Smicromyrme borkenti Williams, 2019

Williams, Kevin A., Lelej, Arkady S., Okayasu, Juriya, Borkent, Christopher J., Malee, Rufeah, Thoawan, Kodeeyah & Thaochan, Narit, 2019, The female velvet ants (aka modkhong) of southern Thailand (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae), with a key to the genera of southeast Asia, Zootaxa 4602 (1), pp. 1-69 : 28

15c. Smicromyrme borkenti Williams , sp. nov.

( Figs 98–100 )

Diagnosis. FEMALE. This species can be recognized by the following combination of characters: the mandible is narrow tridentate, the mesosoma lacks a scutellar scale, and the pygidium is elongate trapezoidal. Body length 4.5–7 mm. MALE. Unknown.

Description. FEMALE. Body length 6.6 mm. Coloration. Head black, except antennal tubercle, mandible, scape, and pedicel largely orange-brown. Mesosoma, coxae, and femoral bases orange-brown, femoral apices, tibiae, and tarsi brown to black. Metasoma reddish black, except T2 apex yellow-brown. Body setae generally sparse and silvery, except vertex and mesosomal dorsum with scattered silver to golden and erect blackish setae; T2 disc, T4, and T5 setae dense black; and T2 basomedial spot, T2 apex, T3 entirely, and T6 basal tuft with dense whitish silver setae. Head. Width behind eye 0.9 × mesosoma width. Frons, vertex, and gena punctures confluent. Mandible apex narrow tridentate. Clypeus with transverse medially emarginate lamella; basomedial portion with sharp narrow tubercle. Antennal scrobe with arcuate dorsal carina extending nearly to mandible base. Antennal tubercle smooth. Genal carina distinct, forming tooth at hypostomal carina junction. F1 1.7 × pedicel length, F2 1.5 × pedicel length. Mesosoma. Length 1.2 × width. Dorsum of mesosoma with coarse confluent punctures. Side of mesosoma with scattered micropunctures with dense short setae. Mesopleural lamella absent. Humeral carina distinct. Ratio of width of humeral angle, anterior spiracle, narrowest point of mesonotum, propodeal spiracle, and midpoint of propodeum 68:71:65:69:68. Scutellar scale obliterated. Posterior propodeal face reticulate. Lateral and posterior propodeal faces not separated by carina. Metatibio-tarsal ratio 40:16:11:8:6:6. Metasoma. T1 anterior face smooth, posterior with large punctures and dense setae. T2–5 with small dense to confluent punctures. S1 with simple longitudinal carina. T2 felt line 0.3 × T2 total length. T6 with long sub-trapezoidal pygidium, widest subapically; with 15 striae at midpoint, few reaching posterior margin laterally. S6 posterior margin bidentate.

Material examined. Holotype ♀, THAILAND, Krabi, 14 km NNE Krabi, Phnom Bencha Mountain Resort, 8.208 o N 98.937 o E, 80 m: 2.IV.2017, MKT (CSCA). Paratypes (8 ♀), THAILAND: Krabi, 14 km NNE Krabi, Phnom Bencha Mountain Resort, 8.208 o N 98.937 o E, 80 m, 3.IV.2017, MKT (2♀ CSCA) ; Nakhon Si Thammarat, 4.4 km N Hin Tok, Mountainside rubber farm, 8.303 o N 99.849 o E, 7–8.IV.2017, MKT (5♀ CSCA QSBG) ; Trang, Trang, 50 m, 7 o 33'N 99 o 36'E, 27.VII.1986, R. Hensen (1♀ RMNH) .

Distribution. Thailand (Krabi, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Trang).

Etymology. KAW is happy to name this species for dipterist coauthor Chris Borkent, who organized the expeditions and helped to collect many of the mutillid specimens treated here.

Remarks. In having a defined pygidium and lacking a scutellar scale, this species could arguably be placed in Andreimyrme . The mandible, however, is more slender than Andreimyrme and males of that genus have not been found in southern Thailand. We therefore prefer to treat this species as Smicromyrme until additional data are available. The pygidium of this species is similar to that of S. lochius .

Figures

FIGURES 95–106. Mutillinae: Smicromyrmini females V. 95–97. Nemka conjungenda; 98–100. Smicromyrme borkenti, sp. nov.; 101–103. S. lochius; 104–106. S. helarctos, sp. nov. 95, 98, 101, 104. Habitus, dorsal view; 96, 99, 102, 105. Habitus, lateral view; 97, 100, 103, 106. T6.