Foenobethylus Kieffer, 1913

Várkonyi, Gergely & Polaszek, Andrew, 2007, Rediscovery and revision of Foenobethylus Kieffer, 1913 (Hymenoptera, Bethylidae), Zootaxa 1546, pp. 1-14 : 5-6

Redescription of Foenobethylus Kieffer, 1913

Description of Males.— Length of body ca. 2.5–4 mm, of fore wing ca. 2–3 mm. Body of all currently known species is more or less evenly brown-black.

Head.— Prognathous, flattened and slightly elongate, 1.1–1.4 times as long as wide (measured as the distance between front edge of clypeus and occipital carina vs. maximum width of head at the level of compound eyes), narrowing behind or almost quadrate in dorsal aspect. Eyes bare and oval, their distance to occipital carina 1.0–1.5 times the length of eye in dorsal aspect. Gena short, malar space extremely short. Hind margin of hind ocelli at a distance from occipital carina of 1–1.75 times of their maximum diameter. Ocellar triangle forms a more or less right angle at the anterior ocellus. Occipital carina complete. Clypeus apically moderately convex, medially with a strong longitudinal carina. Clypeal carina continues on the face only as a very weak and short median elevation, much weaker than the carinae above antennal toruli. Antennae with 11 flagellomeres, with short and erect setae. Length-to-width ratios of antennomeres: scape: 3.1–3.4, pedicel: 1.3–1.7, 1st flagellomere: 1.4–1.8, 5th flagellomere: 1.3–1.7. Mandibles with five teeth, the inner tooth is not turned inwards. Maxillary palps with six palpomeres, 1st–3rd short and broad, 4th usually the longest, elongated and slightly broadening towards apex, 5th and 6th elongated and more or less filiform. Labial palps with three short palpomeres.

Mesosoma.— Elongated and flattened, with a length-to-depth ratio of 3.2–3.6 and length-to-width ratio of 2.2–2.6. Propleuron elongated and exposed, hence forming a ‘neck’ as in Gasteruption Latreille. Pronotum elongated and narrowed anteriorly, more or less evenly triangular in dorsal view, laterally very narrow and with lateral sides broadly concave. Mesonotum with notauli strong, reaching the transverse groove in front of scutellum. Mesonotum with parapsidal lines, starting at the transverse groove and reaching ca. 2/3 of the distance to pronotum. Scutellum broad and flat. Metanotum well-developed, in the middle with an anterior emargination or shallow pit opposite of scutellum. Acetabular carina of mesoscutum well-defined. Propodeum elongate, the length-to-width ratio of the upper face (or propodeal disc) ranging from 1.1 to 1.3. Propodeal disc very weakly sculptured, at most finely coriaceous, mostly highly polished. Propodeal carinae missing or defined only in the extreme base, except for lateral and median carinae, which are complete. Propodeum with apical declivity as well as metapleura more roughly sculptured.

Fore wing ( Fig. 2) hyaline, with a dark brown pterostigma. Radius long, with a node or very short vestigial vein in its basal 1/7. Metacarpus extremely short or missing, if present then in the form of a tapered distal point of the pterostigma. Basal vein meeting subcosta at a distance of well over 1.5 times its own length. Cubital (M) vein (sensu Evans 1964) present only in traces in the middle of the wing, not reaching basal vein nor the edge of the wing. Discoidal (Cu) vein sometimes tubular at its extreme base. Subdiscoidal (Cu1) vein vestigial. Fore wing with costal, median and submedian cells closed. Hind wing with four distal hamuli, basal hamuli obsolescent, present only in the form of 1–3 setae longer than the normal setae of the hind wing. Anterior edge of hind wing between costella and distal hamuli slightly concave but without a notch as in Bethylinae . Legs. Fore femur greatly swollen ( Fig. 3 ), with a length-to-width ratio of ca. 2.0–2.6. Mid and hind tibiae with apical spurs uneaqual in length. Tarsal claws small, evenly tapered, with a subbasal tooth. Hind trochanter with or without a ventral spine. Hind femur with or without a furrow ventrally, the ventral surface of femur with one to three spines, teeth or stubs – if the furrow is present, these protuberances and spines are distributed along its edges.

Metasoma.—Gaster flat, smooth and shiny, with seven visible terga. First gastral segment approximately as long as wide, with a short petiole. Subgenital plate: anterior edge with three stalks, distal edge emarginate, lateral borders almost straight. Male genitalia: distal part of parameres with dense hairs, broadening apically, volsella with cuspis and digitus small. Aedeagus very short and complex.

Remarks.—Kieffer’s (1913) original description is based only on a single species and the description itself is by no means satisfactory. Therefore, we redescribed the genus here on the basis of four new species and the original description of F. gracilis Kieffer, 1913 .

Figures

FIGURE 3. Head and mesosoma of Foenobethylus emiliacasellae n. sp., showing the greatly swollen fore femur.