Protoleptops farquharsoni ( Heinrich, 1967 )

Dal Pos, Davide, De Ketelaere, Augustijn & Di Giovanni, Filippo, 2024, Revision of the Afrotropical genus Protoleptops Heinrich, 1967 (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae, Ichneumoninae), with description of a new species from Burundi, ZooKeys 1214, pp. 197-216 : 197-216

Protoleptops farquharsoni ( Heinrich, 1967)

Figs 2 A – E , 3 D – F

Apatetorops farquharsoni Heinrich, 1967: 84–85 (original description, key); Schmidt and Schmidt 2011: 74 (type catalogue).

Protoleptops farquharsoni ; Townes and Townes 1973: 226 (catalogue, new combination); Yu and Horstmann 1997: 530 (catalogue); Yu et al. 2016 (catalogue).

Diagnosis of female.

The diagnosis of the female is provided here for the first time based on two females from South Africa (see below in Material examined). Compared to the male, the female has less white patterning overall. The prosternum, mesosternum, and femora are predominantly reddish-brown with only a few scattered yellow patches. In males, these body parts are mostly whitish-yellow. The face is primarily white, with a darker, infuscate area in the center. The orange of the mesoscutum is slightly reduced and the infuscation is more extensive. The posterior yellow band on T 2 is smaller and the hind coxa is entirely reddish-brown without any white markings.

Differential diagnosis.

Protoleptops farquharsoni can be easily distinguished from all the other known species of the genus by the following combination of characters: (1) incomplete carination of propodeum, with costulae lacking and area dentipara confluent with area externa and area spiracularis (carination almost complete in P. heinrichi ); (2) temple, in dorsal view, bulging (straight and converging in P. angolae and P. nyeupe sp. nov.); (3) hind tarsus brownish-black (white in P. angolae and P. nyeupe sp. nov.); (4) presence of a small scopa (absent in P. heinrichi , bigger in P. magnificus and P. nyeupe sp. nov.); (5) mesoscutellum reddish-orange (entirely white in P. nyeupe sp. nov. and with white lateral marks in P. heinrichi and P. magnificus ); (6) T 2 medially densely punctate (longitudinally striate in P. magnificus and P. nyeupe sp. nov.); and (7) mesoscutum densely punctate anteriorly (sparsely and superficially punctate in P. magnificus ).

Original type series.

Holotype (by original designation). South Africa • ♂; Eastern Cape, King William’s Town [now Qonce], Peeree forest , 6 Mar. 1962; ( ZSM).

Material examined.

Holotype. South Africa • ♂; “ [White label] N. - Cape Prov. / King Williams Town / Peeree Forest / 6. III. 1962 // [White label] Apatetorops / farquharsoni / ♂ Heinr. / det Heinr. // [Red label] Holotype // [Pink label] Zoologische Staatssammlung / München / Type-No.: ZSM - Hym- 00242 // [Red label] Typus Nr. Hym. / 422 / Zoologische / Staatsammlung / München. ”; ( ZSM).

Non-type specimens.

South Africa • 2 ♀♀; KwaZulu-Natal, Ngome Forest , 1 Nov. 1970, H. & M. Townes leg.; ( ZSM) .

Distribution.

South Africa: Eastern Cape ( Heinrich 1967); KwaZulu-Natal (new record) (Fig. 8 ).

Remarks.

The two specimens used for the first female diagnosis of the species had been identified as Apatetorops farquharsoni by Gerd Heinrich, but the records were never published, despite being integrated into the ZSM collection.

In the original identification key, Heinrich (1967: 81) mentioned “ mesosternum uniformly white ” as a trait to differentiate farquharsoni from angolae . However, in the female of the species, the mesosternum is reddish-brown and therefore, the white coloration of the mesosternum should be considered a male-specific trait.

Figures

Figure 2. Protoleptops farquharsoni (Heinrich, 1967), female A habitus, lateral view B face, frontal view C hind coxa, ventral view D head, mesoscutum and mesoscutellum, dorsal view E metasomal tergites, dorsal view. Scale bar: 1 cm.

Figure 3. Protoleptops angolae (Heinrich, 1967), male, paratype A habitus, lateral view B propodeum and metasomal tergites, dorsal view C face, frontal view. Protoleptops farquharsoni (Heinrich, 1967), male, holotype D face, frontal view E metasomal tergites, dorsal view F habitus, lateral view. Scale bar: 1 cm.

Figure 8. Distribution map of the known species of the genus Protoleptops Heinrich, 1967.