. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Entomology. REVISION Ol- GENUS PEDIOBIUS WALKER 145 distinctly arcuate. Hind tibial spur strongly curved, extending to about three-quarters length of second tarsal segment. Length about 1 -2 mm. Frontovertex blackish bronzy, sometimes (as in type-series) very dark blue-green in the meshes: upper and lower face blue-green. Antennae blue-green. Thorax including pronotal collar blackish brown, the propodeum above and tegulae dark blue-green. Gaster blackish brown, with a trace of greenish or bluish reflection in about basal third. Legs dark blue-


. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Entomology. REVISION Ol- GENUS PEDIOBIUS WALKER 145 distinctly arcuate. Hind tibial spur strongly curved, extending to about three-quarters length of second tarsal segment. Length about 1 -2 mm. Frontovertex blackish bronzy, sometimes (as in type-series) very dark blue-green in the meshes: upper and lower face blue-green. Antennae blue-green. Thorax including pronotal collar blackish brown, the propodeum above and tegulae dark blue-green. Gaster blackish brown, with a trace of greenish or bluish reflection in about basal third. Legs dark blue-green, the tarsi dull stramineous, with the apical segment pale fuscous. The syntypes stand in the collection of the British Museum (Natural History) as follows: 10 $$, 2 $$ mounted on card, and parts of 2 $$ mounted on slides. On one card five specimens are mounted: I select as lectotype the female specimen in the top right-hand corner, numbered 3 on a diagram on a label. Redescribed from the card-mounted female syntypes, Malawi, and from the following. Kenya: Kiambu, 7 $$, 1933, ex eggs of Antestiopsis orbitalis bechuana (Kirkaldy) (= Antestia lineaticollis Stal) (Hem., Pentatomidae) (R. H. Le Pelley); 3 <$<$ also present in this Kenya series. The head is decidedly broader than the thorax as stated by Waterston and Masi, but not so greatly more so than in anastati and homoeus. Masi (1940) placed this species after the first alternate of couplet 2 of his key, as having the scutellum with a smooth median band. Biology. This species has been reared as a hyperparasite of eggs of Antestiopsis spp. (Pentatomidae) through Trissolcus seychellensis (Kieffer) and Gryon (= Hadronotus) antestiae (Dodd) (Scelionidae). 'The insect shows no continuing reaction to unparasitized eggs' and 'the minimum time the primary must have been present in the Antestiopsis egg to enable Pediobius to lay and successfully produce offspring is thought to be 7 days' (Le Pelley, 1968, pp. 271-2).. F


Size: 2404px × 1039px
Photo credit: © Book Worm / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: ., bookauthorbritishmuseumnaturalhistory, bookcentury1900, bookcoll