Cheiloneurus fidenas Noyes 2023, sp.nov.
Creators: name: Noyes, John Stuart
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Encyrtidae
Cheiloneurus
Cheiloneurus fidenas

description: Cheiloneurus fidenas sp.nov.   
(Figs 604-607; Hab. E 92)  
 DIAGNOSIS. Female (length about 1.6-1.9mm): body generally dark brown to black with a weak to moderate metallic sheen; antenna (Fig. 605) with scape pale orange margined brown, proximally brown; pedicel mostly pale orange, proximally dark brown dorsally; funicle pale orange, proximally slightly dusky; clava dark brown; mesoscutum with uniform pale brown setae that appear silvery in some lights; coxae white; hind tibia mostly dark brown, legs otherwise white to pale orange with brown areas; fore wing (Fig. 604) almost completely hyaline but weakly infuscate immediately below marginal and stigmal veins and an infuscate median streak in apical half; head about 4.1X as wide as frontovertex, in facial view about as broad as long, subcircular, genae converging, moderately and evenly curved; frontovertex naked medially below anterior ocellus; area between eye and scrobe about 1.5X as wide as diameter of anterior ocellus, with shallow sculpture, scrobal margin rounded; interantennal prominence dorsally rounded with only a few long setae; mandible with two long, sharp lower teeth and a slightly shorter, sharp, upper tooth; antenna (Fig. 605) with scape about 4.2X as long as broad; funicle with segments quadrate or slightly longer than broad, becoming larger distad; head width about equal to length of flagellum; linear sensilla on F3-F6; clava 3-segmented, slightly shorter than F2-F6 combined, sensory area large and forming an oblique truncation, extending about 0.4X along ventral margin; mesoscutum (Fig. 607) with polygonally reticulate sculpture; scutellum with a distinct, but short apical tuft of setae; wings fully developed; fore wing (Fig. 604) about 2.5X as long as broad; parastigma very weakly curved downwards; costal cell dorsally with 5 to 7 setae at apex and a single, complete line of setae ventrally; area below proximal part of parastigma with a group of about 18 setae; apices of postmarginal and stigmal veins (Fig. 603) not connected by a naked hyaline area; apical bristle of postmarginal vein about 0.5X as long as marginal vein; mid tibial spur about as long as basitarsus; propodeum (Fig. 607) with about 20 setae around each spiracle, side naked; syntergum 0.9X as long as mid tibia; ovipositor about 3.3X gonostylus or 1.3X mid tibia; gonostylus about 1.2X as long as mid tibial spur; exserted part of ovipositor about 0.3X as long as mid tibial spur. Male: unknown.   
Female (holotype): length, including ovipositor, 1.71mm; excluding ovipositor, 1.66mm (CPD).  
Head black with a weak blue and purple sheen on frontovertex, more strongly purple anteriorly; scrobal area largely purple with scrobes and interantennal prominence largely metallic green with a purple band connecting toruli; mouth margin purplish; area below eye strongly metallic brassy, green and coppery; temple brassy and coppery; gena purple and brassy; frontovertex with inconspicuous dark brown setae; antenna (Fig. 605) with radicle dark brown, pale orange ventrally; antenna with scape mostly pale orange, proximally brown, dorsal and ventral margins brown; pedicel mostly pale orange, basal two-thirds dark brown dorsally; funicle pale orange, F1-F3 very slightly dusky; clava dark brown; thorax mostly dark brown to black; pronotum mainly dull, dark green mixed purple, posterior margin coppery; mesoscutum with a metallic green to blue-green sheen with coppery and brassy reflections, posterior margin coppery purple, setae uniform and translucent pale brown and appear silvery in some lights; tegula dark brown; axilla dull, dark purple-brown with coppery reflections; scutellum noticeably less shiny than mesoscutum, but with a distinct dark blue sheen, medially strongly coppery, clothed with dark brown setae, extreme sides and apex shining green mixed coppery, especially at apex; metanotum with slight purple sheen; mesopleuron in posterior half with a coppery-purple and brassy sheen, anterior half mixed blue, green, coppery and brassy, these narrowly separated by a coppery, dark blue and violet sheen; fore coxa white; fore femur white to pale yellow, with an elongate brown spot dorsally in distal half; fore tibia pale orange with an incomplete subbasal brown band; mid coxa white; mid femur white to pale yellow with an elongate brown spot externally in distal half, tibia pale orange with a narrow, elongate, brown, subbasal spot; hind coxa white; hind femur white in proximal half or so, otherwise dark brown, tibia mostly pale orange with a broad, diffuse brown, subbasal ring in proximal half or so; fore tarsus pale orange-brown, mid and hind tarsi pale orange, pretarsi slightly dusky; fore wing (Fig. 604) almost completely hyaline but weakly infuscate immediately below marginal and stigmal veins, and a weakly infuscate median streak distad of pale brown venation; propodeum dark purple-brown; sides metallic green with a few conspicuous silvery setae in spiracular area; gaster dark purple-brown, dorsum slightly coppery, mixed purple and brassy, sides towards apex and outer plates of ovipositor mixed metallic blue, green, coppery and brassy; gonostylus dark brown, extreme apex orange-brown.  
Head about 4.1X as wide as frontovertex, not subtriangular in profile, occipital margin carinate, occiput without a median groove above foramen; ocelli forming an angle of about 55°; frontovertex slightly shiny, with conspicuous reticulate sculpture of mesh size generally very slightly smaller than diameter of eye facet; scrobal area and mouth margin with shallower sculpture; gena and temple with more elongate sculpture of larger mesh; scrobes shallow, meeting dorsally, dorsal and lateral margins weakly rounded; antenna as in Fig. 605; scape hardly broadened and flattened, about 4.2X as long as broad; F1 and F4-F6 each a little longer than broad, F2-F3 quadrate, segments broadest distad; clava hardly broadened, slightly longer than F3- F6 combined; only outer suture noticeably oblique, sensory area enlarged, extending about one-third along clava ventrally and giving it an obliquely truncate appearance; eye reaching occipital margin, clothed with inconspicuous setae, each about as long as diameter of facet; inner eye margins not converging anteriorly; malar sulcus absent; mandible with three acute teeth, upper tooth shortest. Relative measurements: HW 70, HH 69, FV 17, OD 5.5, POL 10.5, OOL 0.5, OCL 6, AOL 11, EL 45, EW 36, MS 29, SL 38, SW 9.  
Thorax (Fig. 607) with shallow, irregular, polygonally reticulate sculpture on pronotum, generally of mesh size subequal to diameter of facet; sculpture on mesoscutum generally of similar depth to that on pronotum, but more regular and of smaller mesh; sculpture on axilla similar to that on mesoscutum, but slightly deeper; scutellum with conspicuously deeper, polygonally reticulate sculpture; apex and sides completely smooth and shiny; visible part of mesoscutum about 1.8X as broad as long; scutellum very slightly broader than long, with a short subapical tuft, setae about one-third to two-fifths as long as scutellum; hind femur about 4.4X as long as broad; fore wing with venation and setation as in Figs 604, 606; costal cell with only 3 setae dorsally at apex; no naked streak present between apices of postmarginal and stigmal veins; propodeum (Fig. 607) with moderately dense setae in spiracular area, side naked, medially less than 0.1X as long as scutellum and with some shallow polygonally reticulate sculpture. Relative measurements: FWL 89, FWW 36; HWL 70, HWW 18.  
Gaster with hypopygium reaching about half-way to apex; syntergum nearly as long as mid tibia, with apex acute; ovipositor slightly exserted, the exserted part about one-third as long as mid tibial spur.  
Paratype. Funicle with linear sensilla present only on F3-F6; gaster without “gland-like” structures on Gt1 or Gt5. Relative measurements: OL 55, GL 16.5 [MT 41].  
Variation. Females vary in overall length from 1.55-1.87mm, otherwise little in material examined except that F1-F4 may be orange-brown.  
Male. Unknown.  
DISTRIBUTION. Costa Rica.  
HOSTS. Unknown.  
MATERIAL EXAMINED.  
 Type material. Holotype E: COSTA RICA, San José, Zurqui de Moravia, 1600m, iv.1992 (P. Hanson). Paratypes: COSTA RICA, 6E, San José, same data as holotype but various dates iv.1992 - i.1996; 1E, Heredia, 6km ENE Vara Blanca, 10°11’N 84°01’W, 2000m, 20/M/TN, ii.2002 (INBio-OET-ALAS). Holotype in MZUCR, paratypes in NHMUK and MZUCR.   
 COMMENTS. See comments under herndonia (p. 240), exeres (p. 243) and miklo (p. 247).
description: Published as part of Noyes, John Stuart, 2023, ENCYRTIDAE OF COSTA RICA (HYMENOPTERA: CHALCIDOIDEA), 4 Subfamily Encyrtinae: tribes Arrhenophagini, Habrolepidini, Cerapterocerini, Cheiloneurini, Trechnitini, Cercobelini, Polaszekiini, Protyndarichoidini, Gahaniellini and Syrphophagini (part), mainly primary parasitoids and hyperparasitoids of Coccoidea and Psylloidea (Hemiptera), pp. 1-921 in Taxonomic Monographs on Neotropical Hymenoptera (Oxford, England) (Oxford, England) 2 (11) on pages 243-245, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.8074943