorter than F3; F5–F6
transverse, a little shorter than F4; clava 2×
as long as broad, a little shorter than four preceding segments combined,
sutures of club oblique, clearly distinct, micropilosityarea reaching base of third segment.
Mesosoma: Highly convex, sparsely pubescent and with sparse brown bristles. Prontoalcollar finely reticulate, anteriorly carinate in the
middle. Mesoscutum and scutellumdistinctly reticulate punctuate. Mesoscutum2.3× as broad as long with notauli incomplete. Scutellumas long as mesoscutum, without any conical
projection; frenum clearly marked. Axilla and axillula finely reticulate. Dorsellumnarrow, very finely reticulate. Propodeum medially 0.8× as long as scutellum, in dorsal view 2.4× as broad as long; propodeum finely reticulate, median carina and costula distinct and complete; plicaeindicated only in anterior half; spiracles long, oval, almost touching hind
margin of metanotum; post-spiracularsulcus deep, callus with long thick white pubescence. Prepectus small, narrow, fine, as
long as tegula. Mesopleuronmoderately reticulate with a broad triangular shiny area below hind wings.
Lower half of metapleuron finely reticulate, upper
half moderately reticulate. Forewing 2.3× as long as broad; marginal fringe very small, almost
indistinct; pubescence moderate; basal cell open below with 2 or 3 scattered
hairs at the tip, basal hairline indicated; costal cell completely hairy on the
dorsal surface; speculum open below. Relative lengths of SMV,
49; MV, 32; STV, 11; PMV, 22. Legs slender; hind coxa densely hairy on antero-lateral margins, 1.3× as long as broad; femora
5× as long as broad; tibiae as long as femora; hind tibia with two spurs.
Metasoma: Petiole distinct; gaster lanceolate,
shorter than mesosoma (0.8×), dorsally
collapsing, and, in dorsal view 2.1× as long as broad; hind margins of
T1–T3 deeply incised medially, T4 emarginate.
Male:Unknown.
Host: Unknown. Collected from leaf litter on forest floor.
Etymology
Named after the locality, Namdapha National
Park (Arunachal Pradesh) from where the specimens were collected.
Remarks
In the key to the western European species of Psilocera(Graham, 1992) the new species runs to couplet five with P. crassispina (Thomson) and P. confusaGraham. In having strongly clavate antenna, clava with micropilosity area reaching two third of length (up to base
of third segment), F1 as long as pedicel, POL 0.9× OOL and larger body
size, the new species resembles P. crassispina,
but differs from it in having forewing with basal cell bare, at most
with 1–2 setae; antenna with scape, pedicel, anelli,
F1 and F2 partly testaceous (In P. crassispina: forewing with basal cell pilose with 7–16 setae; antenna with scape pedicel
and anelli red with pedicel slightly infuscate dorsally). The new species differs from P. confusa in having POL 0.9× OOL, and body size
larger, 2.8–3.0 mm. (In P. confusa:POL 1.0–1.5×OOL, body smaller, 1.7–2.8 mm). Among the oriental species it resembles P.vinayaki Sureshan &Narendran in general morphology but differs from it
by the characters given in the key.
Psilocera intermedia sp. nov.
(Image 2)
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:EB5902FD-5951-41E6-8D7D-46FE4EE4F434
Psilocera intermedia Sureshan, 2011. Online publication. Name not
available according to ICZN (2012)
Material examined
Holotype:(ZSIK # ZSI/WGRS/IR-INV/2073), female, 13.xi.2009, 27032’20.3”N & 96029’17.5”E, way to Ranijheel, Firm base road, NamdaphaNational Park, Arunachal Pradesh, India, coll.P.M.Sureshan.
Paratype: (ZSIK # ZSI/WGRS/IR-INV/2074), 12.xi.2009, one male, same data as that of holotypeexcept date of collection.
Female (Holotype): Length, 3.0mm. Head black;
eye dark cupreous. Antenna with
scape, pedicel and anelli testaceous,
remainder brown; eyes dark cupreous. Mesosoma black; tegula brown; coxae, except
middle one, concolorous with mesosoma;
middle coxa brownish; remainder of legs testaceous with tips of tarsi brown. Wings hyaline, veins and pubescence brown. Gaster brownish-black with metallic bluish reflection.
Head: Face moderately reticulate except for a broad shining
area above clypeus; pubescence white, sparse, denser on lower part of face;
head, in dorsal view, 2.3× as broad as long; POL 1.4 × OOL; temple
length 0.5× eye length; vertex declivitous; head, in front view, width
1.3× height; eyes separated 1.3×their height at the level of toruli; malar groove distinct; malar space 0.54 × eye
height; anterior margin of clypeus with two distinct teeth, radiatelystriated, striae reaching almost up to base of eye; scorbes deep, reaching median ocellus. Antenna inserted below middle of face;
scape hardly reaching median ocellus, length
0.73× eye height; pedicel almost twice as long as F1; pedicel plus flagellum
0.9× head width; flagellum strongly clavate; anelli transverse, second slightly longer than first; F1
0.8× F2 which is almost equal to F3; F4 and F5 equal, a little shorter
than F3; F6 shortest; clava slightly longer than four
preceding segments combined, with broad area of micropilosityreaching base of third segment, and sutures strongly oblique.
Mesosoma: Highly convex, sparsely pubescent and with sparse brown bristles. Prontoalcollar finely reticulate, anteriorly carinate in the
middle. Mesoscutumand scutellum distinctly reticulate punctuate. Mesoscutum 2.1× as broad as long, with notauliincomplete. Scutellum with a strong finger nail like tip, medially as long as mesoscutum (base to tip of finger nail); frenum clearly separated. Axilla and axillulafinely reticulate. Dorsellum narrow, very finely reticulate. Propodeummedially 2.9× as broad as long, and finely reticulate; median carina and costula fine but distinct, median carina interrupted by costula; plicae indicated only in
anterior half; spiracle small, oval, separated from hind margin of metanotum by its own diameter, post-spiracularsulcus distinct, not deep; callus with long thick white pubescence. Prepectus small, narrow, fine, as long as tegula. Mesopleuronmoderately reticulate with a broad triangular shiny area below wings. Metapleuronfinely reticulate. Forewing
2.2× as long as broad; marginal fringe very small, almost indistinct;
pubescence moderate; basal cell open below without hairs, basal hairline
indicated by few hairs; costal cell hairy on the upper half, which is complete
at tip, speculum open below. Relative lengths of SMV, 51; MV, 30; STV, 10.5; PMV, 26.Legs slender; hind coxa densely hairy on anterio-lateral margins,a tuft of long white hairs present in the distal
half of postero-lateral margin, 1.6× as long as
broad. Relative
lengths of hind coxa 18, femur 40, tibia 43.
Metasoma: Petiole not distinct; gaster short, lanceolate, dorsally collapsing, 2.3× as long as
broad, 0.7× as long as rest of body and 1.4 × as long as hind
tibia; hind margin of T1–T3 incised medially, T4 emarginate.
Male:Length, 1.7 mm. Resembles female except for the small body size and the
antennal structure. Antenna with two short anelli andpedunculate funicular segments each bearing two whorls
of long hairs; gastercollapsing.
Etymology
The species name derived from the intermediate nature of morphology with
the other two species compared (see remarks below).
Remarks
Among Psilocera species with a conical
hump on scutellum, P. clavicornis(Ashmead), P. intermediasp. nov. and P. neoclavicornis Narendran& Girish Kumar, share a long and projecting
finger nail-tip on the scutellum. The new species closely resembles P. clavicornis, but differs from it in having the forewing
with basal cell open below; MV short, 2.8× STV; gastershort, only 0.7× as long as rest of body and 1.4× as long as hind
tibia; antenna with only scape, pedicel and anelli testaceous and rest brownish-black, and F2 0.8× F1
(In P. clavicornis: forewing with basal cell
closed below; MV long, 3.4× STV; gaster long,
1.9× as long hind tibia and 0.8× as long as rest of the body;
antenna with scape, pedicel, F1and F2 testaceous and
F2 as long F1).
The new species also resembles P.neoclavicornisin general morphology, but neoclavicornis differs
from it in having shorter antennae with scape hardly reaching median ocellus, clava shorter than four
preceding segments combined, scape pedicel anelli and
most of F1 testaceous and rest dark brown, finger
nail tip of scutellum slightly shorter, forewing with
MV long, 3.14× as long as STV, and gaster long
1.72× as long as hind tibia and 0.9× as long as rest of the body.
Psilocera keralensis sp. nov.
(Images 3–7)
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:C8A1DC88-A6D9-4589-B339-8B844658C7B0
Material examined
Holotype: (ZSIK # ZSI/WGRS/IR-INV/2630), female, 10.iv.2013, 09026’25”N
& 77009’37”E, Gavi, Pathanamthitta District, Kerala, India, coll. P.M. Sureshan.
Paratype:(ZSI/WGRS/ IR-INV/2631), one male, same data as that of holotype.
Female: (Holotype) Length, 2.2mm. Head black; eyes light
grey; ocelli silvery. Antenna with scape, pedicel and anelli testaceous, remainder
black. Mesosoma black; tegulabrown. Wings hyaline, veins
pale brown, pubescence brown. Coxae concolorous with mesosoma; hind coxa slightly brownish-black; fore and mid femora, basal
half of fore and mid tibia brown, remainder of legs testaceouswith tips of tarsi brown. Gaster with
metallic blue reflection distinct on T1 dorsally.
Head (Images 3,4): 1.2× as broad as mesosoma; width, in
dorsal view, 2.15× length, and in front view width 1.14× height;
anterior margin of clypeus projecting a little below lower level of head,
distinctly bidentate; POL slightly longer than OOL
(12.5: 11.5); temple length 2× eye height; scrobedeep; malar sulcus distinct; eye height 2× width; head moderately
reticulate with moderate, sparse, white pubescence; reticulation on gena and vertex fine, round area below torulismooth; clypeus radiately striated, striae reaching beyond clypeal margin to paraclypeal area. Antenna inserted below middle of face, above lower ocular line; pedicel
plus flagellum length 0.9× head width; anellitransverse, equal; scape reaching little below median ocellus,
0.72× eye height; pedicel 2× as long as broad, slightly shorter
than anelli and F1 and F2 combined; F1 anelliform, as long as anelli,
1.4x as broad as long, and 0.3× as long as F2; F2 as long as F3; F4
slightly shorter than F3; F5 and F6 equal, slightly shorter than F4; funicular
segments, except F1, with one row of long sensillae,
pubescence long; clava 2× as long as broad, a
little longer than 3.5 preceding segments combined, sutures oblique, area of micropilosity reaching base of second segment.
Mesosoma:(Image 5) convex with sparse white pubescence; scutellumwith black bristles. Pronotum finely reticulate, collar narrow, anterior margin
sharp edged. Mesoscutum 2.7× as broad as long
with broad reticulation; notauli incomplete,
distinct. Axilla almost shiny, finely aciculate. Scutellum highly convex, 1.3× as broad as long, with broad
reticulation, reticulation on frenal area minute. Dorsellum narrow, finely reticulate. Propodeum medially 0.6× as long as scutellum, almost uniformly aciculate reticulate; callus
with dense white hairs; median carina distinct, complete; costulaweakly indicated, separated from anterior margin of propodeumby 0.25× of median length; nucha distinct;
spiracles elongatedly ovate, separated from hind
margin of metanotum by less than its diameter. Forewing length 2.2× width; basal
part almost bare except a few hairs on basal vein; costal cell hairy towards
tip; pubescence otherwise moderate; speculum open below; marginal fringe
moderately long. Relative
length of SMV, 25; MV, 16.5; PMV, 11.5; STV, 6. Legs
slender; hind tibia with two unequal spurs.
Metasoma (Image 5): Gaster 1.3× as long as broad, 0.64× as long as
head plus mesosoma, dorsally collapsing; posterior
margins of T1–T4 distinctly incised in the middle, T5 slightly emarginate.
Male:Length, 2.1mm. Resembles female but
differs in having antenna with anelli small, strongly
transverse; funicular segments pedunculate; F1 with
two distinct whorls of long white hairs, rest of the segments with one whorl of
long hairs. Gasterlong, 0.8× as long as head plus mesosoma,
brown, with a median yellow band dorsally reaching beyond half its length.
Etymology
The species name is derived from the name of the Kerala State (India)
where the specimens were collected.
Remarks
In having antenna with first funicular segment anelliformwithout sensilla, smaller body size and male antenna
with strongly pedunculate funiclesegments, this species closely resembles P. obscurus(Walker) but differs from it in having the gasterwith T4 more than 2× as long as T3 in dorsal view; forewing with basal
cell completely bare, and male flagellum with strongly pedunculatesegments. (In P. obscurus: gasterwith T4 shorter, as long as T3, in dorsal view; forewing with distal
0.25× to 0.5× of basal cell pilose, and
male antenna with less pedunculate segments). Among the other species of Oriental
region, this species resembles P. clavata Sureshan & Narendran, in
having F1 anelliform but P. clavatadiffers from the new species in having antenna with clavamore swollen, F1 longer than broad (1.2×); antenna uniformly testaceous except black clava,
and other characters as given in the key.
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