Clystopsenella pacifica, Lepeco & Melo, 2022

Lepeco, Anderson & Melo, Gabriel A. R., 2022, Synopsis of the wasp genus Clystopsenella Kieffer (Hymenoptera: Scolebythidae), Zootaxa 5134 (1), pp. 125-134 : 129-132

Clystopsenella pacifica sp. nov.

( Fig. 3A–D ; 4A, C )

Diagnosis. Head shorter than maximum width; frontal line indicated as deep sulcus only near level of antennal foramina ( Fig. 4A ); fore wing membrane with light yellowish translucent band across region of pterostigma, lacking distinct dark spots around apex of radial and marginal cells; margin of pterostigma within marginal cell outcurved ( Fig. 3B ); occipital carina completely absent; medial lobe of clypeus absent ( Fig. 4A ); sublateral tooth of clypeus more prominent in relation to lateral acetabular lobe; medial elevation of the sternum V distinctly pronounced, forming bare triangular declivity ( Fig. 3D ); antenna with scape and pedicel yellowish and flagellum light brown; punctation on frons homogeneously dense between eye and frontal line, with interspaces not exceeding diameter of anterior ocellus ( Fig. 4A ); mesepisternum not depressed dorsad mesepisternal pit, posteriorly with slight sulcus coming from pit to posterior edge of sclerite ( Fig. 3C ); and mesoscutum densely punctate between notauli, with interspaces not exceeding diameter of anterior ocellus ( Fig. 4C ).

Description. Female. Measurements. Approximate body length, 7.00 mm. Fore wing length, 3.99 mm. Maximum head width, 1.04 mm. Maximum head length, 0.99 mm. Basal mandibular width, 0.23 mm.

Color. Head mostly dark brown, lighter near mandibles and hypostoma. Mesosoma dark brown. Metasomal segments mostly reddish brown, becoming lighter towards posterior margin of sclerites. Mandible light reddish brown. Antenna with scape and pedicel yellowish, flagellum light brown. Palpomeres and legs yellowish. Wing membranes mostly hyaline, with light yellowish translucent band across region of pterostigma; wing veins mostly light brown, pterostigma brown. Body pubescence entirely pale yellow to white; setae on wing membranes pale yellowish.

Pubescence. Sparse overall. Apical margin of clypeus and frons with short and dense setae. Scape and pedicel with tiny erect setae, denser on flagellum, with slightly longer erect setae intermixed. Compound eye almost glabrous, except for tiny scattered setae. Pronotum, mesoscutum and scutellum with dense coverage of setae. Propleura, mesepisternum and tibiae with distinctly long setae, longest setae on tibiae longer than twice tibial diameter. Dorsal portion of terga with sparse shorter setae, lateral portions with distinctly longer setae; setae becoming longer toward apex of metasoma. Sterna I-IV with sparse, long setae on disc. Sternum V with erect long setae on disc and pre-marginal line of shorter setae laterally which merges with medial tuft of appressed setae situated before posterior margin. Pubescence of fore wing formed by regularly spaced short setae, their length subequal to width of vein Rs on marginal cell.

Structure. Head. Mandible with four apical teeth, ventral tooth larger, remaining teeth progressively smaller. Clypeus transverse, strongly emarginated by antennal foramina; apical margin with incurved apex, without medial lobe; sublateral tooth well developed, more prominent than lateral acetabular lobe. Malar space about two-thirds of basal width of mandible. Tentorial pits distanced from antennal foramina by about 0.5× foramen width. Frons gently convex, densely punctate below level of ocelli, spaces between punctures not exceeding 2× puncture diameters; frontal line clearly indicated near anterior ocellus, very faint at mid length, portion near antennal foramina and below eye level, indicated as narrow sulcus. Compound eyes parallel, oval, inner margin outcurved. Anterior ocellus positioned anteriorly to posterior tangent of compound eyes. Posterior ocelli separated from each other by about 1.5× distance from anterior ocellus. Vertex gently arched, extending beyond posterior ocelli, in lateral view, by almost maximum width of eye. Distance between hypostomal cavity and occiput, along medial line, about basal width of mandible. Hypostomal cavity forming wide arch ending at mandibular bases. Occipital carina completely absent. Antennal foramina separated from each other by about their diameter; dorsal portion of antennal rim slightly projected; lateral surface adjacent to foramen gently depressed, without strong adjacent carinae. Antennae. Scape flat, about 2.5× as long as its maximum width. Flagellomeres slightly longer than wide; flagellomere I slightly shorter than flagellomere II. Mesosoma. Pronotum with transverse rugosity anteriorly, pronotal collar short. Propleuron dorsally exposed, strongly produced forward. Prosternum large, diamond-shaped, with faintly impressed longitudinal sulcus. Mesoscutum with well-impressed and complete notauli; densely punctate medially, spaces between punctures not exceeding 4× puncture diameters; parapsidal lines well-marked and reaching transscutal suture posteriorly. Mesoscutellum anteriorly with deeply impressed sulcus; strongly declivitous posteriorly. Mesepisternum without depressed area above level of mesepisternal pit, posteriorly with slight sulcus coming from pit to posterior edge of sclerite. Metanotum distinctly shorter medially, uniformly rugose due to short longitudinal carinae; metanotal troughs well-developed, micro-reticulate. Ventral portion of metepisternum narrow, but separating metacoxae; sulcate medio-posteriorly. Metapostnotum well-defined, forming short triangle, medial portion distinctly longer than lateral portions; finely reticulate rugose and separated from propodeum by slight step medially which becomes narrow foveate sulcus laterally. Propodeum strongly declivitous; posterior surface with gently impressed medial longitudinal sulcus; spiracle distanced from metapleural line by about 2× its width, entirely on lateral surface of propodeum. Protrochanter inserted baso-laterally on procoxa. Profemur progressively wider apicad, somewhat swollen, ventrally with broad sulcus to receive protibia. First tarsomere of metatarsus about 5× as long as its maximum width. Tibial spur formula: 1:2:2. Tarsal claws simple. Fore wing. Margin of pterostigma within marginal cell strongly outcurved. Submarginal cell relatively short, about 2× as long as maximum width. 2rs-m inserted near base of marginal cell. Marginal cell closed, about 2.5× longer than maximum width; apex away from costal margin of wing. Medial cell rectangular, about 2× longer than maximum width. Vein Cu nebulous distad of m-cu; vein M, distad of submarginal cell, and Cu1 spectral; vein A nebulous distad of cu-a. Distal part of wing membrane with fine microreticulation. Hind wing. Vein A short, about 0.5× length of vannal lobe. Costal margin with four basal and three distal hamuli. Metasoma. Longer than head and mesosoma combined. Tergum I with wide longitudinal sulcus on anterior vertical surface, transition between anterior and dorsal surfaces angled; dorsal surface about 3× as wide as long, its posterior margin arched. Sternum I medially elevated; posterior margin strongly arched. Medial elevation of sternum V distinctly pronounced and with bare triangular declivity.

Type material: Holotype ♀ Costa Rica, Guanacaste, Santa Rosa: “ COSTA RICA: Guan[a]c[a]ste\ Sta. Rosa P[ar]k H[a]c[ie]nda\ 2-23.iii.86\ I.D. Gauld SE.6.C” ( AMNH) . Paratypes: 4 ♀ Costa Rica, Guanacaste, Santa Rosa : same data (2 AMNH, 2 DZUP) .

Etymology. The name is a reference to the locality where the type series was collected, near the Pacific coast of Costa Rica.

Comments. Specimens examined from Santa Rosa National Park consistently exhibit a denser punctation, lighter coloration of antennae and legs, conspicuously dense setation, and a sulcus coming from the mesepisternal pit to the posterior edge of the mesepisternum when compared to C. longiventris . We examined a series of specimens of the latter coming from various localities across the Neotropical region and concluded that, even though C. longiventris may exhibit variations in size and coloration, the characters used to differentiate it from C. pacifica sp. nov. do not overlap. Differences in setation among species of Clystopsenella were already noted by Gauld (1995), which mentions that a female from Santa Rosa National Park exhibited a distinctive pattern of setae on the metasoma. In comparison to C. longiventris , the new species has a slightly denser pubescence on the laterals of the metasomal sclerites, and the specimens mentioned by Gauld (1995) probably correspond to C. pacifica sp. nov., although reexamination of the material is needed to confirm its identity.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Clystopsenella pacifica sp. nov. holotype female: A) habitus, lateral view, scale bar: 1 mm; B) fore wing, scale bar: 0.5 mm; C) mesosoma, lateral view, scale bar: 0.5 mm; D) metasoma, ventral view of terminal sclerites, scale bar: 0.5 mm.

FIGURE 4. Clystopsenella pacifica sp. nov. holotype female (A, C) and C. longiventris female from São Paulo, Brazil (B, D). A, B) head, frontal view, scale bar: 0.5 mm; C, D) mesosoma, dorsal view, scale bar: 0.5 mm. A–B and C–D at same scale.