Huarpea colombiana Fernández & Sarmiento, 2015

Fernández, Fernando & Sarmiento, Carlos E., 2015, A new species of Huarpea Pate, 1947 from Colombia and redescription of H. wagneriella (du Buysson, 1904) (Hymenoptera: Sapygidae), Zootaxa 3994 (3), pp. 439-444 : 440-441

Huarpea colombiana Fernández & Sarmiento , sp. nov.

( Figs 1 A–C)

Diagnosis. The median clypeal emargination, median clypeal sulcus, anchor shape clypeal yellow spot and metasoma color pattern separate this species from other congeners.

Description. HW = 3.26, HL = 2.85, SL = 0.92, ML = 2.34, FWL = 8.46 mm. Black except yellow apical half and outer lateral spot of mandible; anchor-like spot on frons, band around eye orbit except dorsal part; small spot laterad lateral ocellus; posterior and slender anterior pronotal bands; two small axillar spots; anterior metanotal band; T4–6 and S2–6 with wide posterior band; T6 with small lateral brown spot; S6 with brown apex; wings infuscate with darker costal, stigmal, and marginal cells.

Abundant short setae on frons, less dense at clypeus and pronotum; mesoscutum with short decumbent setae; propodeum medially with a few setae; metasoma with fine pubescence. Setae on head and pronotum ferruginous and grayish on other parts of body.

Head and mesosoma with deep, irregular, dense pits, with small smooth area anterior and laterad of ocelli. Frontal carinae short, about 2/3 as long as scape; sides of frontal sulcus forming depression which covering scape partially; clypeus with weak median longitudinal depression; mandible bidentate; second submarginal cell of fore wing anteriorly almost as long as distally; occipital carina incomplete; S1 with largely concaved area and small lateral tubercle; S6 conelike.

Material examined. Holotype, ♀, COLOMBIA. Meta, Reserva Nacional Natural La Macarena, Cabaña Cerrillo, 3°21'N 73°56'W, 460 m, Malaise trap, 21.xii.2002 to 4.i.2003, A. Herrera & W. Villalba leg., M2983 [IAvH].

Distribution. Colombia (Meta).

Comments. Huarpea colombiana shares with some aspects of the Chilean species Araucania chilensis ( Reed 1930) but differs by the coloration of antennae, legs, and S2.

This is the first record of the family for Colombia and northern South America. The irregular distribution of the group deserves further studies as its closest record comes from Parana, Brazil ( Hurd & Moure 1961) with no data from intensively sampled regions in between. Similar anomalous distributions have been reported for Megalyridae which was collected in the Colombian amazons but previously known only from the extreme south of South America ( Shaw 2003).

The rareness of this genus is more pronounced given the widespread distribution of its recorded hosts; the bee genus Xylocopa is found along the Western Hemisphere from sea level up to 2000 m, and the genus Megachile which is extensively found across the continent ( Michener 2007). The specimen was collected in a malaise trap set at the Reserva La Macarena (Meta), an area with gallery forest and perturbed savannas where Xylocopa species, specially of the subgenus Neoxylocopa Michener are very common ( Fernández & Nates 1985).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Huarpea colombiana sp. nov., A. lateral view, B. Head in frontal view, C. Dorsal view. Scale = 2 mm.