Platygaster lotfalizadehi Buhl & Asadi 2021, sp. nov.

Platygaster lotfalizadehi Buhl & Asadi sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: CDA154E6-C8A0-4CD5-91C0-624A11D51C8D

Fig. 3

Diagnosis (female)

A9 1.5 times as long as wide; occiput with oblique striation, medially almost longitudinal; notauli nearly complete; female metasoma 1.1 time as long as rest of body, T2 smooth except for very short carinae anteromedially; T6 finely pointed, very slightly wider than long.

Name dedicated to Dr H. Lotfalizadeh (Iranian Research Institute of Plant Protection, Tabriz, Iran) for his overall contribution to the taxonomy of Hymenoptera, especially the superfamily Chalcidoidea in Iran. Most of the studied specimens in this study and type materials of new species were collected by him.

Holotype IRAN • ♀; East Azarbaijan Province, Tasuj; 38°19′ N, 45°21′ E; 1500 m a.s.l.; Jul. 2015; H. Lotfalizadeh leg.; Malaise trap; HMIM.

Paratype IRAN • 1 ♀; same collection data as for holotype; HMIM.

Description (female)

BODY LENGTH. 1.3–1.4 mm.

COLOR. Black; antennae, mandibles and legs including coxae dark brown; trochanters, tibiae and tarsi lighter brown.

HEAD. From above 1.9 times as wide as long, 1.15 times as wide as mesosoma; occiput rounded, behind eyes partially finely coriaceous, partially smooth, behind ocellar area with distinct oblique striation over whole length, medial striae almost longitudinal. Vertex smooth and laterally with traces of reticulation. Frons smooth, with a longitudinal midline from anterior ocellus, halfway to antennal insertions this impression fans out in numerous striae, this striate area becomes slightly wider than width of antennal insertions, merging with longitudinal reticulation on malar space. Eyes bare. OOL:POL:LOL = 2.5:8.0:3.0. Head in frontal view 1.3 times as wide as high. Antenna with A1 0.8 times as long as height of head, as long as distance between inner orbits. Length:width of A1–A10 = 14.0:2.0; 4.0:1.7; 1.1:1.2; 2.2:1.5; 2.4:1.8; 2.2:1.7; 2.8:1.8; 3.0:2.0; 3.0:2.0; 4.0:1.9. Flagellar pubescence hardly noticeable.

MESOSOMA. 1.5 times as long as wide, higher than wide (20:19). Sides of pronotum smooth, with sparse setae, most numerous on anterior part. Mesoscutum with a row of setae along inner margins of notauli, and along outer and posterior margins of lateral lobes, otherwise bare; disc smooth except for weak rugosity at anterior ends of notauli, these strong and almost complete; mid lobe rather narrowly pointed, covering the extreme base of scutellum; scuto-scutellar grooves narrowly triangular, each of their front margins with six short setae. Mesopleuron smooth. Scutellum with very few setae, smooth, evenly convex. Metapleuron smooth, with very sparse pilosity except for a short white fringe along hind margin. Propodeal carinae short, parallel, dark; area between them smooth, distinctly wider than long.

WINGS. Fore wing 0.75 times as long as entire body, 2.45 times as long as wide, reaching about apex of metasoma, clear, with dense, fine and pale microtrichia; marginal cilia very short. Hind wing 5.1 times as long as wide, with two hamuli; marginal cilia 0.2 width of wing.

METASOMA. About 1.1 times as long as rest of body, 2.1 times as long as wide, as wide as mesosoma. Length:width of T1–T6 = 5.0:10.0; 18.0:19.0; 4.0:18.0; 4.0:14.0; 5.0:10.0; 5.0:5.5. T1 with two strong longitudinal carinae, smooth between them. T2 with two smooth basal foveae reaching 0.4 lengths of tergite, between them with a couple of carinae reaching one-sixth length of tergite, this otherwise smooth. T3–T6 smooth, with a few inconspicuous setae in shallow punctures (only about four on T4, six on each of T5–T6), T6 finely pointed. Sternite 2 anteriorly flat, without prolongation.

In general, body shape much as in P. iberica Buhl, 1999 (though this has metasoma somewhat longer) but occiput of P. lotfalizadehi sp. nov. characteristically striate, in this approaching P. marginata Thomson, 1859, but P. lotfalizadehi sp. nov. with distinctly more slender antennae.

Platygaster lotfalizadehi sp. nov. also has smoother mesoscutum and scutellum than P. iberica, and more setose scuto-scutellar grooves. Platygaster lotfalizadehi sp. nov. also has smoother mesoscutum, scutellum and T2 than P. marginata.