Cornugon Hansson, gen. nov.
Creators: name: Hansson, Christer
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2011
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Eulophidae
Cornugon

description: Cornugon Hansson gen. nov.
Type species: Cornugon diabolos sp. nov., designated here.
Etymology. Name emanating from the game “dungeons and dragons” where the character “cornugon” is a creature with two horns on the forehead and with wings, much like some of the species in this new genus, e.g. the type species. The name is from the Latin cornu = horn, and with a suitable suffix. The gender is neuter.
Diagnosis. Eyes large and hairy (e.g. Figs 4, 8, 14); mouth opening small; frontal speculum usually present (e.g. Figs 2, 18, 28); vertex with a median groove reaching from occipital margin to anterior ocellus (e.g. Figs 15, 20, 25) (missing from C. albicoxa (Fig. 4) and C. anais (Fig. 10)); with a fovea in below anterior ocellus (e.g. Figs 8, 18, 28, 34); frons with a second short row of setae inside row of setae along inner margin of eye (e.g. Figs 8, 13, 18); pronotum with a transverse carina close to hind margin (e.g. Figs 3, 9, 21); notauli distinct, in anterior 1/3 as a narrow groove (e.g. Figs 3, 9, 21) and in posterior 2/3 triangular, smooth and deeply impressed; prepectus smooth and shiny with 2 or 3 foveae (Figs 6, 12, 32, 46); propodeal plicae usually present and complete (e.g. Figs 17, 22, 27, 31) (missing in C. anais (Fig. 11)); hindwing colour interference pattern with a bright blue spot apically (Figs 52–57); petiole with an anterodorsal protrusion covering upper petiolar foramen (Figs 31, 37, 40).
Description. Head and body bright metallic and shiny (Figs 70–73). Flagellum in both sexes with a 2- (e.g. Figs 78, 79) or 3-segmented clava (e.g. Figs 74, 75), or males with all flagellomeres separated from one another, i.e. not fused (Fig. 86); sensilla ampullacea globular, symmetric (type I sensu Hansson (1990)), present on all flagellomeres. Antenna with small, discoid anelli. Scape narrow in female and of same width or slightly wider in male (Figs 74–88), reaching above frontal suture; in male with ventral sensory area extending along the major length of scape. Mandibles with 3 or 4 large teeth (Figs 13, 14) or with 2 large ventroapical teeth and several small teeth above these (Fig. 7). Clypeus not delimited. Tentorial pits distinct (e.g. Figs 13, 14). Malar sulcus present or absent. Antennal scrobes unite at V-shaped frontal suture (e.g. Figs 18, 48) or slightly below frontal suture (e.g. Figs 2, 8); frons dorsally subdivided by a rounded edge or through different sculpture, with ventral portion forming a smooth and shiny frontal speculum (e.g. Figs 2, 18, 28). Border between vertex and occiput convex without edge or carina (e.g. Figs 20, 25, 29); occiput without groove or fold between occipital margin and occipital foramen. Frons between upper border of frontal speculum, level of toruli, and eye margins smooth and shiny without any reticulation (e.g. Figs 18, 23, 28), and usually also with frons between upper border of frontal speculum and vertex smooth, but this part with strong reticulation in C. reticulatum (Figs 42–44). Vertex smooth and shiny (e.g. Figs 4, 15, 20) except with engraved or raised reticulation inside ocellar triangle in some species (Figs 10, 44); usually with a groove between occipital margin and anterior ocellus (e.g. Figs 15, 20, 25), occasionally without such a groove (Figs 4, 10).
Pronotum with a transverse carina close to posterior margin (e.g. Figs 9, 16, 21). Mesoscutum predominantly reticulate (e.g. Fig. 9) to predominantly smooth (e.g. Fig. 16); notauli as narrow grooves in anterior part and as distinctly delimited, more or less triangular, smooth foveae in posterior part (e.g. Figs 36, 45); midlobe with two pairs of setae; with a narrow slit medially between mesoscutum and scutellum (e.g. Figs 9, 16) or with a round to quadrangular fovea in same location (e.g. Figs 21, 26). Scutellum predominantly reticulate (Fig. 9) to predominantly smooth except along posterior margin (Fig. 16); without (e.g. Fig. 30) or with a median groove in anterior 1/2 (e.g. Fig. 9) or extending most of length (e.g. Fig. 49); anteromedian part projecting into posteromedian part of midlobe of mesoscutum (e.g. Figs 16, 21, 26); with one pair of setae in posterior ½ of scutellum. Pleurae smooth and shiny (Figs 12, 46); transepimeral sulcus (i.e. sulcus separating upper and lower mesepimeron) straight or weakly curved (Fig. 46). Propodeum smooth except usually with lateral plicae (absent from C. anais (Fig. 11)) and then plicae either converging strongly posteriorly (e.g. Fig. 37) or parallel (e.g. Fig. 17) and with (e.g. Fig. 37) or without (e.g. Fig. 17) a median carina; propodeal callus with two setae. Forewing rounded; costal cell narrow, as wide as submarginal vein; speculum closed below; postmarginal vein 0.3–1.0x as long as stigmal vein.
Petiole 1–3.5X as long as wide, dorsal surface with reticulation (e.g. Fig. 37) or with transverse carinae (e.g. Fig. 22), and with an anterodorsal protrusion that covers upper part of petiolar foramen (e.g. Figs 22, 27, 31). Male genitalia as in most Entedoninae, i.e. with two digital spines and with volsellar setae short and thin (see Hansson 1996).
Distribution. Neotropical region (Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, and Mexico).
Biology. Unknown.
Identification. Cornugon runs to couplet 114 in the key to Nearctic genera of Eulophidae by Schauff et al. (1997), where the first alternative fits best (with complete notauli), but with posterior part of notauli as shallow, smooth and distinctly delimited foveae (i.e. not as narrow grooves). Another option for identification is to use the matrix key to the Neotropical genera of Entedoninae on the website http://www.neotropicaleulophidae.com/.
Monophyly. Cornugon possess several apomorphies, two putative autapomorphies and ten apomorphies shared with other entedonine genera, mainly with Pediobius Walker. Cornugon thus has unique apomorphies and can be defined as a distinct, monophyletic group. Furthermore, Pediobius, the genus Cornugon shares most apomorphies with, is previously defined as monophyletic (Hansson 2002) through the medioposterior part of the propodeum being extended to form a nucha and the anterior part of petiole being concave to embrace the protruding nucha; and propodeum having submedian carinae. However, most apomorphic features shared by Cornugon and Pediobius are also present in other genera of Entedoninae. Furthermore, those apomorphic features present only in Cornugon and Pediobius are present in just a few species of Pediobius. Therefore, a sister-group relationship is not certain. The apomorphic features shared with other genera possibly delimit larger sets of genera or are homoplasies, whereas the apomorphies shared with a few species of Pediobius, which is represented by 217 species on a world basis (Noyes 2009), very likely evolved independently in the two genera, i.e. are homoplasies.
Putative autapomorphies:
Prepectus smooth and shiny with 2 or 3 shallow, indistinct foveae (Figs 6, 12, 32, 46).
Hindwing apically with a bright blue spot in the interference colour pattern (Figs 52–57).
Apomorphies shared with Pediobius
Head with a frontal speculum (e.g. Figs 2, 28, 33). The frontal speculum is a new character introduced here, though it is not confined to Cornugon and Pediobius; for example, it is also present in Proacrias Ihering and some species of Closterocerus Westwood. The character is thus either an autapomorphy for a larger set of genera or a homoplasy; further investigations must be done to establish this.
Antennal scrobes as narrow, distinct grooves (e.g. Figs 2, 8, 19). This feature is also present in several other entedonine genera, e.g. Emersonella Girault, Horismenus Walker and Paracrias Ashmead.
Pronotum with a carina close to posterior margin (e.g. Figs 9, 16, 21). This feature is also present in several other entedonine genera, e.g. Horismenus, some Chrysocharis Förster, and some Achrysocharoides Girault. Notauli complete with anterior 1/3 to ½ as a distinct narrow groove and posterior ½ to 2/3 as a shallow, smooth, distinctly delimited and more or less triangular fovea (e.g. Figs 3, 9, 21). This feature is also present in some species of Pediobius, e.g. P. foveolatus (Crawford).
Mesonotum with a distinct fovea medially between mesoscutum and scutellum (e.g. Figs 9, 16, 21, 26). This feature is also present in some species of Pediobius, e.g. P. aphidiphagus (Ashmead) and P. crassicornis (Thomson).
Anteromedian part of scutellum protruding into posteromedian part of mesoscutum (e.g. Figs 3, 16, 21). This feature is also present in some species of Pediobius, e.g. P. aspidomorphae (Girault) and P. anomalus (Gahan). Anterior part of mesepisternum protruding into posterior part of prepectus (Figs 32, 46). This feature is also present in Horismenus, Inti Hansson, and some species of Pediobius.
Propodeum with plicae (e.g. Figs 17, 22, 27). This is a characteristic feature for Pediobius, but it is also present in several other entedonine genera, e.g. Apleurotropis Girault and Pediobomyia Girault.
Apomorphies shared with other entedonine genera but not with Pediobius:
Head with a fovea just below anterior ocellus (Figs 2, 4, 18, 28). This feature is also present in several other genera e.g. Apleurotropis, Platocharis Kerrich, Schizocharis Kerrich and some species of Achrysocharoides. Petiole with an anterodorsal protrusion covering upper part of petiolar foramen (Figs 31, 37, 40). This feature is also present in some other genera: Pediobomyia, Tropicharis Hansson, and in some species of Chrysocharis Förster and Omphale Haliday.
description: Published as part of Hansson, Christer, 2011, Cornugon (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae: Entedoninae) a new genus from tropical America including ten new species, pp. 1-26 in Zootaxa 2873 on pages 3-4, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.277538