Polyrhachis (Myrmhopla) kubani, Zettel & Ockermüller & A, 2023

Zettel, Herbert, Ockermüller, Esther & A, Southeast, 2023, Polyrhachis (Myrmhopla) kubani nov. sp. (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from Laos, Linzer biologische Beiträge 54 (2), pp. 679-684 : 681-683

Polyrhachis (Myrmhopla) kubani nov.sp. ( Figs 1-5 )

H o l o t y p e (worker): Laos, Luang Namtha Province, from Nam Tha to Muang Sing, N 27°09’, E 101°19’, 900-1200 m a.s.l., 5-31.V.1997, leg. V. Kubáň, deposited in Biologiezentrum Linz, Upper Austria (labels in Fig. 2 ).

D i a g n o s i s: Small, black species with faint greenish shimmer. Surface with fine, close reticulation. Almost without setae and pilosity. Head unproportionally large, broader than long. Eyes situate posterodorsally, not breaking outline of head in full-face view ( Fig. 1 ). Clypeus margin convex, medially slightly emarginate. Mesosoma not marginate. Pronotum broad, with acute, but not spine-like anterolateral corners. Propodeal teeth small. Petiolar spines thin and strongly diverging.

D e s c r i p t i o n: Measurements of holotype. TL ca. 6.3; HW 1.76; HL 1.63; EL 0.51; SL 1.68; MSL 1.96; PRNW 1.41 ; PNL 0.84; PSD 0.42; MTL 1.57; PEL 0.42; PEW 0.45; SPD 0.94; GL 1.88; GW 1.83. Indices: CI 103; EI 27; SI 89; SpDI 2.09.

Structures ( Figs 1, 3-5 ). Head, mesosoma, petiole, and gaster finely and densely reticulate; gaster with weaker sculpture and more shiny. Head unproportionally large ( Figs 4, 5 ), broader than long, sides rounded, occiput weakly convex in frontal view, strongly rounded in lateral aspect. Eyes moderately large, flat ( Fig. 5 ), situated posterodorsally, not breaking outline of head in full-face view ( Fig. 1 ). Clypeus ( Fig. 1 ) without median carina; anterior clypeal margin rounded, in middle hardly emarginate. Frontal triangle indistinct. Frontal carinae weakly raised, between antennal fossae narrower than dorsally. Ocelli lacking. Mandibles hardly longitudinally striate and with small piliferous pits.

Mesosoma with hardly defined, blunt, lateral margins, with strongly convex outline in lateral aspect ( Fig. 4 ), especially on posterior part of propodeum and mesonotum. Pronotum moderately convex, evenly declivitous towards the very short collar. In dorsal aspect ( Fig. 3 ), pronotal humeri strongly expanded, terminating in acute corners, but without distinct spines. Promesonotal suture distinct, but flat. Metanotal groove indistinct. Propodeum armed with pair of short, dorsally directed spines ( Fig. 4 ). Petiole armed with pair of slender, slightly curved, dorsolaterally directed spines ( Figs 3 , 4 ); dorsal crest of petiole between spines without teeth. Gaster roundish.

Pilosity. Entire body with reduced pilosity, mostly bare. Clypeus with a few short standing setae and slightly longer setae along margin. Mandible distally with short setae. Mesosoma and petiole entirely bare of macrosetae). Legs with a few single pale setae on coxae, trochanters, and bases of femora. Tibia with scattered minute setae on extensor side. Tarsi with numerous brown setae ventrally. Gaster with rows of short pale setae on tergites 3-5 and on all sterna.

Colour. Entirely black, with a very faint greenish shimmer except on appendages. Palpi brown.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: The new species differs from all other species of the P. flavoflagellata group by the broad head (CI> 1), the eyes that do not break the lateral margin of head, the short scapes (SI <0.9), the short propodeal spines, and the structure of the petiole. The petiolar spines are slender and long, and the crest between them has no additional teeth.

D i s t r i b u t i o n: Luang Namtha Province in Northern Laos.

E t y m o l o g y: Named to honour the collector, the Czech coleopterist Vítězslav Kubáň.

Figures

Figs 1-3: Polyrhachis (Myrmhopla) kubani nov.sp., holotype. (1) Head in frontal view; (2) labels; (3) mesosoma and petiole in dorsal view. © E. Ockermüller.

Figs 4-5: Polyrhachis (Myrmhopla) kubani nov.sp., holotype. (4) Habitus in lateral view; (5) habitus in dorsal view. © E. Ockermüller.