Telenomus dendrolimi

Telenomus dendrolimi (Matsumura) Figs 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 Holcaerus (?) dendrolimi Matsumura, 1925: 44 (original description). Telenomus dendrolimi (Matsumura): Tachikawa 1965: 284, plate 142 (description); Ryu and Hirashima 1985: 31, 47 (description, keyed); Johnson 1992: 584 (cataloged). Telenomus (Aholcus) dendrolimi (Matsumura): He et al. 2004: 307 (description). Telenomus dendrolimusi Chu, 1937: 60 (original description); Ishii 1938: 105 (junior synonym of Telenomus dendrolimi (Matsumura)); Peng and Liu 1992: 1473 (description, distribution). Telenomus (Aholcus) dendrolimusi Chu: Wu and Chen 1980: 79, 81 (keyed); Chen and Wu 1981: 109, 110 (description, keyed); Chen and Tong 1980: 311 (description). Description. Female body length: 1.07–1.21 mm (n = 10). Male body length 0.8–1.0 mm (n = 8). Color: female body entirely black; antenna dark brown to black, with ventral side paler; coxae and femora of all legs dark brown to black, remainders of legs brown to yellow, with distal tarsomere darker; wings hyaline. Male similar to female, but antenna brown to dark brown, tibiae and tarsi of all legs paler. Head. Female antenna 10 - merous; claval formula 1-2 - 2 - 2; A 2 distinctly longer than wide, A 3 and A 10 slightly longer than wide, A 4 as long as wide, A 5 – A 9 wider than long. Male antenna 12 - merous; A 2 slightly longer than wide; A 4 and A 5, slightly dilated, but A 5 modified, with tyloid projecting anteriorly; A 6 – A 11 transverse; A 12 1.60 × as long as wide. Mandible with 3 teeth; clypeus with 4 setae; labrum, medially pointed, flanked by arched concavities; interantennal process present; frons coriaceous, becoming smooth around toruli and malar sulcus; frontal depression indicated by area of effaced microsculpture; gena coriaceous behind eye, becoming smooth ventrally and above occipital carina; eyes setose; vertex smoothly rounded onto occiput, without hyperoccipital carina; vertex coriaceous, becoming smooth above occipital carina; occiput entirely smooth; occipital carina present, higher and weaker medially, ventrally extending to posterior articulation of the mandible. Mesosoma. Pronotum: pronotal cervical sulcus present as a smooth furrow; netrion smooth; netrion sulcus complete and distinct. Mesonotum: mesoscutum evenly rounded in lateral view, with reticulate miscrosculpture except smooth narrow area along mesoscutal humeral sulcus; mesoscutal suprahumeral sulcus absent; mesoscutal humeral sulcus indicated by a mostly smooth furrow; mesoscutellum smooth, sparsely setose; axilla smooth, setae present; scutoscutellar sulcus more or less smooth medially, foveate laterally; posterior mesoscutellar sulcus foveate. Metanotum: metascutellum rugose, slightly protruding posteriorly; metascutellar carina present; metanotal trough smooth. Propodeum: metapostnotum medially tapering to a slender point, creating a gap between posterior margin of metanotum and anterior margin of propodeum; lateral propodeal carina present, fusing with metapleural carina to form perimeter of metasomal depression; metasomal depression mostly smooth, with short rugae radiating from propodeal foramen. Mesopleuron: acropleural sulcus present, continuous with prespecular sulcus, forming a furrow extending ventrally to mesopleural pit; speculum weakly rugose; mesepimeral sulcus complete, foveate; mesopleural pit deep, slightly transverse; ventral mesopleuron smooth; episternal foveae absent; postacetabular patch clearly indicated, without setae; acetabular carina present; postacetabular sulcus indicated by a smooth furrow; length of intercoxal space longer than fore coxae; mesopleural epicoxal sulcus indicated by shallow foveae. Metapleuron: Metapleural carina interrupted by propodeal spiracle; dorsal metapleural area smooth; ventral metapleural area weakly rugose along anterior and posterior margins; metapleural pit present; metapleural sulcus indicated as a weak, shallow groove posterior to the metapleural pit; metapleural epicoxal sulcus indicated by crenulae. Wings. Length of postmarginal vein about twice as long as stigmal vein. Fore wing apex reaching beyond T 6. Metasoma. T 1 with 1 pair of sublateral setae, 2 pairs of lateral setae; foveae along anterior T 1 distinct, elongate; foveae along anterior T 2 distinct, with short costae extending less than ¼ the length of T 2; T 2 with sparse setae on lateral part of mediotergite and dorsomedial part of laterotergite; T 3 – T 6 with a transverse line of long setae, setae absent along midline; laterotergites 3–6 glabrous; foveae along anterior S 1 distinct, with costae extending to mid-length; foveae along anterior S 2 distinct, with short costae extending less than ¼ the length of S 2; S 2 felt field indicated by coriaceous sculpture and setal patch; sparse setation present in posteromedial portion of S 2; S 3 – S 5 with a transverse line of long setae, setae absent along midline; S 6 setose laterally, without setae along midline. Male genitalia. Length of aedeagal lobe about 0.3 × length of aedeago-volsellar shaft, distally pointed; digiti large, about half maximum length of aedeagal lobe, with 3 digital teeth, basal ring about 0.4 × length of aedeago-volsellar shaft. Species-group placement. Telenomus californicus - complex (Johnson 1984). Host. Telenomus dendrolimi was reared from field-laid eggs of D. houi and D. punctatus in China, and Dendrolimus spectabilis Butler in Japan. Under laboratory conditions, its alternative hosts include D. kikuchii and D. punctatus, A. sinensis, A. pernyi, C. japonica, and E. pyretorum. Material examined. Allotype of Telenomus dendrolimusi Chu, 1937, • male: China: Tangki (Tangxi), Chekiang (Zhejiang), ex. eggs of Dendrolimus punctatus Walker, 11.VI.1934, Joo-Tso Chu (deposited in Zhejiang University). Paratype of Telenomus dendrolimusi Chu, 1937, China • 1 female, same data as allotype • 1 female, same data except collected on 22.VI.1933 (deposited in Zhejiang University). Other material • 2 females 1 male, Japan: (Kyushu) Hakozaki Fukuoka Jul.31,1959 Col. Y. Hirose, host: Egg of Dendrolimus spectabilis Butler, OSUC 71700 - 702 (deposited in OSUC) • 6 females 6 males, China: Fujian, Xiapu County, 26°49'45.76"N, 119°57'55.3"E, ex. eggs of Dendrolimus houi (Lajonquiere) feeding on Cryptomeria japonica var. sinensis Miquel trees, 10.IX.2021, Guang-hong Liang, SCBG -E 0010785 -0010796 (deposited in SCBG). Distribution. China (Liaoning, Hebei, Shandong, Henan, Jiangsu, Anhui, Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan), Japan, North Korea (Ryu and Hirashima 1985), Russia (Boldaruev 1969). Comments. Aholcus Kieffer (Kieffer 1913) was erected for telenomines in which females have 10 - merous antennae. Aholcus has since been treated as a junior synonym of Telenomus Haliday, a subgenus, a valid genus, and again as a junior synonym (Nixon 1935, Nixon 1937, Mineo et al. 2011, Taekul et al. 2014). Regardless of the generic value of the 10 - merous female antenna, this character is useful for reducing the number of species that must be compared for identification. Nonetheless, there are dozens of species in this lineage, many of which have been described from Asia. Telenomus dendrolimi is a generalist that is known from southeastern China to Japan and may also be present much farther to the west. A reliable morphological diagnosis is not possible until the species of the broader region are revised – an effort that is beyond the scope of this project. However, by advancing the taxonomy of one described species, we are contributing toward this goal, and the combination of the description, images and sequence data provide a means to determine if a specimen is T. dendrolimi. In this study, our identification of reared specimens was facilitated by their association with Dendrolimus eggs and matching them to paratype specimens of T. dendrolimusi and three non-type specimens of T. dendrolimi from Japan.