Pteromalus almeriensis Gijswijt, 1999.
Female: head and thorax dark bluish-green, sometimes with golden reflections; gaster dark blue-green with a violet band across on apical part of each tergite. Flagellum black; coxae and femora except tips concolorous with thorax; tips of femora, tibiae and tarsi yellow or testaceous, middle- and hind tibiae infuscate in the middle, last tarsal segments black; wingveins and tegulae brown.
Length 3.9-6.2 mm, most specimens 5-6 mm
Head dorsally seen 2.4-2.5 times as broad as long, temples 1/3 length of eye, POL 1.2-1.4 OOL, OOL 2.3-2.4 OD; frontally seen the head is 1.30-1.4 times broader than high, malar space 0.5-0.6 times length of eye, mouth twice as long as malar space, eye 1.4-1.5 times longer than broad; lower edge of toruli situated in middle of face: lower face:upper face=0.95.
Antennae (fig. ) with scapus as long as upper face and 0.8-0.9 times length of eye, pedicellus plus flagellum about as long as breadth of head, very slightly tapering distally, F1 twice as long as broad, following segments slightly shorter, sensilla small, in three to four irregular rows on F2-F4 and in two rows on F5 and F6.
Mesosoma 1.4 times as long as broad, 0.8 times as broad as head;pronotum 0.18-0.20 times as long as mesoscutum, pronotal collar rounded, posterior margin at least laterally smooth; scutellum about as long as broad; propodeum (fig. ) with median area 2.1-2.3 times as broad as long and about 0.4 times as long as scutellum, lateral plicae very sharp and strongly converging till posterior margin of nucha; panels of median area rather regularly reticulate, pilosity of callus extending till plicae. Forewing (fig. ): costal cell:M:St:PM=100:37:33:48; stigma moderately large, its distance to wing margin slightly more than twice its slightly less than; costal cell with complete hairrow on lower surface, distally with some additional hairs, basal vein with 5-8 hairs, speculum on upper surface interrupted by about 10 scattered hairs below distal half of M. Hind femur 4.3-4.5 times as long as broad.
Gaster 3.1-3.7 times as long as broad, 1.9-2.1 times as long as mesosoma; last tergite 2.2-2.5 as long as basally broad.
Male: colouring as in female, but gaster often with a transparent spot proximally. Especially in smaller specimens only the ventral plica is light. Occasionally the whole gaster is dark.
Length: 2.7-3.2 mm
Morphological differences: head in dorsal view 2.2-2.4 times as broad as long, OOL 1.6-1.8 OD; antenna (fig. ): pedicellus + flagellum 1.1-1.2 times breadth of head; sensilla on funicle segments less numerous.
Mesosoma 1.5-1.6 times as long as broad, pronotum 0.15 times as long as mesonotum, scutellum 1.0-1.3 times longer than broad, propodeum with medium area 1.4-1.6 times broader than long with a transversely aciculate nucha that occupies about 1/3 of the sclerite, plicae sharp till hind margin and nearly parallel along nucha.
Biology: ectoparasite on larvae of Ptoelidaspis tavaresiana Mezzo (Diptera, Tephritidae) in galls on Artemisiae herba-alba .
Distribution.- Spain, until now in the province of Almera only.
Material.- Holotype: 2 (ZMA) ESPANA, prov. Almera, Mojcar, M.J. Gijswijt /Tryp. galls on Artemisiae, 16-28 iv 1990. Paratypes 11 and 22 (MJG, NNM, ZMA, ?Madrid, ? BMNH) .................
P. almeriensis belongs to a group of species in the albipennis group (subgenus Habrocytus) with musaeus Walker and myopitae (Graham) which have a complete hairrow on underside of costal cell and their toruli situated in the middle of the face. The females can be distinguished from the other species by the elongate funicle segments which bear numerous and small sensilla. The funicle is slightly tapering distally in both sexes. Both females and males have the median panels of propodeum more regularly reticulate. Males most often have a pale mark on the gaster basally.