Pararhabdepyris arabo Vargas & Azevedo

Vargas, Juan M. & Azevedo, Celso O., 2016, Three new species of Pararhabdepyris Gorbatovsky (Hymenoptera, Bethylidae) from Central Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, Zootaxa 4117 (3), pp. 429-439 : 431-433

Pararhabdepyris arabo Vargas & Azevedo , sp. nov.

( Figs 1–7 )

Diagnosis. Head hirsute densely covered with short setae; mandible with two sharpened apical tooth visible; eye glabrous; malar groove absent; parapsidal furrow present, notaulus absent; scutellar groove narrow medially; metapectal-propodeal complex with twelve discal carinae, median carina complete; mesopleuron with subtegular, anterior and mesopleural foveae; metasomal tergite 2 polished and with pair of oval dull spots present at anterior sublateral portion.

Description. FEMALE, holotype. Body length 2.31 mm. Length of forewing 1.47 mm. Colors. Head dark black; scape dark castaneous and pedicel light castaneous; flagellum castaneous, mandible black; palpi light castaneous; mesosoma black; tegula dark castaneous; wings hyaline; venation light castaneous except subcostal cell and stigma dark castaneous; coxae reddish black; trochanters castaneous; femora reddish castaneous; tibiae castaneous and tarsi light castaneous; metasoma dark castaneous to reddish black with apex dark castaneous.

Head ( Figs 1, 2 ). Mandible with two sharpened apical tooth visible. Clypeus well projected forward, median lobe subtrapezoidal and very wide, lateral lobe small and narrow, median area elevated. Inter-torular space wider than torulus diameter. Antenna with appressed pubescence; scape slightly curve, distal diameter wider than proximal; pedicel longer than wide, almost as long as half of scape; flagellomeres about as long as wide, except by last one 2.0 × as long as wide. Eye oval, bulging, most placed on posterior half of head, sparsely setose. Frons weakly coriaceous, except areolate ventrally, frontal carina absent, frontal median polished stripe present between anterior half of eyes, not reaching anterior ocellus. First four antennal segments in ratio about 4:2:1:1. WH 1.2 × LH. WF 1.2 × HE. WF 0.6 × WH. OOL 0.6 × WOT. VOL 0.2 × HE. Posterior ocelli situated on vertex crest in frontal view. Frontal angle of ocellar triangle right; DAO 0.05 mm, ocellus large; ocellar triangle not compact, POL 3.0 × DAO. Temple in frontal view shorter than malar space, strongly convergent to vertex and posterior to anterior ocellus; genae in frontal view slightly convex and divergent, only visible at malar space level. Vertex slightly convex. Malar space without sub-ocular groove (sub-ocular suture sensu Snodgrass 1997, malar sulcus sensu Yoder et al. 2010) and with stripe of fine sculpture from mandible base to eye margin. Gena coriaceous. Occipital carina absent. Hypostomal carina in obtuse angle medially. Palpal formula 5:2; segments with short appressed setae and some apical long ones, cross-section circular, widened distally, except last one.

Mesosoma ( Figs 3, 4 ). Pronotal disc 0.43 × as long as wide, coriaceous, trapezoidal and with side straight and becoming slightly concave in posterior end; pronotal collar short and subvertical, anterior pronotal flange vertical; posterior surface of disc polished. Mesoscutum weakly coriaceous; notaulus absent; parapsidal carina narrow, almost complete and parallel. Scutellum weakly coriaceous, touching metapectal-propodeal complex; scutellar groove medially narrow and deep, widened at its lateral ends. Metapectal-propodeal complex 0.64 × as long as wide, median carina complete, mostly carinate-striate, rugulose to areolate at 4/5 of disc; lateral and posterior surfaces inclined so that lateral and posterior carinae are shifted down; spiracle oblong, placed above lateral carina, visible in lateral view. Propodeal declivity slightly concave and weakly coriaceous; without median carina. Lateral surface of propodeum areolate. Mesopleural anterior fovea present and subquadrate; mesopleural fovea with central pit strong and deep and postero-dorsal area less sculptured than main area; lower and posterior foveae absent, subtegular fovea well defined, with anterior margin distinct and with two conspicuous deep areas, posteriorly continuous with episternal furrow.

Wings ( Fig 7 ). Forewing 2.69 × as long as its maximum width, anterior margin fringed with setae length decreasing from pterostigma to beginning of distal curvature followed by glabrous space and distal margin fringed with setae length increasing to beginning of straight portion of posterior margin, with one closed cell; costal cell open, narrow and not folded, visible in full dorsal view; median cell sub-rectangular shaped; Rs+M junction angulated by stub of 1cu-a; submedian cell absent; anal fold present, pterostigma oblong and short; radial vein plus stigma as long as subcostal vein inclining prostigma length. Proximal hamuli separated from remains.

Legs. Femora dilated and darker than remaining leg segments; pro- and mesotrochanter as wide as respective femur base, metatrochanter wider than metafemur base; spur of foretibia weaker than protibial one; tarsal formula 5:5:5; tarsi elongate; tarsal claw simple, arched and acute.

Metasoma ( Figs 5, 6 ). Metasoma twice longer than wide, tergite 1 with pair of dorsal spiracles and tergite 2 as long as wide, longer than remains, bearing pair of set of small holes ( Fig. 7 ); segments 4–8 with conspicuous transverse band of long setae near posterior margin, more conspicuous dorsally.

MALE unknown.

Material examined. Holotype, ♀, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, Al-Ajban 24.36°N 55.01°E, 12–19.IX.2006, light trap, A. van Harten leg., [altitude ~ 75 m], ( UFES). Paratype, ♀, YEMEN, Ar Rujum, 16.X.2000, Malaise trap, A. van Harten & A. Harger leg., [altitude ~ 1,900 m] ( CNCI).

Distribution. United Arab Emirates, Yemen.

Etymology. The specific epithet arabo from Sango language is a noun in apposition and means Arabic referring to the type locality.

Remarks. Variations of this species are represented in the Yemen paratype by: eyes glabrous and dark grey; frons slightly convex in lateral view; WH 1.19 × LH; WF 0.54 × WH; OOL 0.45 × WOT; frontal angle of ocellar triangle obtuse; POL 3.2 × DAO; genae in frontal view straight. Pronotal disc 0.58 × as long as wide. Propodeal disc 0.73 × as long as wide; mesopleural anterior fovea not well defined but present below subtegular fovea as triangular areolate area; mesopleural fovea not clearly defined by closed depression; forewing with anterior margin fringed with long setae decreasing in length distally, distal margin fringed with setae increasing in length to the posterior margin, median cell half-moon shaped; Rs+M junction not angulated, hind wing with hamuli evenly spaced to each other.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 7. Pararhabdepyris arabo sp. nov. 1. Head, frontal view; 2. Head, lateral view; 3. Mesosoma, lateral view, 4. Mesosoma, dorsal view; 5. Metasoma, dorsal view; 6. Metasomal spot, dorsal view; 7. Forewing. Scale bar: 10 µm (Fig. 3), 20 µm (Figs 1, 2, 4 – 6), 50 µm (Fig. 7).