Nesostenodontus mkomazi ( Rousse & van Noort, 2013 ) Pos & Claridge & Diller & Noort & Giovanni, 2023

Pos, Davide Dal, Claridge, Brandon, Diller, Erich, Noort, Simon Van & Giovanni, Filippo Di, 2023, Still counting: new records, nomenclatural notes, and three new species of Phaeogenini (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae, Ichneumoninae) from the Afrotropical region, European Journal of Taxonomy 868, pp. 1-71 : 61-62

Nesostenodontus mkomazi ( Rousse & van Noort, 2013) comb. nov.

Figs 32–34

Heterischnus mkomazi Rousse & van Noort, 2013: 51 (original description, key).

Heterischnus mkomazi – Yu et al. 2016 (catalogue).

Original type series

Holotype: ♂, by original designation ( SAMC)

Paratype: 1 ♂ ( MNHN)

Type locality

Tanzania: Mkomazi Game Reserve.

Material examined

Holotype

TANZANIA • ♂; “[White label] TAZANIA, Mkomazi / Game Reserve / Kisima Plot, / 16 April-2 May 1996 // [White label] 406.06’S 3805.58’E / S. van Noort / Malaise trap, Acacia / / Commiphora bushland // [White label] SAM-HYM- / P016166 // [Red label] HOLOTYPE ♂ / Heterischnus mkomazi / Rousse & van Noort, 2013 // [Yellow label] IMAGED / WaspWeb / SAMC 2012 // [Second Yellow label] IMAGED / WaspWeb / LAS 4.9 / SAMC 2022 ”; SAMC.

Distribution

Senegal ( Rousse et al. 2013); Tanzania ( Rousse et al. 2013).

Remarks

The species mkomazi was originally placed in Heterischnus by Rousse et al. (2013), based on two male specimens, one from Tanzania (holotype) and the other from Senegal (paratype). However, despite its original generic placement, mkomazi differs from previous ( Perkins 1959; Selfa & Diller 1994) and recent ( Claridge 2021b) diagnoses of Heterischnus in the following morphological features: gena grossly swollen (not swollen in Heterischnus ) ( Fig. 33 ); scutellum nearly flat (convex and distinctly elevated above post-scutellum in Heterischnus ) ( Fig. 33B ); propodeum posteriorly sloping and without distinct dorsal and posterior faces (propodeum with distinct faces in Heterischnus ) ( Fig. 34A ); propodeal spiracle oval-shaped (circular and small in Heterischnus ) ( Fig. 34A ); and gastrocoeli and thyridia obsolete (well distinct in Heterischnus ) ( Fig. 34B ).

The above features are instead shared with the genus Nesostenodontus Cushman, 1922 , from which it slightly differs by the ventral margin of the clypeus, which is irregularly emarginate in mkomazi as opposed to strongly dentate in bakeri (the type species) ( Cushman 1922: 554) ( Fig. 32A ). However, this difference can be regarded as a simple variation within the genus. Moreover, three other unidentified Afrotropical specimens were located at EMUS, belonging to the genus Nesostenondontus . However, their species identity remains, at the moment, doubtful. Therefore, because of the above shared features of H. mkomazi with Nesostenodontus , and based on an examination of the new material, we feel confident in proposing a new combination for mkomazi : Nesostenodontus mkomazi ( Rousse & van Noort, 2013) comb. nov.

Nesostenodontus was previously known only from three described species in the Indo-Malaysian region ( Cushman 1922, 1937; Heinrich 1934; Gupta 1988), but it is herewith also recorded for the first time from the Afrotropical region, specifically in Tanzania and Senegal ( N. mkomazi ) ( Rousse et al. 2013), and Sierra Leone and South Africa (undescribed species at EMUS). Because of this generic transfer, the genus Heterischnus is no longer recorded for Senegal ( Table 1).

Figures

Fig. 32. Nesostenodontus mkomazi Rousse & van Noort, 2013 comb. nov., holotype, ♂ (SAMC). A. Head, frontal view. B. Head, dorsal view.

Fig. 33. Nesostenodontus mkomazi Rousse & van Noort, 2013 comb. nov., holotype, ♂ (SAMC). A. Head, ventral view. B. Head and mesosoma, dorso-lateral view.

Fig. 34. Nesostenodontus mkomazi Rousse & van Noort, 2013 comb. nov., holotype, ♂ (SAMC). A. Propodeum, dorsal view. B. Metasoma, dorsal view. C. Metasoma, lateral view. D. Labels.