Ceraphron sataoi, Salden & Peters, 2023

Salden, Tobias & Peters, Ralph S., 2023, Afrotropical Ceraphronoidea (Insecta: Hymenoptera) put back on the map with the description of 88 new species, European Journal of Taxonomy 884 (1), pp. 1-386 : 278-281

Ceraphron sataoi sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:DF64D595-7BED-405E-8422-8DE05E164922

Fig. 80

Diagnosis

Mesosoma brown and ventrolateral parts darker than rest; scape brown, pedicel light brown, flagellum brown; F6 2.5× as long as wide. Male genitalia: harpe cone- to finger-shaped in ventral and dorsal view; harpe/gvc index 0.55; dorsomedial margins of harpes slightly converging and almost touching at distodorsal margin of gvc, dorsomedial margin of harpe convex and slightly diverging distolaterally in basal third, straight and parallel to other harpe in apical two thirds, apex of harpe pointed, oriented distomedially; harpe with at least six lateral setae restricted to apical half, longest lateral setae more than three quarters as long as harpe; longest apical setae as long as harpe; strong sclerotization with strongest sclerotization at harpe and aedeagus + gonossiculus; genital length 288 µm; gvc width 119 µm.

Etymology

The species is named in honour of the elephant Satao, which was one of Kenya`s largest African elephants and was killed by poachers in 2014. The large size and the long antennae of the wasp are reminiscent of the size and the long tusks of the elephant.

Material examined

Holotype

KENYA • ♂; Western Province, Kakamega Forest; 00°14′52.3 N, 34°52′5.3 E; 1607 m a.s.l.; 14 Aug. 2007; F. Hita Garcia leg.; Transect 18; primary rain forest; Winkler leaf litter extraction; ZFMK; ZFMK- HYM-00036989 .

Description

Male

BODY LENGTH. 1.60 mm.

COLOUR. Head dark brown, mesosoma brown and ventrolateral parts darker than rest, metasoma brown; scape brown, pedicel light brown, flagellum brown, gradually darkening from F1 to F9; legs yellowish except proximal two thirds of pro- and mesocoxa brown, proximal half of metacoxa brown; fore wing venation light brown, fore and hind wing disc slightly melanized.

ANTENNA. 11-segmented, flagellomeres cylindric; F1 2.5 × as long as wide, F1 2.1 × as long as pedicel, F1 1.2× as long as F2, F1 shorter than F7 and F8 combined, F1 shorter than F9, F6 2.5× as long as wide, F6 shorter than F7 and F8 combined, F6 1.3× as high as F9; numerous small multiporous plates on flagellomeres, sensillae on flagellomeres sickle-shaped and shorter than width of flagellomeres.

HEAD. White, thick setae on upper face present; lateral margin of torulus distinctly raised.

MESOSOMA, METASOMA. Mesoscutum densely setose, setae curved backwards; median mesoscutal sulcus present; median mesoscutal sulcus adjacent to transscutal articulation; interaxillar sulcus present (= scutoscutellar sulcus not adjacent to transscutal articulation), scutoscutellar sulcus straight; dorsal axillar area setose, setae curved backwards; mesoscutellum setose, setae curved backwards or straight. Anteromedian projection of the metanoto-propodeo-metapecto-mesopectal complex curved in lateral view with lighter end, exceeding end of mesosoma.

FORE WING. Stigmal vein longer than 3 × pterostigma marginal length.

MALE GENITALIA. Genital length 288 µm; gvc width 119 µm; genital length 2.42 × gvc width; gvc width less than two thirds of gvc length; gvc width 1.14 × distal gvc width. Proximodorsal margin of gvc straight; distodorsal margin of gvc descending proximomedially ( Fig. 80C ); proximoventral margin of gvc slightly concave; distoventral margin of gvc descending proximomedially ( Fig. 80A ); ventral area of gvc slightly convex; dorsal area of gvc convex ( Fig. 80B ); proximolateral margin of gvc strongly ascending and slightly emarginated ventrally; distolateral margin of gvc descending ventrally ( Fig. 80B ). Harpe cone- to finger-shaped in ventral and dorsal view; harpe/gvc index 0.55; lateral articulation site of harpe with gvc not flush ( Fig. 80A, C ); ventral margin of harpe concave, dorsal margin slightly convex ( Fig. 80B ), lateral margin convex, widest point of harpe at lateral articulation site with gvc ( Fig. 80A, C ); dorsomedial margins of harpes slightly converging and almost touching at distodorsal margin of gvc, dorsomedial margin of harpe convex and slightly diverging distolaterally in basal third, straight and parallel to other harpe in apical two thirds ( Fig. 80C ), apex of harpe pointed, oriented distomedially ( Fig. 80A, C ). Harpe with at least six lateral setae restricted to apical half, longest lateral setae more than three quarters as long as harpe, lateral setae oriented distolaterally and distoventrally; harpe with at least three apical setae, longest apical setae as long as harpe, apical setae oriented distomedially and distoventrally; harpe with at least nine median setae, longest median setae less than one third as long as harpe, median setae oriented distomedially, distoventrally and medioventrally. Aedeagus + gonossiculus more than half as long as harpe, apex of aedeagus + gonossiculus acute ( Fig. 80A, C ) and dorsal to apex of harpe. Strong sclerotization with strongest sclerotization at harpe and aedeagus + gonossiculus.

Female

Unknown.

Variation

Unknown.

Biology

Host unknown, specimen collected from leaf litter.

Distribution

Afrotropical: Kenya.

Remarks

Comparison with similar species

Ceraphron sataoi sp. nov. and C. kaharabu sp. nov. share a dark brown head, a ventrolaterally darkened mesosoma, and harpes that are distinctly more strongly sclerotized than the gvc, which is also strongly sclerotized. Ceraphron sataoi and C. kaharabu can be distinguished by the more elongated and finger-shaped harpes of C. sataoi (trapezoidal to cone-shaped in C. kaharabu ).

Condition of type material

The body of the holotype was lost during processing, after imaging ( Fig. 80D ); the male genitalia are present and represent the most important part of the holotype for solid species delimitation and description. Description of non-genitalia characters is incomplete, and based on Fig. 80D . Fig. 80D images the holotype in a slightly oblique way, i.e., some measurements of the body were not possible.

Figures

Fig. 80. Holotype of Ceraphron sataoi sp. nov. (ZFMK-HYM-00036989). A–C. Male genitalia in ventral (A), lateral (B) and dorsal (C) views. D. Habitus in lateral view.