Encarsia nigriventris (Girault)

Encarsia nigriventris female (slide preparation)

Diagnosis

Female

Colour: head yellow except postgena with transverse brown band on vertex partly, malar space and area around mouth brown. Mesosoma mostly yellow, pronotum, mesoscutal midlobe anteriorly and axillae anteriorly more or less brown. Metasoma dark brown except petiole lighter and apex of T7 yellow. Antenna yellow with apical segments darker. Fore wing with dark band behind marginal vein. Legs yellow, hind coxa occasionally brown.

Morphology [measurements of holotype in square brackets]: stemmaticum with transversely strigose surface sculpture. Antennal formula 1,1,6,0, i.e. clava not defined. Pedicel longer than F1 (1.21–1.58). F1 1.40–1.53 [1.42] times as long as its maximum width, distinctly shorter than F2 (0.54–0.67) [0.64] and F3 (0.56–0.69) [0.60]. F2 subequal in length to, or slightly longer, than F3 (0.93–1.24) [0.93]. Flagellomeres with the following numbers of sensilla: F1: 0(–1), F2: 1–2, F3: 2–3, F4: 2–3, F5: 2–3, F6: 2. Midlobe of mesoscutum with 8(–11) setae, side lobes with two setae each. Scutellar sensilla widely separated (approximately three to four times the maximum width of a sensillum). Distance between anterior pair of scutellar setae smaller than between posterior pair. Fore wing 2.4–2.7 [2.5] times as long as width of disc. Marginal fringe 0.33–0.44 [0.37] times as long as width of disc. Basal cell with two setae. Submarginal vein with two setae, marginal vein anteriorly with five or six setae. Tarsal formula 5-5-5. Apical spur of midtibia longer than half the length of the corresponding basitarsus (0.63–0.77) [0.75]. Tergites laterally with the following numbers of setae: T1: 0, T2: 1, T3: 1, T4: (1–)2, T5: 3, T6: 2, T7 with four setae. Ovipositor subequal in length to midtibia. Third valvula 0.40–0.46 [0.42] times as long as second valvifer.

Male

Unknown.

Species group placement

Encarsia smithi group.

Distribution

Australia: Queensland, Western Australia.

Hosts

Aleyrodidae: Aleurocanthus sp., Aleuroduplidens sp., Aleurotrachelus sp., Pseudaleuroplatus litseae (Dumbleton), Tetralicia sp., Xenaleyrodes sp.

References

• 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: 2099–2265. doi

External links

Encarsia nigriventris on Wikispecies
Type information
Encyclopedia of Life
Univeral Chalcidoidea Database
Encarsia on Wikipedia