Difference between revisions of "Encarsia albiscutellum (Girault)"

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Encarsia albiscutellum female (slide preparation)

Diagnosis

Female

Colour: head brown. Mesosoma brown except scutellum yellow. Metasoma brown. Antenna yellow, radicle and basal half of scape brown. Fore wing hyaline or with slight infuscation behind marginal vein. Legs yellow except hind coxa and femur brown.

Morphology [measurements of holotype in square brackets]: stemmaticum with transversely strigose surface sculpture. Antennal formula 1,1,3,3. Pedicel 0.96–1.10 times as long as F1. F1 1.50–1.81 [1.72] times as long as its maximum width, subequal in length to F2 (1.03–1.07) [1.07] and slightly shorter than F3 (0.93–0.97) [0.94]. Flagellomeres with the following numbers of sensilla: F1: 1–2, F2: 2, F3: 3, F4: 3–4, F5: 3–4, F6: 3. Midlobe of mesoscutum with eight setae, side lobes with two to three setae each. Scutellar sensilla widely separated (approximately seven times the maximum width of a sensillum). Distance between anterior pair of scutellar setae smaller than between posterior pair. Fore wing 2.3–2.4 [2.4] times as long as width of disc. Basal cell near base of marginal vein with two to three setae and medially with a single small seta (and occasionally with a second larger seta). Marginal fringe 0.17–0.20 [0.17] times as long as width of disc. Submarginal vein with two setae, marginal vein anteriorly with six or seven setae. Tarsal formula 5-5-5. Apical spur of midtibia slightly shorter than or subequal to length of corresponding basitarsus (0.89–0.96) [0.89], the latter proximally with three to four peg-like setae. Tergites laterally with the following numbers of setae: T1: 0, T2: 1, T3: 2–3, T4: 1–3, T5: 2–3, T6: 2, T7 conically elongated and with four setae. Ovipositor longer than midtibia (1.69–1.87) [1.83] and 2.77–2.90 times as long as clava. Third valvula 0.62–0.72 [0.72] times as long as second valvifer.

Male

Head and body dark brown, mesoscutal midlobe largely, side lobes, scutellum, and metanotum lighter. Fore wing hyaline. Legs pale, coxae more or less and hind femur brown. Antenna with six funicular segments, apical two segments not fused, but sensilla partly overlapping.

Species group placement

Encarsia opulenta group.

Distribution

Australia: Queensland. China, India.

Hosts

Aleyrodidae: Aleurocanthus sp., Aleurotrachelus micheliae Takahashi. In addition to whitefly hosts the species has been recorded from a large number of hard scales (Diaspididae, see Huang and Polaszek (1998) for a comprehensive list of host records).

Comments

Characters that easily distinguish this species are long ovipositor, dark brown colour, elongate first funicular segment, and very long midtibial spur.

References

Huang, J., Polaszek, A. (1998). A revision of the Chinese species of Encarsia Förster (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae): parasitoids of whiteflies, scale insects and aphids (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae, Diaspididae, Aphidoidea). Journal of Natural History 32:1825–1966. doi

Schmidt, S., Polaszek, A. (2007). The Australian species of Encarsia Förster (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea: Aphelinidae), parasitoids of whiteflies (Hemiptera, Sternorrhyncha: Aleyrodidae) and armoured scale insects (Hemiptera, Coccoidea: Diaspididae). Journal of Natural History 41(33-36): 2099-2265. doi

External links

Wikispecies
Type information
Encarsia on Wikipedia