Pristocera agraensis ( Kurian, 1952 ) Singh & Colombo & Shreevihar & Pandey & Tribull, 2021

Singh, Sudhir, Colombo, Wesley D., Shreevihar, Santhosh, Pandey, Vijay P. & Tribull, Carly M., 2021, Rediscovery of Kurian’s types of Hymenoptera at Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, India with notes on Indian bethylid fauna, Zootaxa 5019 (1), pp. 1-90 : 68

40. Pristocera agraensis ( Kurian, 1952) comb. nov.

Figs 40 , A–L; 51 , M–N.

Pristepyris agraensis Kurian, 1952 , 1: 68, 69, Figs: 13–17.

Type locality: Botanical Garden , St. John’s College, Agra, India (♂ holotype, NFIC-FRI) .

Diagnosis. Male. Length about 7.0 mm. General colour black. Head as long as wide; frons weakly coriaceus; ocelli distinct, anterior to supra-ocular line; eye glabrous; median clypeal lobe conspicuous, anterior margin rounded, longer than lateral ones; mandible tetradentate; antenna with sparse pubescence, scape 4.0 × longer than pedicel, pedicel shorter than first flagellomere. Pronotum weakly coriaceous; mesonotum shorter than pronotal dorsal area; notauli complete, longer than parapsidal signum; mesoscuto-mesoscutellar suture sulcate, smooth. Metapectalpropodeal disc as long as wide; metapostnotal median carina present; first abdominal spiracle dorsally placed. Tarsal claw trifid. Wings nearly hyaline; forewing with pterostigma dark brown; hind wing with six hamuli. Metasoma polished; ninth abdominal sternum divided into two plates. Genitalia: Harpe simple, longer than gonostipes in dorsal view, apex rounded, not arched inward, with small digitiform projection; gonostipes narrow, not covering aedeagal base; cuspis very short, apex anterior to apex of harpe; digitus with apex posterior to apex of cuspis, its posterior margin smooth; aedeagus trapezoidal, its apex posterior to apex of digitus. Female. Unknown.

Material examined. Holotype: [ INDIA, Uttar Pradesh,] Agra, St John’s College, Botanical Garden , 10-VIII- 1949, Chandy Kurian coll.

Type conditions. Holotype partly dissected and mounted on slide Nº. 5/B and remaining rested on the pin. Pinned: body complete and intact, head with left antenna, mesosoma with right pair of wings, left pro- and metalegs, right metaleg, some coxae and metasoma. On slides : S1 C1—one forewing and one hind wing. S1 C2—one pro and one metaleg, both without coxa; one antenna.

Remarks. Kurian (1952, p. 68, 69) provided a detailed description of the holotype with drawings. The male genitalia, ninth abdominal sternum, two apical tergites and a last sternite were dissected from the metasoma and mounted on slide S1 under three small rectangular covers. We observed the body length (about 7 mm), the mandibles robust and large, the metanotum with metanotal trough foveolate, and the ninth abdominal segment divided into two plates. As indicated by Zamprogno & Azevedo (2014), these observations support the placement of this species in Pristocera .

Hosts. Unknown.

Figures

FIGURE 40. A–L. Pristocera agraensis (Kurian, 1955) comb. nov. Holotype. A. Habitus, lateral view; B. Head, frontal view; C. Antenna; D. Mesosoma, dorsal view; E. Mesosoma, lateral view; F. Metapectal-propodeal disc, dorsal view; G. Forewing; H. Legs, left pro- and right metaleg; I. Metasoma, dorsal view; J. Tip of Metasoma, ventral view, showing bifurcated hypopygium; K. Slide of holotype; L. Labels.

FIGURE 51. A–N. Male genitalia. A–B. Goniozus madrassippattanami Kurian, 1955, paratype. A. dorsal view; B. ventral view; C–D. Goniozus salvadorae Kurian, 1954b, paratype; C. dorsal view; D. ventral view; E–F. Goniozus thalasodi Kurian, 1955, holotype; E. dorsal view; F. ventral view; G–H. Epyris indicae (Kurian, 1955), holotype; G. dorsal view; H. ventral view; I–J. Epyris manii Kurian, 1955, holotype; I. dorsal view; J. ventral view; K–L. Holepyris patnae (Kurian, 1955), holotype; K. dorsal view; L. ventral view; M–N. Pristocera agraensis (Kurian, 1955), holotype; M. dorsal view; N. ventral view.