Macromeria SAUNDERS 1850

Bartalucci, M. Boni, 2007, The Afrotropical genera of the subtribe Meriina (Hymenoptera, Tiphiidae, Myzininae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 39 (2), pp. 1257-1305 : 1281-1282

Macromeria SAUNDERS 1850

S p e c i e s t y p e Meria klugii WESTWOOD 1835

Macromeria S. SAUNDERS 1850: 71

Hemimeria SAUSSURE 1892: 249 nov. syn.

The history of this taxon name suffered many changes about its taxonomical rank since the beginning. SAUSSURE (1892) did not name it at all in his "Groupe des Meria ". DALLA TORRE (1897:120) consider it (wrongly written Micromeria because of a lapsus calami as we easily can infer from the greek ethymology he quote just below: μĮțȡȩȢ, = longus

1282

etc.) synonym of Myzine LATREILLE 1803 and Turner always followed him. Successively KROMBEIN (1937) consider it a subgeneric group of Meria [ Meria (Macromeria) klugii (WESTWOOD) ] as JACOT- GUILLARMOD (1953: 17, 1961: 4) made too, even though he overlooked any subgenerical distinction in labelling the specimens of M. klugii from S. Africa. Hemimeria was established by SAUSSURE (1892) basing it on two species, first Meria (Pseudomeria) semirufa GERSTAECKER 1857 then Myzine savvignyi GUÈRIN 1837 (= Parameria femorata). JACOT- GUILLARMOD (1959) well argued about ascribing the SAUSSURE’ s name to semirufa which has so to be considered the type species of Hemimeria. According to the present study, we feel there is no generic difference between M. semirufa and M. klugii , whose relative distance with the other generic groupings is otherwise well ascertained. Hence the aforesaid synonimy.

Macromeria appears so far inhabiting exclusively Austral Africa. The females are univocally featured by the states 7e-i, k-l, the males by 15a, c-f. The states 7g, i, k and 15e, f occur only here within the subfamily. The aedeagus ( Figs 90-92 ).is particular with reference to the aedeagus of males of all the remainder of the subfamily ( Figs 21A , 71 , 93-95)

The members of this taxon get the greatest size within the tribe.

Among them M. immaculata appears to be the closest taxon to Meria , while M. infradentata shows the usual mesosomal modifications occurring in the more brachypterus taxa, i.e. a longest and greater N 1, shortened Sc 1, more protruding Es 2.

Figures

Figs 85-92. Macromeria klugii. (85) Labium, ventral and lateral aspects; (86) 7 th tergum, dorsal aspect; (87) 7 th tergum, lateral aspect; (88) 8 th sternum (anal hook), dorsal and lateral aspects; (89) gonostylus and volsella; (90) aedeagus, lateral aspect; (91) aedeagus, apical aspect; (92) aedeagus, dorsal aspect. Figs 93-95. Meria volvulus. (93) aedeagus, lateral aspect; (94) aedeagus, apical aspect; (95) aedeagus, dorsal aspect. (85: scale bar = 0,5 mm) (86, 87: scale bar = 2 mm) (88 – 95 = scale bar 1 mm).

Figs 17-21A. Afromeria microtera nov.sp. Holotypus. (17) N1 with eN1 in dorsal aspect.; (18) basal terga in dorsal aspect; (19) basal metameri in lateral aspect; (20) 7th tergum in dorsal aspect; (21) gonostylus and volsella; 21A: aedeagus in lateral aspect. (17, 18, 19, 20: scale bar = 1 mm) (21, 21A: scale bar = 0,5 mm)

Figs 64-71. Meriodes picea nov.sp. paratypus. (64) head, frontal aspect; (65) flagellum; (66) labium, ventral aspect; (67) pronotum, dorsal aspect; (68) foretibial spur; (69) 7th tergum, dorsal spect; (70) gonostylus and volsella; (71) aedeagus, dorsal and lateral aspect. (64, 65, 67: scale bar = 2 mm) (69: scale bar = 1 mm) (66, 68, 70, 71: scale bar = 0,5 mm).