Eupelmus (Macroneura) vladimiri, Fusu, 2017

EUPELMUS (MACRONEURA) VLADIMIRI View in CoL SP. NOV.

FIGS 49 View Figures 43–50 , 67 View Figures 56–67 , 87 View Figures 68–87 (♀), 22, 24, 30, 32, 50, 108 (♂)

Macroneura (Euronmacra) impennis View in CoL – Kalina, 1981: 93, 105 (misidentification).

Etymology: Dedicated to Vladimir Kalina, the author of the first modern revision of Palaearctic E. ( Macroneura ).

Description: Female. Length = 2.1–4.0 mm. Body somewhat tricoloured, with a metallic head, reddish-brown or brownish-yellow mesosoma and brown metasoma ( Fig. 49 View Figures 43–50 ). Head dark; frontovertex metallic dark violet to violet with green luster along orbit and on occiput, face and gena coppery-red to golden-green. Antenna with scape yellow to brownish-yellow with faint metallic luster on outer surface in larger specimens, pedicel and flagellum dark brown with green luster on pedicel and variably distinct greenish to coppery lusters on basal funiculars. Mesosoma lighter than head, yellowish-brown to reddish-brown, with faint multicoloured metallic luster on some areas, especially on pronotal collar, parts of mesoscutum, scutellar-axillar complex, acropleuron and propodeum; mesoscutal plate sparsely setose, with posteromedial concave region asetose or with one to two setae, yellow to yellowish-brown, with slight metallic greenish luster on anteromedial lobe and under some angles of light posterior depressed area with a very faint purple to violet luster; tegula concolorous with mesoscutum; axillae and scutellum dark brown with dull dark green luster; axilla covered with brown hair-like setae only on outer surface and scutellum setose only on perimeter, with a pair of slightly lanceolate white setae toward frenal line ( Fig. 67 View Figures 56–67 ). Front leg nearly uniformly reddish-brown with faint metallic luster but basal four tarsomeres paler. Middle leg similar in colour to front leg except knee paler and anterodorsal angle of femur with a whitish spot or femur more extensively pale along anterior edge of dorsal and ventral surfaces; mesotibial and mesotarsal pegs dark. Hind leg with similar colour pattern as front leg. Metasoma with long and sparse hair-like setae, on Gt2–Gt4 distance between sockets of two adjacent setae about equal to or greater than seta length; black to dark brown except Gt1 reddish-brown but not translucent in distal half and dark basally with strong greenish-blue with violet or purple metallic luster and in some specimens Gt1 uniformly dark brown with metallic luster except subbasally. Ovipositor sheaths comparatively abruptly dark brown in about apical third to apical half, more or less strongly along ventral margin and basally, with a yellowish elongate spot or almost complete transverse band in basal half ( Fig. 49 View Figures 43–50 ).

Head in lateral view hemispherical, 1.75–1.9× as high as long, transverse in dorsal view, 1.9–2.1× as broad as long. Frontovertex coriaceous-imbricate to reticulate. Pedicel plus flagellum 1.2–1.3× head width. Pronotal ridge with two paramedial tufts with five to nine setae each and about as long as or slightly longer than pronotal collar. Mesoscutal plate with flat, V-shaped anterior region differentiated by minute reticulate sculpture and posteriorly reticulate with larger mesh size to smooth in distal third and posterior concave area declined to median. Scutellum and axillae weakly convex except scutellum within extreme anterior edge Λ- like angulate ( Fig. 67 View Figures 56–67 ). Acropleuron semicircularly strigose in dorsal half, imbricate-alutaceous to strigose ventrally and with effaced sculpture mesally. Fore wing reduced to the costal and basal cells, ovoidal, apically mucronate, extended to near middle of dorsellum ( Fig. 67 View Figures 56–67 ). Hind wing reduced to the humeral plate, with a minute disc adpressed to dorsellum only in largest specimens. Middle leg with row of 5–10 mesotibial apical pegs; mesotarsus without pegs on basitarsus or with one apical peg on either side but sometimes only one of the two pegs present or an additional peg present basally on posterior margin near base of spur, second tarsomere almost invariable with one apical peg on either side except few specimens seen with peg present only on anterior margin or both pegs absent, third and fourth tarsomeres without pegs. Metasoma ovoidal and comparatively narrow, 1.8–2.3× as long as wide, Gt5 coriaceous. Syntergum and anal plate forming truncate or obliquely inclined surface above ovipositor sheaths and gaster extending at most to apex of second valvifer. Ovipositor sheaths 0.5–0.6× as long as metatibia and 0.3–0.4× as long as metasoma.

Male. Length = 0.8–2.5 mm. Body metallic bronze-green ( Fig. 50 View Figures 43–50 ). Head dark green to bright bluish-green with bronze and coppery reflections mainly on scrobal depression, interantennal prominence, and parascrobal area; in some large specimens with strong violet luster around median ocellus. Lower gena with one long seta. Maxillary palpus brown. Antenna with scape light brown to brown with faint dark green luster except yellowish-brown in about basal third (light colour more extensive on inner side) and on outer surface ventrally along longitudinal sensory region ( Fig. 108 View Figures 103–110 ), pedicel and flagellum light brown to brown; pedicel with line of three hooked setae ventrally and a straight distal seta much shorter than other three; fl2 to fl8 with dense, curved and adpressed pale setae such as the apical half of seta parallel with segment surface; fl2–fl4 without differentiated black setae ventrally. Mesosoma similar in colour to head or extensively bronze and coppery with reduced green luster; propodeum with coppery plical region and variably extensive strong violet luster on callar region. Tegula bicoloured, opaque yellowish-brown along inner margin and variably broadly translucent light brownish apically. Fore wing translucent except with contrasting oval brown spot behind marginal and stigmal veins, but in smallest specimens the spot faint and diffuse; WIP with a yellowish to orange and reddish band in apical third ( Figs 22, 24 View Figures 19–26 ). Setae behind submarginal vein darker and stouter than on disc; costal cell dorsally with single line of three to six setae near leading margin over at most parastigma length and ventrally with single row of setae along length except more setose distally in front of parastigma with setae in about two rows; basal cell bare, sometimes with a few minute setae ventrally and at most one to four stout setae dorsally, but mediocubital and basal folds with stout, long dark setae; cubital fold bare behind speculum or at most with one or two stout dark setae proximally and speculum open posteriorly ( Figs 30, 32 View Figures 27–34 ). Front leg including coxa yellow to orangish-brown except apical tarsomeres brownish, coxa at most with faint metallic hue, femur faintly brownish on posterior surface, and tibia faintly brownish basally and ventrally. Middle leg similar to front leg except coxa brownish with some metallic luster, femur usually brown in distal half on posterior surface and tibia frequently gradually darker from about middle to almost completely brownish with gradually paler base. Hind leg with coxa metallic basally and yellowish apically, femur brown except variably extensively pale basally, tibia yellowish to orangish in about basal half or less and darker in about distal half but apical region graduated rather than abruptly delineated. Metasoma dark brown with faint metallic luster under some angles of light and Gt1 not differentiated in colour from following tergites.

Antenna ( Fig. 108 View Figures 103–110 ) comparatively short, flagellum subclavate with flagellomeres gradually wider and shorter toward apex and clava comparatively broad with broad ventral micropilose sensory region along length, collapsed in air-dried specimens; pedicel plus flagellum 1.45–1.6× head width. Fl1 inconspicuous, strongly discoidal. Basal funiculars cylindrical, fl2 2.1–2.4, fl3 1.9–2.2, and fl8 1.0–1.1× as long as wide. Funiculars with MPS in single row. Mesosoma 1.8–2.0× as long as broad. Fore wing 2.45–2.6× as long as broad. Propodeum with effaced coriaceous sculpture and with a vestigial median carina interrupted mesally.

Comparative diagnosis and variability: Kalina (1981) misinterpreted this species, treating E. vladimiri sp. nov. under E. impennis . The two species have a similar habitus and body colour but are most easily differentiated using the mesotarsal peg pattern: most females of E. vladimiri have at least one and usually more mesotarsal pegs (see below), while E. impennis lacks mesotarsal pegs. Very rare females of E. vladimiri that lack mesotarsal pegs or have a reduced number of pegs that are not visible because of inadequate mounting could be confused easily for E. impennis females but can be separated using differences in the ovipositor sheaths and the length of the setae on pronotal collar. Females of E. vladimiri have longer setae on the pronotal collar and longer ovipositor sheaths that are strongly darkened apically and along the ventral margin. The ovipositor sheaths are on average shorter in E. impennis , about 0.3× as long as metasoma (but of similar length in both species when compared to metatibia) and because the gastral apex extends over the base of the third valvula the ovipositor appears even shorter. Also, the third valvula is generally lighter, only narrowly dark brown basally and the rest almost uniformly pale to gradually darker to light brown apically and along the ventral margin.

Females of E. vladimiri vary considerably in the number of mesotarsal pegs. Although single pegs often are present apically and sometimes basally on the basitarsus and apically on the second tarsomere, any of the pegs, but especially those on basitarsus, can be absent. About 77% of all individuals (23 individuals out of 30) in Greece have at least one leg with the basitarsus lacking pegs and one apical peg on either side of second tarsomere ( Fig. 87 View Figures 68–87 , Fig. 20 View Figures 19–26 in Kalina, 1981). Of these, three individuals additionally have one apical peg on the anterior margin of the basitarsus of one leg, one individual on the posterior margin, and two individuals have only one apical peg on the anterior margin of the second tarsomere of one leg. Three individuals out of 30 (10%) have one apical peg on either side of both the basitarsus and second tarsomere, but of these one has additionally one peg basally on anterior margin of the basitarsus. The remaining four specimens are unique in having one apical peg on either side of the second tarsomere but with different peg patterns on the basitarsus. In one, the apical peg is located on the anterior margin on one leg and the posterior margin of the other leg, the second has an apical peg on the anterior margin of both legs, the third has one apical peg on either side of one leg and a single basal peg on the posterior margin of the other leg, and the fourth one has one basal peg on either side on both legs. All individuals from Cyprus have one apical peg on either side of both the basitarsus and second tarsomere, but out of 12 specimens 9 have additional pegs on the basitarsus. Eight specimens have one basal peg on the posterior margin, but in three this peg is present on only one leg. In one specimen, one leg has one basal peg on the posterior margin and in the other there is a peg medially on the anterior margin. Of two type specimens from Bulgaria, one has one apical peg on either side of both the basitarsus and second tarsomere of one leg, and a single apical peg on the anterior margin of the second tarsomere on the other leg; the other specimen has a single apical peg on the anterior margin of the second tarsomere on both legs. The only specimen seen from Montenegro lacks mesotarsal pegs. Interestingly, in 9 out of 11 individuals with more pegs on one leg than on the other, the additional pegs are present on the right leg.

Males of E. vladimiri are separated from all other E. ( Macroneura ) males except E. muellneri and E. impennis by the structure of their antenna, fore wing base setation, and leg colour as outlined in the key. They differ from E. muellneri and E. impennis in the shape of fl1 and colour of their coxae, most conspicuously the fore coxa, as outlined in the key. All males of E. vladimiri irrespective of their size also have a single row of setae ventrally on the costal cell. The single known male of E. muellneri (a medium size specimen) has two rows of setae, while of the two known males of E. impennis the smaller has one row and the larger two rows, indicating that in this species the character is correlated with specimen size.

Biology: Reared from unidentified Cecidomyiidae galls on Artemisia , pods of carob tree with Apomyelois ceratoniae (Zeller) ( Lepidoptera , Pyralidae ) and Asphondylia gennadii (Marchal) ( Diptera , Cecidomyiidae ), galls of Diplolepis sp. ( Cynipidae ) on Rosa canina , and galls of Aulacidea acroptilonica Tyurebaev ( Cynipidae ) on Acroptilon repens . According to Kalina (1981, as impennis ) also reared from Rhopalomyia artemisiae (Bouché) ( Cecidomyiidae ).

Distribution: Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, and Montenegro. Extralimital records: Iran and Turkey.

Kalina (1981, as M. impennis ) mentions Bulgaria, Croatia and Montenegro (confirmed records) but also, Hungary and Azerbaijan. The presence of the species in Hungary is doubtful as all the specimens in the Erdős collection at HNHM (including all those from Tompa) are E. impennis Nik. nec Kalina, although the specimen from Tompa mentioned by Kalina (1981) is not present in the HNHM collection (see under E. impennis ).

Type material examined: Holotype ♀: BULGARIA, Balchik, Topola, sea border, 21.vii.2010, N 43°24′32.5″ E28°15′24.5″, Leg. Fusu L., hand caught; DNA extracted 12.vi.2014 Fusu, I.BG 01; Holotypus ♀, Eupelmus (Macroneura) vladimiri sp. n., Det. Fusu L. 2014 (AICF). Paratypes: BULGARIA: Kavarna: 1♀, 1♂, slope by sea border, 22–23 July 2010 (Fusu & Dascălu); 1♂, Kamen bryag, 23 July 2010, Artemisia , galls (Fusu) (AICF). Varvara: 1♀, August 1970 (Kocourek) (BMNH). CROATIA: Dubrovnik: 1♀, Radovčiči, 26 July 2005; 1♀, Kupari, 24 July 2005 (JanŠta) (CNC). CYPRUS: Lemesos: 9♀, 2♂, 24–25 May 2009, pods of carob tree with Apomyelois ceratoniae & Asphondylia gennadii (1♀, DNA: I.CY 01f); 3♀ *, 25 May 2009 (Fusu & Popovici) (AICF). GREECE: Kerkini lake , Kerkini Lake site: 1♂, 25 April–1 May 2005; 1♂, 16–22 May 2005; 1♂, 13–19 June 2005; 3♂, 20–26 June 2005. Kerkini lake , Ecotourism site, Lithotopos: 1♂, 16–22 May 2006; 1♂, 23–29 May 2006; 1♀ 2♂, 13–19 June 2006; 1♀ 2♂, 20–26 June 2006 (1♀ DNA: I.GR 01f); 1♀ 4♂, 4–10 July 2006; 6♂, 11–17 July 2006; 2♀ 5♂, 18–24 July 2006; 3♀ 14♂, 25–31 July 2006; 7♀ 7♂, 1–7 August 2006; 1♀ 5♂, 8–14 August 2006; 1♀ 5♂, 15–21 August 2006; 14♂, 22–28 August 2006; 3♀ 6♂, 29 August–4 September 2006 (1♀, DNA: I.GR 02); 1♀ 2♂, 5–11 September 2006; 2♀ 6♂, 12–18 September 2006; 1♂, 19–25 September 2006; 5♀, 26September–2 October 2006. Kerkini lake nr Neo Petritsi, Midway Site: 1♂, 26May–1 June 2008; 1♂, 16–22 June 2008; 1♂, 23–29 June 2008; 3♂, 30June–6 July 2008; 1♂, 21–27 July 2008. Kerkini Lake N. Park nr Kerkini, Pumping station site: 1♀, 16–22 May 2007; 1♂, 23–29 May 2007. Kerkini Lake N. Park, Lithotopos, Krousia Mts site: 2♂, 8–14 August 2004; 1♂, 15–21 August 2004 (all leg. G. Ramel, MT). 1♀, Kerkini Lake Nat.Park, Kerkinitis river border, sweep net, 19 June 2008, N41°12′51.6″ E23°03′51.5″, 45 m (Fusu, Popovici & Ramel). Crete: 1♂, mts 6 km NE Paleohora, Azogires, road crossing to Platanes, 11 May 1988 (v. Tschirnhaus X-594) (AICF). Samos: 1♀, 12 October 1969 (Koponen) (BMNH). Rhodes, Ixia: 1♀, 15–29 August 1984; 10♀, 8–20 August 1985 (Day). Kos: 1♀, 20 August 1994 (Noyes) (DNA barcoding voucher nr CNCHYM 015282) (CNC). IRAN: West Azarbaijan, Chaldran: 1♀, Diplolepis sp. gall on Rosa canina , 11 June 2010 (Lotfalizadeh). Markazi, Karaj: 2♀, 31 August 1978 (Huber) (CNC). MONTENEGRO: KraŠići, Boka Kotor: 1♀, 13 July 1982 (Bouček) (BMNH). TURKEY: Cukurova, Adana: 3♀, 22 July 1996 (Delvare). Bahce: 1♀, 19 July 1996 (Delvare) (GDCO). Ürgüp: 12♀, 11♂, fall 2005, February–March 2006, ex Aulacidea acroptilonica T. galls on Acroptilon repens (Schaffner) (CNC) .

Non-type material: Albania (BMNH), Bulgaria (HNHM, PUPB/IBER), Cyprus (AICF), Greece (HC, HNHM, NHMV), and Turkey (CNC, HC, PUPB/IBER). See Appendix 1.