Malayepipona bidoup, Lien, 2020

Lien, Nguyen Thi Phuong, 2020, Two new species of the genus Malayepipona Giordani Soika (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Eumeninae) from Vietnam, with updated key to all recognised species, Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 68, pp. 112-117 : 112-114

Malayepipona bidoup , new species

( Figs. 1–7 )

Material examined. Holotype: female (deposited in IEBR), labelled “ VIETNAM, Lam Dong, Da Lat, Bidoup-Nui Ba NP, 12°10′56.1″N, 108°40′47.9″E, alt. 1458 m, 7.v.2016, Nguyen Thi Phuong Lien, Tran Thi Ngat”.

Diagnosis. This species can be distinguished from all other known species of the genus Malayepipona by the following combination of characters: inner eye margins strongly convergent ventrally, in frontal view nearly 1.3 times further apart from each other at vertex than at clypeus; mandible with prominent teeth; metasomal tergum I more than twice as wide as long, tergum II with short apical lamella, terga III–VI without apical lamella; forewing with a dark spot at apex of marginal cell; clypeus entirely black.

Description. Female. Body length 9.0 mm; forewing length 9.0 mm. Head in frontal view subcircular, about 1.1 times as wide as high. Vertex with cephalic foveae small, bearing dense pubescence, situated close to each other with distance between foveae about 0.4 times as long as distance between posterior ocelli. Distance from posterior ocelli to apical margin of the vertex nearly twice the distance from posterior ocelli to inner eye margin ( Fig. 2 ). Gena almost as wide as eye; occipital carina complete, present along entire length of the gena. Inner eye margins strongly convergent ventrally; in frontal view nearly 1.3 times further apart from each other at vertex than at clypeus. Clypeus in lateral view prominently convex at basal half, then slightly depressed and running straight to apical margin; in frontal view about 1.1 times as wide as high ( Fig. 1 ), with basal margin slightly convex medially and distinctly separated from antennal sockets; apical margin emarginated medially, forming a blunt tooth on each lateral side ( Fig. 1 ); width of the emargination less than ⅓ width of clypeus between inner eye margin. Mandible with prominent teeth, second and third teeth trapezoid with inner side produced, the outer one pointed apically. Antennal scape about 4 times as long as its maximum width, curved; flagellomere I about 1.4 times longer than wide, flagellomere II as wide as long, flagellomeres III–IX wider than long, terminal flagellomere bullet-shaped, as long as its basal width.

Mesosoma longer than wide in dorsal view. Pronotal carina raised, slightly produced at humeral angles ( Fig. 2 ), reaching ventral corner of pronotum. Tegula with posterior lobe exceeds the posterior end of parategula. Mesoscutum weakly convex, slightly shorter than wide between tegulae; anterior margin broadly rounded. Scutellum weakly convex, in lateral view at the same level of mesoscutum ( Fig. 4 ), strongly depressed along anterior margin with many short longitudinal carinae. Metanotum weakly convex, slope down to apical margin. Propodeum ( Fig. 3 ) excavated in the middle, the basal fovea about ⅓ of the length of the median carina which runs from the fovea to the apical margin; border between dorsal and posterior surfaces round; border between posterior and lateral surfaces bluntly angulate.

Metasomal segment I narrower than segment II, truncate at base; anterior vertical surface weakly convex, with many sparse punctures, clearly separable from the posterior horizontal part, without carina. Tergum I in dorsal view about 2.2 times as wide as long; tergum II with thin apical lamella, about 1.1 times as wide as long ( Fig. 5 ); sternum II in lateral view slightly convex from base to apical margin ( Fig. 6 ).

Body covered with short, silver hairs except lower part of propodeum with dense, long silver hairs.

Clypeus with dense, large, flat-bottomed punctures in the middle area, punctures sparser and smaller at lateral sides, each puncture bearing a silver bristle. Mandible with several shallow small punctures. Frons densely covered with very coarse punctures, punctures strongly raised to form reticulation. Vertex and gena with punctures similar to those on frons. Pronotum with punctures coarser than punctures on vertex and gena, spaces between punctures very narrow, strongly raised to form reticulation. Mesoscutum densely and coarsely covered with flat-bottomed punctures, punctures on scutellum dense, coarse, and equal than those on mesoscutum, punctures on metanotum smaller. Mesepisternum with punctures similar to those on pronotum posterodorsally, barely punctured anteroventrally; border between posterodorsal and anteroventral parts distinct. Dorsal metapleuron with short striae, ventral metapleuron with sparse shallow punctures. Propodeum with punctures on dorsal parts similar to those on pronotum, punctures on lateral parts much shallower and well-defined, posterior surface shiny, mainly smooth, with some shallow punctures, and with longitudinal depressions along propodeal carina, widened at apical margin ( Fig. 3 ). Metasomal segments densely covered with strong punctures, punctures on terga I and II coarser than punctures on terga III–V, tergum and sternum IV with minute punctures.

Colour. Body black; following parts orange-yellow: a narrow band at apical margin of terga I and II, a spot at each corner of sternum II. Propodeal valvulae dark brown. Wings dark brown, strongly infuscate, veins dark brown. Forewing with a dark spot at apex of marginal cell.

Etymology. The specific name refers to the name of the Bidoup-Nui Ba National Park, where the species was collected; it is to be treated as a noun in apposition.

Remarks. This species is most similar to Malayepipona furva Nguyen & Carpenter, 2013 , but can be easily distinguished from the latter by tergum II having short apical lamella and terga III–IV lacking apical lamella (versus tergum II with longer apical lamella and terga III–IV with short apical lamella in M. furva ), basal fovea about ⅓ of the length of the median carina (versus basal fovea about ¼ of the length of the median carina in M. furva ), and its forewing with a dark spot at apex of marginal cell (versus forewing without a dark spot at apex of marginal cell in M. furva ).

Figures

Figs. 1–7. Malayepipona bidoup, new species. Female (holotype): 1, Head in frontal view. 2, Vertex in dorsal view. 3, Propodeum in posterior view. 4, Mesosoma in lateral view. 5, Metasomal segments in dorsal view. 6, Metasomal segments in lateral view. 7, Habitus. Scale = 1 mm.