Dissomphalus balteus Alencar & Azevedo, 2008

Alencar, I. D. C. C. & Azevedo, C. O., 2008, A new species-group of Dissomphalus (Hymenoptera: Bethylidae), with description of thirteen new species, Zootaxa 1851 (1), pp. 1-28 : 7-9

Dissomphalus balteus Alencar & Azevedo , sp. nov.

( Figs. 17–21 )

Diagnosis: male. This species is easily separated from the remainder by the paramere with basal angled fold and the combination of characters: the filament of ventral ramus inserted subapically, nearly as long as ramus an sinuous; the dorsal body with basal bar triangular, lateral margin folded mesad; the connector with lateral expansion concave, mid part darker and rounded; and the basal plate with upper margin concave, median lower margin straight with pre-basal constriction.

Description: male, body length 3.65 mm; LFW 2.70 mm. Color: head and mesosoma black, pronotum with narrow posterior line castaneous; clypeus and metasoma castaneous; mandible, palpi and legs yellowish; antenna yellowish and gradually darker distally; wings subhyaline.

Head: mandible bidentate. Clypeus with trapezoidal median lobe, median tooth directed downward, median carina complete, tall in lateral view. Relative length of first four antennal segments ~8:3:3:4, segment XI 2.0x as long as wide. Frons coriaceous, punctures small and shallow, separated by 1.0–2.0x their diameter. LH 1.0x WH; WF 0.6x WH; WF 1.4x HE; OOL 0.8x WOT; DAO 0.4x WOT; posterior ocellus distant from crest of vertex 1.5x DAO. Vertex somewhat concave; VOL 0.8 HE.

Mesosoma: thoracic dorsum weakly coriaceous, punctures smaller and sparser than those of frons. Pronotal disc 0.5x length of mesoscutum. Notaulus complete. Propodeal disc 0.8x as long as wide, irregularly rugose, median carina incomplete, lateral corner of posterior part elevated, weakly coriaceous and shinny; lateral surface of propodeum imbricate; declivity imbricate with lateral margin areolate, median carina complete. Fore femur 3.4x as long as wide.

Metasoma: tergal process absent. Hypopygium with posterior margin straight.

Genitalia ( Figs. 17–21 ): paramere wide basally in dorsal view; apex rounded and arched mesad; ventral margin weakly concave apically, apical corner small and angled, somewhat concave basally; dorsal margin somewhat convex with obtuse subapical concavity and with basal angled fold ( Figs. 17, 18, 21 ). Dorsal margin of basiparamere concave. Cuspis long and arched, apex rounded; digitus with apex pointed and smooth in upper margin. Aedeagus with ventral ramus shorter than dorsal body, laminar, surface horizontal, inner margin straight in ventral view, ventrad except base flat with narrow fold, outer margin convex, filament inserted subapically, nearly as long as ramus, sinuous, narrow and arched dorsad ( Fig. 17 ); dorsal body with two pairs of apical lobes, outer pair laminar, surface vertical, wide, apex convergent, dorsal margin convex in lateral view ( Fig. 20 ) and slight concave in dorsal view ( Fig. 18 ), ventral margin with small subapical concavity and projection concave ( Figs. 19, 20 ), inner pair membranous and hairy; basal bar triangular, upper margin concave, lateral margin folded mesad, lower margin not touching basal plate; connector with lateral expansion concave, mid part darker and rounded; basal plate with upper margin concave, median lower margin straight with pre-basal constriction ( Fig. 18 ). Apodeme of aedeagus not extending beyond elliptical genital ring.

Material examined: HOLOTYPE: male, VENEZUELA, Aragua, [Henri Pittier National Park], Rancho Grande, above Portachuelo pass, 1300 m, [~ 10º12’N 63º29’W], 6–9.iii.1995, R. W. Brooks col. ( CNCI) . PARATYPES: VENEZUELA, Aragua ( CNCI): 1 male, [Henri Pittier National Park], Rancho Grande , 1140 m, [~ 10º12’N 63º29’W]: 25–28.ii.1995, FIT, R. W. Brooks col. ; 1 male, Rancho Grande Biol [ogical] Sta [tion], 10°21’N, 67°41’W, 14.v.1998, FIT, Ashe, Brooks & Hanley col.

Variation: median lobe of clypeus subtrapezoidal and metasoma lighter than holotype; aedeagus with ventral margin of dorsal body serrate.

Comments: This species is similar to D. pilus by having the lateral expansion of the connector concave, but D. balteus has the outer lobe of the dorsal body with the dorsal margin convex in lateral view, the ventral margin with small subapical concavity, projection concave and the basal bar with the lateral margin folded mesad, whereas D. pilus has the outer lobe of the dorsal body with the dorsal margin convex and irregular apically in lateral view, the ventral margin with subapical strong concavity, the projection serrate and the basal bar with the lateral margin not folded.

Etymology: the specific Latin epithet refers to the filament of the ventral ramus

Distribution: Venezuela.

Figures

FIGURES 17–27. 17–21, Dissomphalus balteus. 17, genitalia, ventral view; 18, genitalia, dorsal view; 19, outer lobe, ventral view; 20, apex of dorsal body, lateral view; 21, paramere, lateral view; 22–27, Dissomphalus divaricatus. 22, tergal process, dorsal view; 23, genitalia, ventral view; 24, genitalia, dorsal view; 25, filament of ventral ramus, lateral view; 26, apex of dorsal body, lateral view; 27, paramere, lateral view. (Scale bars = 250 µm).