Microterys obricoi Guerrieri & Ghahari 2018, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Guerrieri, Emilio
name: Ghahari, Hassan
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Encyrtidae
Microterys
Microterys obricoi

description: Microterys obricoi sp. nov.
(Figs 13–17)
Description. Female (Holotype). Length, 2.3 mm. Head orange; antenna (Fig. 13) with scape and clava brown to black, pedicel and F1 to F3 dark yellow, F4–F6 whitish; thorax dark metallic green, except pronotum, lateral margins of mesonotum, distal part of axillae and posterior margin of scutellum orange, tegula yellow, the apex translucent; mesopleuron orange; forewing (Fig. 14) with speculum and large circular band past venation brown, remaining part of the disc hyaline, venation dark brown, marginal vein (Fig. 15) darker; legs orange, apices of tarsi brown; gaster brown apex of gonostylus orange. Head about 4.4× as wide as frontovertex; ocelli forming an angle of about 70°; antenna (Fig. 13) with scape about 2.6× as long as broad, F1 slightly longer than broad and about 0.5× as long as pedicel; clava transversely truncate at apex. Relative measurements: HW 106, FV 25, POL 13, OOL<1, OCL 8, SL 36, SW 16.
Mesoscutum 0.7× as long as wide and 1.2× as long as scutellum. Forewing (Fig. 14) about 2.4× as long as wide; marginal vein (Fig. 15) about 1.2× as long as stigmal vein and 1.4× postmarginal vein. Relative measurements: FWL 130, FWW 54; MV 20, PMV 14, SV 16.
Gaster with ovipositor not exserted. Paratype: hypopygium (Fig. 16) about 3× as wide as long; ovipositor (Fig. 17) about 1.1× as long as mid tibia and 5× as long as gonostylus; Relative measurements: OL 180, MT 160, GL 35.
Male. Similar to female but for antenna and genitalia. Scape about 2.4× as long as broad; pedicel subquadrate, all funicular segments longer than broad, their length decreasing towards the apex, F1 3× as long as broad and 4× as long as pedicel; clava about 3× as long as broad and as long as F6 and half F5 together. Relative measurements: SL 24, SW 10.
Variation. None in the material at hand.
Hosts. The species was reared from Eulecanium sp. (Hemiptera: Coccidae) on walnut (Juglans regia L., Juglandaceae).
Distribution. Iran.
Material examined. Holotype ♀, Iran, Kermanshah province, Kermanshah, 34°16'N 47°49'E, 5.vi.2010, ex Eulecanium sp. (Hemiptera: Coccidae) on walnut, K. Jalilvand leg. Paratypes: 1 ♀, 1 ♂, same data as holotype. Holotype and 1 paratype will be deposited at NHM; 1 paratype will be deposited at DEZA.
Comments. The species appears to be very close to M. iranicus and M. sylvius. Females of the new species can be separated from those of iranicus by the brown scape (orange in iranicus), proportion between head and frontovertex width (4.4× in the new species, 3.7× in iranicus), forewing 2.4× as long as broad (2× in iranicus) and with well-defined white band (irregular and faint in iranicus). Females of new species can be separated from sylvius by the relative proportions of the pedicel in respect to F1 (2× in the new species, 1.3× in sylvius) and by colour of antenna (with F4 yellowish slightly paler than F3 and slightly darker than whitish F 5 in the new species, F4 brown as dark as F3 and distinctly darker than white F 5 in sylvius).
description: Published as part of Guerrieri, Emilio & Ghahari, Hassan, 2018, New records, descriptions and notes on Encyrtidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) from Iran, pp. 316-326 in Zootaxa 4444 (3) on page 320, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4444.3.6, http://zenodo.org/record/1309713