Description of four new species of Dipara Walker (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) from India, with records of some species and a key to the Oriental species

: Four new species of Dipara Walker, 1833 (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) are described and material pertaining to six known species is recorded. The new species described are: Dipara andamanensis Sureshan & Raseena, sp. n., D. angulata Sureshan & Nikhil, sp. n., D. kannurensis Sureshan & Raseena, sp. n., and D. yercaudensis Sureshan, sp. n. Of the six species recorded, D. gastra (Sureshan & Narendran) is newly recorded from India. A revised key to the Oriental species of Dipara is also given.


INTRODUCTION
The genus Dipara Walker (1833) belongs to the subfamily Diparinae of Pteromalidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) and currently contains 48 described species worldwide, with 17 species known from the Oriental Region (Sureshan, 2013;Noyes, 2014).Sureshan (2013) published the first revision of the Oriental species of Dipara with records of 17species from the region, including six new species described from India.Subsequent to this revision, more specimens of Dipara were collected from different parts of India.The present work includes the description of four new species and a new Indian record of D.gastra (Sureshan & Narendran).Key to the Oriental species of Dipara given by Sureshan (2013) is revised to accommodate the new species.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
The specimens were collected from different parts of the country employing different collection gadgets like Sweep Net, Malaise Trap and Yellow Pan Trap, in different cases.The specimens were card mounted and studied under a stereoscopic binocular microscope (Leica M 205C) and photographs were taken with a digital camera (MC170 HD), and also illustrations were made with a Camera Lucida attached to the microscope.
The terminology used in this paper generally follows Gibson (1997).The type specimens are deposited in the National Zoological collections of Zoological Survey of India, Western Ghat Regional Centre, Calicut (ZSIK) .

Dipara Walker
Dipara Walker 1833:371,373.Type species D.petiolata Walker by monotypy.(For synonyms refer to Desjardins (2007) and Sureshan, 2013).Remarks: Dipara andamanensis resembles D. debanensis Sureshan (2013) in general morphology but differs from it in having antennae not very slender, mesoscutum with the black patch on side lobes small and not very distinct, notauli not much converging posteriorly, prontoal collar not carinate anteriorly, gastral petiole not reticulate and with a pair of white setae anteriorly, forewing with discal pubescence distinct in the form of setae on brown patches, and marginal fringe long (in debanensis, antennae very slender, black patch of side lobes of mesoscutum broad and distinct, notauli very closely converging towards posterior end, prontoal collar margined in the middle, gastral petiole striate reticulate with two pairs of white setae anteriorly and forewing with discal pubescence less distinct, and marginal fringe small.)Holotype: : Length 3.24 mm (with ovipositor), 2.87mm (without ovipositor).Body honey brown, ocellar area black.Antennae with scape, anelli, basal part of F1 testaceous, pedicel except tip and F2-F6 brownish black, F7 and clava yellowish white.Forewing stumps pale brown with a dark brown spot at tip.Fore and hind coxae white, middle coxae brown, remainder of legs testaceous.Gaster blackish brown, ovipositor and epipygium testaceous; Head: (Fig. 4,6) Mostly engraved reticulate, shiny on upper face, hind part of vertex and occipital area closely reticulate, pubescence present on lower face.In front view head width 16× height, clypeus smooth, anterior margin sub truncate, clypeal and inter-antennal area raised; scrobe deep, reaching little above middle of eyes, with transverse reticulation; malar groove less distinct, malar space 0.71× eye length, eye 0.84× as long as broad in profile.In dorsal view head width 2.1× length, POL 0.88× OOL.Antennae inserted along lower margin of eyes, toruli separated by individual diameter; scape with a strong bristle at tip, length equal to eye length and 2.4× as long as pedicel, pedicel plus flagellum 1.42× width of head, anelli strongly transverse, pedicel 2.8× as long as broad and 1.5× F1, funicular segments longer than broad, with one row of long sensillae, clava as long as 3 preceding segments combined.

Dipara angulata
Mesosoma: (Fig. 5) Pronotal neck finely reticulate, collar narrow, shiny, anteriorly carinate, carina angularly produced in the centre and slightly broken, collar dorsally 1.84× as broad as long.Mesoscutum moderately reticulate except anterior and median portions shiny, almost completely brownish black in the posterior 2/3 portion, bristles in the median lobe above middle, notauli converging posteirorly , not distinct in the hind part, mesoscutum 1.5× as broad as long and 1.69× as long as pronotum medially.Scutellum 1.14× as broad as long in dorsal view and 0.62× mesoscutum medially with two pairs of bristles, one pair above the middle and second pair on the frenal line, frenum partly smooth with longitudinal rugae, area in front of frenum moderately reticulate, frenal area 0.6× as long as rest of the area, posterior margin of scutellum angulate.Dorsellum shiny.Propodeum (Fig. 15) medially almost as long as scutellum , smooth without median carina, anterior triangular smooth area reaching almost upto base of nucha, plicae complete, propodeum mostly shiny except for the irregular rugae in the median area spiracle small, round separated 3× of its diameter from hind margin of metanotum, callus smooth and less hairy, nucha distinct.Hind coxae with uniform transverse carina.Prepectus broad and shiny.Mesopleuron shiny except mesepimeron with transverse rugae; metapleuron shiny.Forewing stumps reaching beyond tip of petiole with 7 bristles.Metasoma: Gaster (Figs.5,15) long and slender, 3.4× as long as broad in dorsal view, petiole with longitudinal rugae and reticulate, with a pair of brown setae above middle in the anterior part, petiole 1.2× as long as broad, 0.07× as long as gaster and 0.23× as long as T1; gaster including petiole 1.69× as head plus mesosoma combined (without ovipositor), T1 largest, 2.7× as long as T2 medially , T2 1.12× as long as T3, posterior margin of tergites straight.Etymology: The species derives its name from the angulate nature of pronotal carina.
Remarks: Among the brachypterous species, this species is unique in having uniform brownish black colour in the distal 2/3 portion of mesoscutum and nautili not meeting posteriorly which is a unique combination of characters not found in similar species.It resembles D.thirumalai Sureshan (2013) in general morphology, but D. thirumalai differs from it in having notauli meeting in the posterior end, petiole with tuft of setae anteriorly, propodeum with different sculpture and forewing stump very short.It also resembles D. venkati Sureshan (2013) in having long wing stumps reaching beyond the tip of petiole, but D.venkati has a different propodeum, uniformly black body, different gaster and antenna.In having forewing stump long and pronotum with a distinct transverse carina it also resembles D. albomaculata Hedqvist (1963) but D. albomacualta has a short gaster, different propodeum and antenna.Holotype: : Length 2.1mm.Black.Face and vertex with metallic bluish green and golden reflection, eyes chocolate brown, ocelli brown; antennae brownish black except basal 2/3 portion of scape, F7 and clava yellowish white.Anterior lateral corners of pronotum brown,mesoscutum and scutellum dorsally with slight metallic tinge.Tegulae brown, wings uniformly smoky, veins brown.Legs testaceous except fore and mid coxae and basal half of hind coxae brown.
Mesosoma: (Fig. 8) Pronotal collar narrow, anteriorly not carinate, almost shiny, neck region transversely reticulate, posterior margin of collar with two strong setae in the middle apart from white pubescence.Mesoscutum 1.94× as broad as long, moderately reticulate with dense white pubescence, setae on mid lobe located just above the center, notauli meeting together subapically, joined by a transverse groove; scapulae with a stout setae near distal margin on either side; axillae moderately and closely reticulate with long and stout hairs.Scutellum distinctly shorter than mesoscutum (0.64×) with a pair of stout setae near transscutellar suture and another on frenal line, area anterior to frenum reticulate, frenal area longitudinally carinate, almost as long as area anterior to it.Propodeum (Figs.8,16) with distinct median carina bifurcate in the form of 'V' anteriorly, rest of the median area with large areolae formed by thick irregular carinae , nucha distinct and shiny, plicae complete , spiracle oval, callus shiny with long white hairs.Prepectus shiny, longer than tegula.Upper mesepimeron with irregular transverse carinae, lower mesepimeron transversely carinate; metapleuron and mesepisternum shiny.Hind coxae with strong transverse carinae dorsally; hind tibia with two unequal spurs.Forewing length 2.8× width, speculum narrow, closed below, basal cell hairy, discal pubescence dense , costal cell with a single row of hairs, marginal fringe moderate.Relative lengths of SMV 4.1,MV 3.5,PMV 2.5,STV 1.4. Metasoma: Gaster (Figs.8,16) including petiole 1.05 × as long as head plus mesosoma combined, petiole 1.5× as long as broad in dorsal view and 0.37 as long as length of T1, 0.41× as long as the length of hind coxa laterally, posteriorly little wider, distinctly carinate except on dorsomedial area shiny with a pair of white setae almost at the middle.Etymology: The species derives its name from the name of the type locality, Kannur.
Remarks: Dipara kannurensis closely resembles Dipara hayati (Sureshan, 2013) in general morphology, but differs from it in having pronotal collar with two strong setae medially apart from white pubescence, bristles on mid lobe of mesoscutum located just above the centre, scutellum with frenal area broad, almost as long as rest of area in front and partly shiny ; propodeum with areolae larger, formed by thick carinae; forewing smoky; gaster including petiole as long as head plus mesosoma combined and petiole with pair of setae almost in the centre (in hayati pronotal collar with a row of four strong setae near posterior margin besides general pubescence, setae on mid lobe of mesoscutum located little below middle, frenal area of scutellum shorter than (0.8×) rest of the area with distinct longitudinal ridges ; propodeum with areolae in the median area not strong and formed by thin carinae; gaster including petiole little longer than head plus mesosoma combined , petiole distinctly ridged with pair of setae very close to anterior margin; forewing less smoky, almost hyaline) Holotype: : Length 2.3mm.Body honey brown except mesoscutum (almost completely), and scutellum (completely) black.Tinge, eyes and ocelli silvery white.Antennae with scape pale brown except upper half whitish and distal tip blackish, pedicel black, F1, F2 and F6 testaceous, F3 yellowish brown, F4 and F5 brownish black, F7 and clava whitish yellow; Forewing stump dark brown.Legs honey brown except hind coxae, basal part of hind femora and base of tibiae white.Gaster mostly brownish black with basal half of epipygium testaceous; T1 dorsally with violaceous tinge.
Mesosoma: Pronotum (Fig. 11) moderately reticulate, collar broad with a row of stout setae near posterior margin in addition to the uniform short pubescence, carinate anteriorly with a smooth strip on the posterior margin merging with the smooth strip on anterior margin of mesoscutum.Mesoscutum 2.5× as broad as long, moderately reticulate with uniform white pubescence, seate on mid lobe located below middle, one seta on lower corner of scapulae on either side, notauli not meeting posteriorly, Scutellum medially 0.43× length of mesoscutum, frenum very narrow represented by a line of short rugae, posterior rim not visible, a pair of stout setae at the middle and another pair on frenal line.Propodeum ( Figs.13) with distinct median carina, connected to small "V" shaped carina anteriorly, remaining areas uniformly with strong longitudinal rugae, in a sub circular form, plicae complete, spiracle small, round, separated from hind margin of metanotum by 4.6× its diameter, nucha distinct, callus less hairy.Mesopleuron transversely carinated except shiny in the middle; metapleuron shiny.Prepectus shiny, longer than tegula.Hind coxae with strong transverse rugae in the upper half, hind tibia with two unequal spurs.Forewing stump 4.5× as long as broad with 6 long bristles on the total length of vein.thankful to the Forest authorities of Karnataka and Kerala state forests for granting permission for survey and collection of specimens.
Mesosoma: (Fig.2) Pronotal collar moderately reticulate, not carinate anteriorly, pubescence white and sparse, visible in posterior margin only.Mesoscutum 1.46× as broad as long, moderately reticulate, a pair of black bristles on middle of mid lobe and another black bristle on either side on posterior corner of scapulae; notauli not converging towards posterior end.i.2013,Coll.P.M.Sureshan (ZSIK, Reg.No.ZSI/WGRC/IR/ INV/ 4079).Etymology:The species derives its name from the type locality.P.M.Sureshan et al.