Leptacis tschirnhausiana, Buhl, 2014

Buhl, Peter Neerup, 2014, New species and new records of Platygastrinae and Sceliotrachelinae from Togo (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae), African Invertebrates 55 (1), pp. 68-68 : 91-92

Leptacis tschirnhausiana sp. n.

Fig. 43

Etymology: Named after the collector, M. von Tschirnhaus.

Diagnosis: A most characteristic species on account of slender body with mesosoma twice as long as wide and female metasoma 1.3–1.4× as long as rest of body; scutellar spine very small.

Description:

Female.

Body length 1.0– 1.1 mm. Black; A1–A2, mandibles and legs including coxae light brownish; apex of hind femora and last segment of all tarsi slightly darkened; A3–A10 and tegulae dark brownish. Head from above ( Fig. 43 ) 1.75× as wide as long, 1.15× as wide as mesosoma, distinctly reticulate-coriaceous, above antennal insertions transversely so; hyperoccipital carina rather conspicuous and complete. OOL shorter than diameter of lateral ocellus. Eyes with very few, inconspicuous setae. Head in frontal view 1.05× as wide as high. Antenna ( Fig. 43 ) with A1 slightly more than 0.9× as long as height of head, 1.6× as long as distance between inner obits; A2 1.15× as long as A3–A4 combined; A4 one and two-thirds as long as A3, about as long as A5; A6 slightly smaller than A2; A7–A10 forming a clava; A7 1.75× as long as wide; A8–A9 each about as long as wide. Mesosoma ( Fig. 43 ) 2.0× as long as wide, 1.3× as high as wide. Sides of pronotum distinctly reticulate-coriaceous (not longitudinally so), in upper 0.6 smooth in slightly less than posterior half. Mesoscutum slightly unevenly and moderately densely setose, finely and almost uniformly reticulate­coriaceous, without notauli; hind margin straight in front of scutellum; scuto-scutellar grooves absent. Mesopleuron smooth. Scutellum sculptured and setose much as mesoscutum, with a very small, slightly translucent spine without lamella below. Metapleuron smooth, bare in most of anterior half, the rest with white pilosity which is dense in less than posterior half. Propodeal carinae translucent, fused, only diverging at extreme apex. Fore wing slightly surpassing tip of metasoma, fully 0.8× as long as entire body, 3.5× as long as wide, weakly infuscated, with dense and moderately robust microtrichia; marginal cilia 0.2× width of wing. Hind wing about 10× as long as wide; marginal cilia very slightly shorter than width of wing. Metasoma ( Fig. 43 ) 1.3–1.4× as long as head and mesosoma combined, 0.8× as wide as mesosoma, 1.3× as wide as high. T1 mostly smooth, towards sides sparsely setose, with a weak, transverse depression having a few short crenulae just anterior of midlength of tergite. T2 antero-medially with a distinctly pubescent, slightly transverse depression, which is a little less than half as long as T1. T2 otherwise smooth, except for traces of microsculpture along hind margin. T3–T4 with weak reticulation, T5 almost smooth, T6 smooth. Apical tergites with a few very inconspicuous setae inserted in shallow punctures.

Comparison: This species fits badly into Buhl’s (2011 b) key; among Afrotropical Leptacis species, only L. udzungwensis Buhl, 2010 , has the female metasoma longer (and that species has e.g. A8–A9 elongate, and scutellar spine stronger than in L. tschirnhausiana ); in the rest of the described species it is distinctly shorter.

Holotype: ♀ TOGO: Région des Plateaux, Manma­Kopé N of Gbadi Nkougna, SE of Badou (07°27'02"N 00°41'59"E), 25.iv. 2008, 660 m, plantation (coffee, oilpalm, Acacia ), swept above sawdust, M. von Tschirnhaus.

Paratype: 1♀ Région des Plateaux, Otandjobo near Zogbégan (SE of Badou), at river Otandjoboli (07°34'42"N 00°41'37"E), 21.iv. 2008, 500 m, at river, swept, cocoa plantation, M. von Tschirnhaus .

Figures

Fig. 43. Leptacis tschirnhausiana sp. n., female body obliquely in dorsal view. Scale bar = 100 μm.