Two new species of Prionomastix Mayr (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) with a key to Indian species

Abstract Background Species of Prionomastix Mayr were not known from India when Manickavasagam and Rameshkumar 2011 and Rameshkumar and Poorani 2015 misidentified a new species as P. siccarius. Now it is corrected by explaining the characters as to why it is new and not P. siccarius along with another new species. As we have one another new species, P. orientialis, described by Rameshkumar and Poorani 2015 our two new species are compared with P. orientalis also. New information Two new species of Prionomastix Mayr (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae), one from Bihar state and the other from Tamil Nadu state, India, are described viz., P. tamilnadensis sp. nov and P. biharensis sp. nov. and a key to all known Indian species is provided.


Materials and methods
All measurements are in millimeters and taken initially from micrometer divisions directly fitted in the eye piece of a Leica S8APO stereo zoom trinocular microscope at 80× for card mounted specimens or at 100× using a Leica DM750 phase contrast microscope for slide mounted parts and finally converted into millimeters. Images of card mounted specimens were captured using a Leica M205C stereo zoom trinocular microscope with a DMC2900 camera, and those of slide mounted parts using a DFC295 camera attached to a Leica DM750 phase contrast microscope.

Diagnosis
Female body measuring from 1.6−3.8mm in length, pale orange to dark brown or black, never metallic; fore wing infuscate or hyaline; hind wing hyaline; body robust. Head with occipital margin sharp; ocelli forming an angle of about 85−120°, posterior ocelli never closer to each other than to eye margin; antennal scrobes short, hardly longer than torulus, naked and meeting dorsally, inverted U or V shaped; antennal torulus relatively high on head, separated from mouth margin by at least about its own length; malar suture absent; mandible wide, widening towards apex; maxillary palpus two, three or four segmented, first and second segments sometimes partially or completely fused, labial palpus two or four segmented; scape subcylindrical; funicle six segmented; clava three segmented or entire. Mesoscutum with notaular lines absent; scutellum slightly convex; mid basitarsus with a single line of ventral pegs; postmarginal vein at least as long as stigmal, almost always much longer; stigmal vein strongly curved, uncus absent; linea calva entire and almost always closed; mesopleuron clearly separated from gaster by propodeum which more or less widely touches hind coxa; propodeum with numerous setae behind spiracle, these often extending down side to base of hind coxa. Gaster with cercal plates situated near apex of gaster; hypopygium reaching to about two-thirds along gaster or to apex; ovipositor curved upwards; ovipositor about 0.5−1.2× as long as mid tibia, not exserted, but sometimes extending upwards past apex of syntergum; second valvifer without subapical setae; gonostylus fused to second valvifer, naked, occasionally membranous (Noyes 2010).
Male: Body measuring from 1.0−1.9 mm in length. Generally similar to female but frontovertex slightly wider; antennal toruli relatively a little higher on head; antenna with segments wider than in female, with very prominent linear sensilla on all flagellar segments; clava solid; fore wings mostly hyaline, rarely distinctly infuscate; phallobase varying from short and stout to elongate and slender, with a short, distal, median ventral process; paramere distinct and elongate, about 3−4× as long as wide, naked, digitus varying from shorter than paramere and straight to considerably longer and curved, up to 9× as long as wide, without apical hooks, but with up to 5 subapical setae; aedeagus variable, from slender to very wide with simple rounded to bilobed apex, varying from 0.25−0.9× as long as mid tibia (Noyes 2010).

Diagnosis
Body brown to dark brown with yellow patches (Fig. 1); Fore wing infuscate area around postmarginal and stigmalvein; maxillary palpus two segmented; ocelli forming an angle of about 110°; scape, 5.42× as long as wide; pedicel, 1.1× as long as wide; funicle with F1, 0.176× as long a wide and longer than F2−F6 individually; clava, three segmented, first segment long and as long as rest two segmented combined, apically more or less round; ovipositor 4.57× as long as mid tibial spur, curved and slightly exserted.
Female. Holotype (Fig. 1). Length, 2.75 mm. Head black except, torulus white; eye silvery white, ocelli white. Antenna with radicle testaceous; scape testaceous except, dorsoapically light brown; pedicel, funicle and clava dark brown. Thorax black with dark brown setae; tegula black, except apex yellowish. Fore wing infuscate area around postmarginal and stigmal vein. Mesopleuron anterially dark brown, fading out and posteriorly light brown; coxae brown; fore femur basal half brown, apical half yellow, tibia and tarsus yellow except apical tarsomere brown; mid femur and tibia brownish yellow, basitarsus white, except dorsal apex and rest of tarsi brown, mid tibial spur yellow with black apex; hind leg brown except, apical 1/3 of tibia paler. Propodeum dark brown; gaster dark brown except lateral base, apex of hypopygium and ovipositor yellowish brown.

Host.
One pair ex. unidentified membracid nymphs on Prosopis sp.

Etymology
The species is named after the state from where it was collected.

Notes
This species is closer to P. siccarius in having the, mesosoma dorsally mostly black; F6 longer than wide and antenna dark brown, scape testaceous except, dorsoapically light brown, but differs in F1 1.36× as long as pedicel; fore wing with an infuscate area around postmarginal and stigma vein; fore femur basal half brown, apical half yellow, tibia and tarsus yellow except apical tarsomere brown (F1 nearly 2.0× as long as pedicel; fore wing with a single narrow subparallel transverse band from marginal to end of venation connecting anterior and posterior wing margins ( fig. 8

Diagnosis
Body yellow to dark brown (Fig. 12); ocelli forming an angle of more than 90°; fore wing with three infuscate bands, middle one below marginal vein much larger, narrow faint vertical band below parastigma, and a wider band near apex; maxillary and labial palpus three segmented; scape, 6.30× as long as wide; pedicel, 1.5× as long as wide; F1, 2.16× as long a wide and slightly longer than F2−F3, much longer than F4−F6 individually; clava three segmented, obliquely trunctated; ovipositor 4.03× as long as mid tibial spur, curved and slightly exserted.
Female. (Fig. 12) Holotype. Length, 2.68 mm. Head dorsally dark brown to black including eyes, frontally yellowish brown, except the position of anterial tentorial pit, labrum and mandibles lower ¼ yellow, upper ¾ black; ocelli transparent. Antenna with radicle, scape yellow; pedicel and funicle ventrally pale brown, dorsally dork brown; clava black. Thorax: pronotum dark; mesoscutum basally dark, fading out to yellowish brown apically; axilla and basal ¾ of scutellum brownish yellow, apical ¼ black; mesopleuron anteriorly dark brown fading out to brownish yellow. Tegula basally black, apically transparent; fore wing with three infuscate bands, middle one below marginal vein much larger, narrow faint vertical band below parastigma, and a wider band near apex. Legs with fore coxa yellow, remainder of the leg dark brown dorsolaterally and ventrally yellowish brown; mid coxa brown, femur, tibia and tarsi dark brown to black except basitarsus, and tibial spur white with black apex; hind coxa brownish yellow except apex dark brown, femur basally and dorsolaterally dark brown, venterolaterally yellowish brown, remainder dark brown to black. Propodeum and gaster dark brown to black, except ventral base of gaster, apex of hpopygium and ovipositor yellowish brown.

Etymology
The species is named after the state from where it was collected.

Notes
This species is closer to P. orientalis in having the mesosoma dorsally mostly brown or dirty yellow; longitudinal sensillae absent in F1 and F2; fore wing 2.68× as long as wide, but differs in having s cape 6.30× as long as wide; truncate area 0.36× of clava length; clava 2.45× as long as wide; postmarginal vein 1.58× as long as stigma vein; hind wing 3.37× as long as wide; F4 to F6 with 41 longitudinal sensillae (scape 5.60× as long as wide; truncate area 0.60× of clava length; clava 2× as long as wide; postmarginal vein 2.0× as long as stigma vein; hind wing 2.80× as long as wide; F4 to F6 with 15 longitudinal sensilla in P. orientalis).

Key to Indian species of Prionomastix (Females)
1 Fore wing hyaline, without any bands, but infuscate area around postmarginal and stigmal veins; scape at most 5.42× as long as wide; pedicel at most 0.73× as long as F1; fore wing at most 2.43× as long as broad P. tamilnadensis sp. nov.
-Fore wing infuscate, with 1 to 3 bands; scape at least 5.60× as long as wide; pedicel at least 0.92× as long as F1; fore wing at least 2.68× as long as broad