Pararhabdepyris wafrika 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 : 433-435

Pararhabdepyris wafrika Vargas & Azevedo , sp. nov.

( Figs 8–14 )

Diagnosis. Head dorsally covered with scattered long setae; mandible with one sharpened apical tooth visible and one little inconspicuous tooth; eye with scattered setae; malar groove absent; parapsidal ridge or carina present, notaulus absent; scutellar groove medially deep, evenly wide and laterally joined with wider and deeper oval foveae; metapectal-propodeal complex with one well developed carina and several short stubs arising on the anterior transverse carina, median carina long but incomplete, sublateral carina absent, lateral carina present; mesopleuron with subtegular, anterior and mesopleural foveae; metasomal tergite 2 polished and with pair of oval dull spots at anterior sublateral portion.

Description. FEMALE, holotype. Body length 1.80 mm. Length of forewing 1.26 mm. Colors. Head dark black, clypeus reddish dark castaneous; scape and pedicel pale castaneous; flagellum dark castaneous, mandible base castaneous, apical half pale castaneous and tooth apex castaneous; palpi pale castaneous; mesosoma black, except posterior band of pronotal disc dark castaneous; tegula castaneous; wings hyaline; venation pale castaneous to hyaline; procoxa dark castaneous, meso- and metacoxae light castaneous; trochanters pale castaneous; femora light castaneous with pale castaneous apex; tibiae and tarsi pale castaneous; metasoma dark castaneous lighting apicad.

Head ( Figs 8, 9 ). Mandible with two sharpened apical tooth visible. Clypeus well projected forward, median lobe rounded and very wide, lateral lobe small and narrow, median area elevated. Inter-torular space wider than torulus diameter, sulcate medially. Antenna with appressed pubescence; scape straight, distal diameter wider than proximal one; pedicel longer than wide, with parallel sides in dorsal view and calyx-shaped in lateral view, almost as long as half-length of scape; flagellomeres longer than wide, except for 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 median polished stripe absent, frontal carina present from clypeus to anterior third between eyes. First four antennal segments in ratio of about 5:2:1:1. WH 1.2 × LH. WF 1.0 × HE. WF 0.6 × WH. OOL 0.5 × WOT. VOL 0.2 × HE. Posterior ocelli situated on vertex crest in frontal view. Frontal angle of ocellar triangle obtuse; DAO 0.05 mm, ocellus large; ocellar triangle not compact, POL 2.2 × 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, with stripe of smaller microsculpture from mandible base to eye margin. Gena weakly coriaceous. Occipital carina absent. Hypostomal carina in obtuse angle medially. Palpal formula 5:2; segments with short appressed setae and longer apical and subapical setae, cross-section circular, widened distally except last one.

Mesosoma ( Figs 10, 11 ). Pronotal disc 0.50 × as long as wide, areolate-rugose and imbricate, trapezoidal and with side straight and becoming slightly concave posterad; pronotal collar short and subvertical, anterior pronotal flange vertical; posterior surface of disc polished. Mesoscutum weakly coriaceous; notaulus absent; parapsidal carinae present, complete and parallel; scutellum weakly coriaceous, touching metapectal-propodeal complex; scutellar groove narrow and shallow with lateral deep pit. Metapectal-propodeal complex 0.74 × as long as wide, wholly areolate, median carina incomplete; some short striae emerging from anterior carina; lateral surface inclined so that lateral carina is shifted down; posterior corner surface inclined; spiracle linear and horizontal, above lateral carina, visible in lateral view. Propodeal declivity distinctly concave and areolate; without median carina. Lateral surface of propodeum areolate. Mesopleural anterior fovea irregularly subquadrate; mesopleural fovea with central pit strong and deep posteriorly surrounded by scabrous areolate area; lower and posterior foveae absent, subtegular fovea deep and margins not well defined, with anterior margin distinct and with two conspicuous deep areas, posteriorly continuous with well-developed episternal furrow.

Wings ( Fig 14 ). Forewing elongate, 2.56 × as long as its maximum width, anterior margin fringed with setae decreasing in length from pterostigma to beginning of distal curvature followed by glabrous space; distal margin fringed with setae increasing in length to beginning of straight portion of posterior margin, costal vein absent, 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; pterostigma oblong and short; radial vein as long as subcostal vein. Proximal hamuli separated from remains.

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

Metasoma ( Figs 12, 13 ). 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; segments 4–8 with scattered groups of long setae near posterior margin, more conspicuous dorsally.

MALE unknown.

Material examined. Holotype, ♀, Central African Republic, Prefecture Sangha-Mbaéré, Réserve Spéciale de Forêt, Dense de Dzanga-Sangha, 12.7 km 326°NW Bayanga, 3°00’27”N 16°11’55”E, 420 m, 12–13.v.2001, S. van Noort leg., Malaise trap, CAR 01-M104, lowland rainforest ( ISAM).

Distribution. Central African Republic.

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

Figures

FIGURES 8 – 14. Pararhabdepyris wafrika sp. nov. 8. Head, frontal view; 9. Head, lateral view; 10. Mesosoma, lateral view; 11. Mesosoma, dorsal view; 12. Metasomal spot, dorsal view; 13. Metasoma, dorsal view; 14. Forewing. Scale bar: 20 µm.