Enicospilus gauldetmitchellorum Rousse & van Noort

Rousse, Pascal & van Noort, Simon, 2014, Afrotropical Ophioninae (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae): an update of Gauld and Mitchell's revision, including two new species and an interactive matrix identification key, ZooKeys 456, pp. 59-73 : 62-66

Taxon classification Animalia Hymenoptera Ichneumonidae

Enicospilus gauldetmitchellorum Rousse & van Noort sp. n. Fig. 4

Type material

(verbatim label data).HOLOTYPE ♀: Tanzania, Mkomazi Game Reserve, Ibaya Camp, 3.58S 37.48E, 18 April 1996, light trap, S. van Noort, open Combretum bushland, SAM-HYM-P015183 (SAMC).

Diagnosis.

Yellow orange overall, head paler yellow; mandible with upper tooth distinctly longer than lower tooth; clypeus hardly convex in profile, its ventral margin barely concave and in-turned; occipital carinae complete; gena moderately swollen behind eye; ocelli moderately enlarged; antenna with 56 flagellomeres; pronotum unspecialized; mesopleuron and metapleuron closely and deeply punctate; epicnemial carina laterally indistinct; posterior transverse carina of mesosternum complete and noticeably strong; submetapleural carina slightly broadened anteriorly; notaulus vestigial; propodeum basally punctate, posteriorly coarsely and concentrically striate; fore wing without any sclerite in disco-submarginal cell; fore tibia with dense spines on outer surface; thyridium very shallow.

Differential diagnosis.

Readily differentiable from all other Enicospilus in Afrotropical, Oriental and Australasian regions by the combination of the absence of alar sclerites and the dense spines on fore tibia. The swollen genae and the wing venation make it somewhat related to Enicospilus leucocotis , but this latter is strongly larger, with only sparse spines on tibia and slenderer antenna. In Gauld and Mitchell’s key ( 1978), Enicospilus gauldetmitchellorum is included in the following modified eighth couplet:

Description.

FEMALE (holotype). B 18.8; F 11.5; ML 0.3; CT 1.6; OOL 0.1; POL 0.4; FI 50%; F1-2 1.4; F20 2.2; AI 0.6; CI 0.7; ICI 0.6; SDI 1.3; NI 2.8.

Color. Yellowish orange overall with face and orbits paler yellow and apex of metasoma slightly infuscate.

Head. Mandible basally constricted, apically parallel-sided and slightly twisted, with upper tooth distinctly longer than lower tooth (greatly worn by abrasion in holotype); outer mandibular surface sparsely setose, without longitudinal groove; labrum 0.3 × as long as wide; clypeus in profile hardly convex, its ventral margin barely concave and in-turned; clypeus and face finely and moderately densely punctate; gena moderately swollen behind eye; occipital carina complete; ocelli slightly enlarged; antenna with 56 flagellomeres.

Mesosoma. Pronotum mid-dorsally long, anterior margin simple; mesoscutum densely punctate, notaulus vestigial; scuto-scutellar groove smooth; scutellum densely and shallowly punctate, barely longer than basally wide, carinate to near its apex; mesopleuron and metapleuron closely and deeply punctate, punctures arranged longitudinally but without distinct striation; epicnemial carina short, indistinct above lower corner of pronotum; submetapleural carina weakly broadened anteriorly; posterior transverse carina of mesosternum complete and strong; propodeum with anterior area finely, shallowly and densely punctate, anterior transverse carina complete, posterior area coarsely and concentrically striate Wings. Disco-submarginal cell with fenestra developed, without any distinct sclerite; Rs+2r sinuate; cu-a basal to Rs&M by 0.3 × cu-a length; hind wing with 6 hamuli and 1A basally straight. Legs. Fore tibia with numerous dense and long spines on outer surface, basally separated by far less than their own length; hind coxa elongate, in profile 2.4 × as long as high; hind trochantellus mid-dorsally 0.2 × as long as wide, its apical margin simple; hind tarsal claws symmetrical with 8 pectinae, pectinae long and acute.

Metasoma. Slender; tergite 2 in profile 3.2 × longer than high; thyridium very shallow, elongate, separated from anterior margin of tergite 2 by 1.7 × its own length; ovipositor acute not reaching beyond metasomal apex.

MALE. Unknown.

Etymology.

This species was probably mentioned in Gauld and Mitchell (1978) as an undescribed specimen close to Enicospilus leucocotis . Let give Gauld what belongs to Gauld (updated after Mark 12:17).

Distribution.

Tanzania.