Neanastatus tenuis var. bicolor Risbec, 1951

Fusu, Lucian, Ebrahimi, Ebrahim, Siebold, Cedric & Villemant, Claire, 2015, Revision of the Eupelmidae Walker, 1833 described by Jean Risbec. Part 1: the slide mounted specimens housed at the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle in Paris, Zoosystema 37 (3), pp. 457-480 : 475-476

Neanastatus tenuis var. bicolor Risbec, 1951

Neanastatus tenuis var. bicolor Risbec, 1951a: 236-239 . Original description, ♀, Senegal, Bambey. — Hedqvist 1970: 438 (catalogued).

Neanastatus bicolor – Risbec 1951a: 237, 252 (lapsus calami).

CURRENT TAXONOMIC STATUS. — Neanastatus bicolor Risbec, 1951 n. stat.

TYPE MATERIAL. — MNHN.14.67. Holotype ♀ (by monotypy), dry mounted laterally, in good condition, labeled in Risbec’s handwriting: “ Baolia / bicolor Risbec / Bambey” and “ Holotype [red label]; HOLOTYPE ♀ / Neanastatus / tenuis bicolor Ris. / Det. Fusu L. 2011”.

REMARKS

The name Baolia bicolor is undoubtedly a manuscript name by Risbec. It is most probably derived from the ancient Kingdom of Baol, where nowadays Bambey (the type locality) is situated. The comparison of the specimen on slide MNHN.14.67 with the original description of Neanastatus tenuis var. bicolor shows without doubt that this is the holotype. The taxon was introduced as “ Neanastatus tenuis Ferrière , var. bicolor , n. var. ”, but as “ Neanastatus bicolor n. g., n. sp. ” under fig. 132, where “n. g.” probably refers to the intended new generic name Baolia . It was listed as a species again in the index on page 252 ( Risbec 1951a). We do not consider this citation in the index as an intended new status. Risbec never listed the full species plus variety name in the index for any variety described in this paper, but simply the variety name under the genus.

The holotype is clearly conspecific with the specimen described by Ferrière (1938) as a morphotype of Neanastatus africanus Ferrière, 1938 with a yellow band on the mesoscutum. Neanastatus Girault, 1913 is a genus with a very uniform morphology, many species differing mostly in color pattern. It is not clear if in this case the color difference is of specific value or just intraspecific variability, as one of us (LF) could not find any other difference except color between the holotype of Neanastatus tenuis var. bicolor and the type material of Neanastatus africanus Ferrière (BMNH) . However we take a conservative approach and treat N. bicolor as a distinct species. The examination of numerous specimens of N. africanus , including comparatively large series, shows that the mesoscutal color is a stable character.

DISTRIBUTION

We have seen specimens of N. africanus from Botswana (13 ♀, one ♂, Serowe), Jordan (four ♀, four ♂, Dead Sea ), Mozambique (one ♀, Niassa) ( CNC), Namibia (one ♀, Keetmanshoop; one ♀, Gross Otavi), Nigeria (one ♀, Ibadan) ( BMNH), Somalia (two ♀, one ♂, Mogadishu), South Africa (one ♀, Bloemfountain farm; 11 ♀, 17 ♂, Farm Bitline; three ♀, two ♂, Transvaal; one ♀, 43 km NE Willowmore, all in CNC; one ♀, one ♂, Grahamstown in BMNH), Togo (two ♀, Kpélé Bémé SW of Adagali and Retenue de Nangbéto ) (coll. AICF), Uganda (one ♀, Kawanda in BMNH; one ♀, Kibale Forest in CNC), Yemen (one ♀, 12 km NW Manakhah) ( CNC), and Zimbabwe (three ♀, two ♂, Harare) ( BMNH) .

Neanastatus bicolor is more rarely collected. Except the specimen mentioned by Ferrière (1938) from Namibia and Risbec’s type from Senegal, we have seen specimens from Gambia (four ♀, Bakan) ( BMNH), Ivory Coast (one ♀, Bouaké), South Africa (one ♀, one ♂, Aberdeen in BMNH; one ♀, Natal in CNC), Togo (one ♀, Fatchiahoe , 20 km NNW’ Tahou ) (coll. AICF), and Uganda (one ♀, one ♂, Lira) ( BMNH) .

Neanastatus tenuis var. platygasteri

Risbec, 1956

Neanastatus tenuis var. platygasteri Risbec, 1956b: 245 . Original description, ♀, Cameroon. — Hedqvist 1970: 438 (catalogued). — Nonveiller 1984: 122 (catalogued).

Neanastatus tenuis – Herting 1977: 118 (catalogued); 1978: 26 (catalogued).

CURRENT TAXONOMIC STATUS. — Neanastatus platygasteri Risbec, 1956 n. stat.

TYPE MATERIAL. — MNHN, ex. coll. ORSTOM.2.52. Holotype ♀ (by monotypy), dry mounted, in good condition except the wings, labeled in Risbec’s handwriting: “ Neanastatus / tenuis Ferrière / var./ par de Platygaster / pachydiplosisae / Pouss. I.55. Descamps/ 222” and “ Holotype [red label]; HOLOTYPE ♀ / Neanastatus / tenuis platygasteri / Risb./ Det. Fusu L. 2011”.

REMARKS

The specimen used for the description of N. platygasteri is immature, with deformed wings and the antennae still encased in the pupal exuvia. The areas that are dark brown in fully matured Neanastatus specimens are of a pale brownish color and the yellow areas are dirty-yellow. Nevertheless, the specimen clearly belongs to a different species than N. tenuis Ferrière, 1938 (holotype in BMNH examined by LF).