Systropha martiali, Patiny & Michez, 2007

Patiny, Sébastien & Michez, Denis, 2007, New insights on the distribution and floral choices of Systropha Illiger, 1806 in Africa (Hymenoptera, Apoidea), with description of a new species from Sudan, Zootaxa 1461 (1), pp. 59-68 : 63

Description of Systropha martiali sp. nov.

Diagnosis. Female unknown. Male. Medium sized (L. ca. 10 mm). Antennae with 13 well-differentiated segments. Face with dense hair crests. Overall vestiture creamy-white. Mesonotum and scutellum with few fine and sparse punctures; cuticle shiny. F1 inflated; the ventral part somewhat compressed. T with fine punctures and sculptures, shiny. Graduli laterally flattened on T3-5. T2 with one single median crest.

Description. Female: unknown. Male ( Figs. 1a,c,e ). Head. Clypeus finely sculptured, dull, with some large and deep punctures; margin with a shallow median depression. Labrum about half as long as clypeus, smooth. Mandibles dark with reddish apex; ventral side with a dense vestiture forming a kind of beard together with the genae vestiture. Mouthparts not exposed. Genae smooth; punctation sparse, denser along eyes outer margins. Frons and vertex smoother than the ventral part of the face. Scapes and flagella densely sculptured, mat. A3-A13 reddish. Face covered in creamy-white hairs, which form dense and long crests rising from the face at the level of the antennal sockets. Lower back side of the head displaying a well differentiated beard-like vestiture. Mesosoma. Pronotum smooth. Mesonotum and scutellum finely punctured, sparsely in the median part of sclerites. Propodeum and propodeal area finely sculptured, dull. Propodeal area lightly depressed. Mesopleurae more densely punctured than nota. No tubercle on the ventral part of the mesopleurae. Cuticle of pronotum, mesepisterna, sides of propodeum and proximal part of legs somewhat red-brown. F1-F2 inflated. F1 enlarged ventrally, this part lightly compressed. Tb2 spur thick and finely toothed. Wings surface hyaline; veins brownish. Mesosoma vestiture creamy-white, short, denser on hind margin of pronotum, dorsal lobes, mesonotum, mesopleurae, scutellum, postscutellum, dorsal part of propodeum and terminal part of legs (Tb and Bt). Metasoma. Terga cuticle dark, lightly reddish on T(1)2-T5 margins. Anterior parts of T1-T3 displaying bluish reflections like in the Palaearctic S. planidens . Punctation of terga fine and sparse, cuticle mostly shiny. Graduli of T3-T5 somewhat expanded and flattened, however not spiny. T7 with two strong lateral teeth. S1 deeply and narrowly indented. S2 with large irregular median crest forming two consecutive pikes, the distal being lower ( Fig. 1e ). Lateral part of S2 with very low transversal crests. S8 apex slightly enlarged. Metasoma vestiture very short, fine and sparse, creamy white on T1-T3, dark brownish on following segments. Genitalia. Due to the extreme desiccation of the specimen, we were unsuccessful observing genitalia and hidden sclerites.

Etymology: the specific epithet martiali is derived from Martial in honour of the first author's son.

Material studied: Locus typicus: Sudan Rahad vill. 38 [interpreted coordinates: 14.4°N 33.53°E] pherom. trap 7.9.1983 J.H.Lourens; Type depository: Zoölogisch Museum Amsterdam; 1 ♂ Holotype.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Males. a, face of S. martiali, b, face of S. norae, c, dorsal habitus of S. martiali; d, dorsal habitus of S. norae; e, S2 tubercle in S. martiali, arrow point on of the typical pike; f, S2 tubercles in S. norae, arrow points on of the typical plate.