Miscophus prasanthi Girish Kumar, 2024

Kumar, P. Girish, Mawadda, N. V. Ayisha, Terine, Joshua B. & Amal, S., 2024, Review of the genus Miscophus Jurine, 1807 (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae: Crabroninae) of the Indian subcontinent with descriptions of two new species from southern India, Zootaxa 5418 (5), pp. 589-600 : 595-597

4. Miscophus prasanthi Girish Kumar sp. nov.

( Figs 18–25 )

Type material. Holotype ♂, India: Tamil Nadu, Coimbatore district, Kullanadimedu , 2.i.2019, P. Girish Kumar collector, ZSIK Regd. No. ZSI/WGRC/IR/INV.24166.

Diagnosis. This new species differs from all other species in having the following combination of characters: Head, mesosoma, and metasoma mostly, minutely and closely punctured; frons with close punctures as in Fig. 19 ; propodeal dorsum with irregular, somewhat conspicuous longitudinal ridges, with distinct median carina as in Fig. 23 ; second submarginal cell 4-sided, second recurrent vein joining second submarginal cell at its submedial margin; head, mesosoma and metasoma black; legs mostly yellowish brown. Among the Indian subcontinent species, this new species resembles Miscophus difficilis Nurse, 1903 in having head, mesosoma and metasoma black but distinctly differs in having: head, mesosoma and metasoma mostly, minutely and closely punctured (in M. difficilis , head, mesosoma and metasoma mostly smooth and shining); frons with close punctures as in Fig. 19 (in M. difficilis , frons with sparse punctures and in between coriaceous as in Fig. 3 ); propodeal dorsum with irregular, somewhat conspicuous longitudinal ridges, with distinct median carina as in Fig. 23 (in M. difficilis , propodeal dorsum shiny with some inconspicuous transverse ridges medially and few inconspicuous oblique ridges basally, without distinct median carina as in Fig. 2 ); second submarginal cell 4-sided, second recurrent vein joining second submarginal cell at its submedial margin ( Fig. 24 ) (in M. difficilis , second submarginal cell 3-sided, second recurrent vein joining second submarginal cell at its extreme apex ( Fig. 2 )).

Description. Holotype male ( Figs 18–25 ). Body length 4.75 mm; fore wing length 2.55 mm.

Colour. Head, mesosoma, and metasoma black except apex of clypeus pale yellowish brown to ferruginous. Legs yellowish brown except mid and hind coxa black, all femora above darker brown. Maxillary palpi, labial palpi, and mandible (except tip ferruginous) pale brownish yellow, antenna (except scape, pedicel, and basal two flagellomeres ventrally pale brownish yellow) and tegula blackish brown. Wings uniformly flavo-hyaline, veins brown. Setae silvery.

Head. Clypeus with apical margin three-lobed, median lobe 2× as large as lateral lobe, translucent; clypeal surface mostly foveolate punctate. Frons above antennal scrobe without median longitudinal depression and transverse depressions, with minute, uniformly close dense punctures as in Fig. 19 , towards lower side punctures becoming inconspicuous and somewhat coriaceous. POL = 1.64× OOL and 1.98× hind ocellar diameter; OOL = 1.21× hind ocellar diameter. Vertex and gena punctured like frons. Occipital carina evanescent near hypostomal carina.

Mesosoma. Pronotum mostly with somewhat inconspicuous, close, minute punctures, with inconspicuous hump-like projection posteromedially. Mesoscutum coriaceous. Scutellum and metanotum with punctures like upper frons. Upper mesopleuron with minute foveolate punctures, medially sparse and shiny, lower third densely punctured, mostly coriaceous towards posterior margin. Metapleuron transversely striate, shiny. Propodeal dorsum with irregular, somewhat conspicuous longitudinal ridges, with distinct median carina as in Fig. 23 ; propodeal posterior surface transversely striate. Wing with second submarginal cell 4–sided, second recurrent vein joining second submarginal cell at its submedial margin. Fore basitarsus distinctly curved inside basally.

Metasoma. All metasomal segments with almost uniform small, dense, inconspicuous punctures, looking coriaceous. Lateral sides of T7 with small stiff, spine-like setae; S2 basally with two transverse impressions basally. Apical sterna with few stiff setae posteriorly.

Distribution. India: Tamil Nadu.

Etymology. The species is named in honour of Dr S. Prasanth Narayanan, Research Associate, Advanced Centre of Environmental Studies and Sustainable Development (ACESSD), Mahatma Gandhi University for his contribution to the natural history studies on earthworms of the Western Ghats of India.

Remarks. This new species comes close to ‘ bicolor ’ species group in the key to the Palearctic species groups of de Andrade (1960) in having the body length less than 6 mm, pilosity of the face and mesosoma less extended and inconspicuous, ventral half of gena with conspicuous setae, and male metasoma with eight visible sterna. It differs, however, in having sternum VII almost rounded and VIII without any tooth.

Figures

FIGURES 18–25. Miscophus prasanthi Girish Kumar sp. nov., holotype male. 18, Habitus, lateral view; 19, Head, frontal view; 20, Clypeus; 21, Antenna; 22, Head and mesosoma, dorsal view; 23, Propodeum, dorsal view; 24, Fore wing; 25, Metasoma, dorsal view.

FIGURES 1–4. Miscophus difficilis Nurse, 1903 type female. 1, Habitus, lateral view; 2, Habitus, dorsal view; 3, Head, frontal view; 4, Type labels.