Cephalastor humeralis, Garcete-Barrett & Hermes, 2010

Garcete-Barrett, Bolívar Rafael & Hermes, Marcel Gustavo, 2010, Two new species of Cephalastor Giordani Soika (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Eumeninae), with a review of the phylogeny of the genus, Journal of Natural History 44 (25 - 26), pp. 1609-1630 : 1614-1620

Cephalastor humeralis n. sp.

( Figures 1, 2 , 7 , 10 , 14 , 31, 33 and 38 )

Diagnosis. This species and C. minarum have a general appearance, colour pattern and mesoscutum profusely micropunctate and pilose among the microgranulated background, similar to the conditions found in the eastern South American species C. bossanova and C. estela ( Figure 13 ). But as in C. minarum , there is a central area devoid of micropunctures and pilosity, which is especially reduced in the present species ( Figure 10 ), the interocellar tubercles are fused together ( Figure 1 ), the cephalic foveae are closer to the lateral ocelli ( Figure 2 ), the propodeal shelf is thicker and the sternum II is more elevated behind the basal crenated groove. The broader ocular sinus ( Figure 1 ), just partially fused pronotal foveae ( Figure 7 ), completely lamellar submedial propodeal carina ( Figure 31 ), regularly curved transverse carina and wellmarked transverse tumescence behind it on tergum I ( Figure 33 ), and yellow-marked pronotal humeri separate this species from Cephalastor minarum ( Figure 10 ).

Description. Holotype female: colouration – black with yellow as follows: basal half of mandibles except small black triangle on the very base; small sub-apical spots, and large basal spots on clypeus; interantennal spot; frontal line; scrobal spots; line on gena; scape beneath; thin dorsal pronotal band projected backwards at humeri; very thin hind pronotal margin becoming suffuse medially; pronotal lobe suffusely; subalar spot; anterior and posterior subtriangular marks on tegula; posterior scutellar band; narrow basal line all along the submedian propodeal carina; tiny condylar maculae adjacent to the bases of mid and hind coxae; most of fore tibia anteriorly and innerly; diffuse apical macula on outer surface of fore femur; suffuse posterior line along mid tibia; tiny suffuse spots on apex of mid and hind femora; thin apical bands on terga and sterna I–V and tergum VI apically. Light reddish brown to chestnut are: sub-apical suffussion on mandible; clypeal apex; posterior surface of scape; pedicel and flagellum beneath (lighter at apical flagellomeres); suffusion on pronotal lobe and along thin hind pronotal margin; tegula; apical suffusion on femora and tibiae (much less visible on mid and hind legs); some suffusion along lateral submarginal carina of propodeum; sternum I apically; lateral suffusion on tergum I; obscure thin lateral suffusion on tergum II. Foveal brushes fulvous. Body covered with short thin brownish appressed pubescence – mostly absent on frons, sides of vertex, gena, upper surface of pronotum and very small mid anterior area of mesoscutum – becoming paler on lower face, clypeus and mesosomal and metasomal sides and venter. Wings yellowish brown, just a bit darker at apex of basal cell and especially along dorsal half of marginal cell. Venation chestnut.

Dimensions: body from frons to apex of tergum II = 6.5 mm. Forewing length = 5.75 mm. Breadth of gena equivalent to 0.73 times the breadth of eye at emargination. Proportion MOW:POL:OOL:MPOL equivalent to 1:2.4:2.1:1.1. Upper surface of tergum I 1.7 times wider than long.

Structure: head, clypeus and mesosoma very finely microgranulated as in other species of the genus. Clypeus evenly convex, bearing some rather sparse macropunctures separated by one to three diameters, just a bit flattened on top and shallowly depressed on apical area. Clypeal apex with margin shallowly concave between teeth, which are separated by just a little more than the interantennal distance. Head with macropunctures separated by 0.5–1 diameter, mostly absent from yellow-marked areas becoming thinner and sparser on upper gena and coarser over the posterior declivity. Vertex tubercles rather square and with some coarse punctures at summit; foveal brushes rather small and narrowly separated from each other, but very dense, obscuring the foveae, which are separated by less than one diameter apart; posterior declivity slightly convex rather than plainly flat. Gena with a narrow precarinal depression widening down behind the lower ocular lobe. Occipital carina rounded at gena and almost straight medially. Anterior surface of pronotum with some few almost undiscernible micropunctures sublaterally adjacent to the carina and macropunctures mostly concentrated in two submedial clusters. Pronotal foveae heartshaped. Pronotal carina well developed, with a slight projection backwards medially in dorsal view and forming a regular arc in frontal view. Humeral angle sharp and slightly pointing upwards. Posterior corner of pronotum without any pretegular ridge-like fold. Pronotal macropunctation much coarser and denser than that of head. Tegulae smoothly reticulo-granulate, semicircular, with a few undiscernible punctures towards the anterior and posterior corners, and without developed outer rim. Macropunctation of mesoscutum coarse and dense anteriorly (a little thinner and denser than that on the upper surface of pronotum), becoming sparser posteriorly.

Micropunctation of mesoscutum rather dense and partially obscuring the microgranulation except for a central spot. Scutellum with broad anterior crenation (thinner than in C. minarum ), slight medial longitudinal depressed line and with macropunctation similar to that of mesoscutum anteriorly, though partly absent from yellow-marked areas. Metanotum with well-marked toothed carina separating the anterior horizontal surface from the posterior almost vertical surface; both surfaces very coarsely striatopunctate/crenate. Mesepisternum irregularly punctate with sparse, small macropunctures. Metapleura and propodeum with very fine and dense microsculpture. Metapleura with almost no macropunctures apart from those along the anterior crenation. Upper surface of propodeum with very coarse and close elongate alveoles separated by thin careniform intervals and as wide as the horizontal surface of metanotum at middle. Lateral surface of propodeum covered with coarse flat-bottomed alveoles separated by thin, flat to slightly convex intervals. Posterior surface of propodeum with some scattered thin macropunctures. Submedial carina complete and lamelliform along all of its extension.

Transvere carina of tergum I regularly circular in frontal view. Tergum I also with a slightly elevated transverse tumescence crossing the middle of its upper surface (steeper behind than in C. minarum ), with a longitudinal small furrow formed by coarse punctation. Sternum I with rather sharp basal transverse carina, higher than the longitudinal carina. Sternum II abruptly elevated sub-basally, proceeded by a wide and longitudinally coarse striate groove in ventral view, and followed by a slightly concave surface in lateral view. Micropunctation of metasoma very fine and dense, scale-like (as in Figure 17 ; compare with Figure 18 ), sparser on the middle of sternum II, and denser and coarser on terga and sterna III–VI. Anterior surface of tergum I with some scattered thin macropunctures; macropunctation coarsely alveolar on the upper surface of the same tergum, especially coarse and dense behind carina and tumescence; very coarsely alveolate with thin careniform intervals on sternum I, except for its mid-apical rim; very fine and sparse on tergum II, becoming denser and coarser towards the apical margin; regularly coarse and sparse on sternum II, with some coarser points close to the hind margin; quite dense but rather fine on terga III and IV apically, and very fine, obscure to almost completely absent on terga and sterna V and VI.

Male unknown.

Type material. Holotype female: BRAZIL: BAHIA: Maracás , ix.1965, F.M. Oliveira ( DZUP).

Etymology. The name refers to the backwards projecting yellow line along the pronotal humeri.

Figures

Figure 38. Collecting record map for species of Cephalastor.

Figures 1–6. (1–2) Cephalastor humeralis (female holotype); (3–4) Cephalastor minarum (female holotype); (5–6) Cephalastor rominae (female holotype); (1, 3, 5) head in frontal view; (2, 4, 6) head in dorsal view. Note: Scale = 0.5 mm.

Figures 7–9. Female anterior surface of pronotum, frontal view. (7) Cephalastor humeralis (female holotype); (8) Cephalastor minarum (female holotype); (9) Cephalastor rominae (female holotype). Note: Scale = 0.5 mm.

Figures 10–13. Female pronotum, mesoscutum and scutellum, dorsal view. (10) Cephalastor humeralis (female holotype); (11) Cephalastor minarum (female holotype); (12) Cephalastor rominae (female holotype); (13) Cephalastor estela (female). Note: Scale = 0.5 mm.

Figures 14–18. (14–16) Habitus: (14) Cephalastor humeralis (female holotype); (15) Cephalastor minarum (female holotype); (16) Cephalastor rominae (female holotype); (17–18) detail of tergum II punctuation: (17) Cephalastor minarum (female holotype); (18) Cephalastor rominae (female holotype). Notes: Scale (14–16) = 0.5 mm; scale (17–18) = 0.25 mm.

Figures 31–34. (31–32) posterior surface of propodeum: (31) Cephalastor humeralis (female holotype); (32) Cephalastor minarum (female holotype); (33–34) tergum I in dorsal view: (33) Cephalastor humeralis (female holotype); (34) Cephalastor minarum (female holotype). Note:Scale = 0.5 mm.