Cerchysiella

May 2018
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1 Scape yellow; metasoma not distinctly compressed …………..…………………..… scutellata
1’ Scape dark; mesosoma somewhat compressed dorsal-ventrally …..…………………….…… 2

2(1) Scape elongate (length at least 4x width) without noticeable widening …………….… utilis
2’ Scape noticeably widened apically (length no more than 3x width) ………….…………  sp. 1

 

Sp. 1: Known from ten specimens, one reared from fungi on root of Cinnamomum camphora. Alameda, Butte, Marin, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Ventura (EMEC, RLZC, UCFC).

 

Nearctic species and distributions

insularis (Howard, 1897): USA (FL)
scutellata (Howard, 1897): USA (CA, FL)
utilis (Noyes, 1982): Probably adventitiously introduced into USA (CA, Fresno County). Noyes (1982) reported this species was to be introduced into Ohio, but Johnson et al (2000) were unable to find any record that the species had actually been released there.

 

Remarks

I have a single specimen (RLZC) I identified as C. scutellata from Florida, marking a new state record. Cerchysius insularis has a yellow scape, and thus would key out to C. scutellata.

 

References

Howard, L.O. 1897. On the Chalcididae of the island of Grenada, B.W.I. Journal of the Linnaean Society (Zoology) 25: 56-254.

Johnson, J.A., Valero, K.A., Hannel, M.M. & Gill, R.F. 2000. Seasonal occurrence of postharvest dried fruit insects and their parasitoids in a culled fig warehouse. Journal of Economic Entomology 93(4): 1380-1390.

Noyes, J.S. 1982. A new species of Zeteticontus Silvestri (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) from Israel and Kenya, a parasite of Carpophilus hemipterus (L.) (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae). Bulletin of Entomological Research 72: 457-460.