Alobevania tavaresi Kawada & Deans

Deans, Andrew R. & Kawada, Ricardo, 2008, Alobevania, a new genus of neotropical ensign wasps (Hymenoptera: Evaniidae), with three new species: integrating taxonomy with the World Wide Web, Zootaxa 1787, pp. 28-44 : 36-37

Alobevania tavaresi Kawada & Deans , n. sp.

( Figs. 4 , 7 , 12 )

Male. Head: Lower face with pale area medially. Torulus above midline of eye. Thin, short carina between toruli, ending in the middle of the frons. Eye 0.4 times head height. Epistomal declivity of clypeus divergent. Gena nitid, sometimes lighter brown. Malar space 0.4 times eye height. Clypeal process evenly round but appearing pinched. Vertex obscurely punctuate. Scape and pedicel brown (lighter than flagellum). Flagellomeres 1–5 uniformly brown; flagellomeres 6–11 light brown to yellow ventrally. Mandible light brown, with reddish margins and 4 reddish teeth on anterior face of mandible (5 teeth total).

Mesosoma: Propleuron punctuate. Mesopleuron nitid medially (in concave area); Antero-dorsal corner of mesopleuron with rugulose patch. foveolate on ventral third; posterior edge with areolate trough. Mesoscutum and scutellum nitid to obscurely punctuate, evenly brown. Notaulus nearly linear to obscuring sinuous. Parapsidal furrow present as an obvious line. Tegula dark brown. Metapleuron rugulose dorsally, becoming areolate posteriorly (at the articulation with the propodeum); nitid anteriorly, with some punctures ventrally.

Mesosternum mostly nitid. Metasternum densely rugose. Posterior face of propodeum (ventral to the articulation with the petiole) alveolate; dorsal surface of the propodeum rugose. Legs fade to lighter brown towards apices. Mid and hind tibiae sometimes with light brown patches on posterior surfaces. Hind leg faintly imbricate, with short setae.

Wings: Fore wing with 6 cells enclosed by tubular veins. 2Mb and 3M vein spectral. 3CU vein nebulous. Hind wing with three adjacent hamuli.

Metasoma: Gaster elliptical, much less than half the size of the mesosoma in lateral view. Petiole arched dorsally, setose, 5 times longer than medial width, as tall as wide, flaring posteriorly; lateral surface rugulose; dorsal and ventral surfaces faintly rugulose.

Female description: As for male except: eye strongly elliptical, flatter, smaller (0.6 times head height). Mesopleuron foveolate-punctate ventrally. Notaulus sinuate. Tegula light brown. Petiole 4 times longer than medial width. Gaster only slightly smaller than mesosoma in lateral view. Ovipositor short, straight, concealed.

Holotype: male, VENEZUELA, Aragua, Parque Nacional H[enri] Pittier, Rancho Grande, env[irons], 1100m, 09.iv.1994, L. Masner col[lector], V94 -SS, voucher DERV094a ( CNC) [Morphbank].

Paratypes: 2 males, VENEZUELA, Aragua, Parque Nacional H[enri] Pittier, Rancho Grande, env[irons], 1100m, 09.iv.1994, L. Masner col[lector], V94 -SS, voucher DERV096a ( NCSU) [Morphbank], voucher DERV096b ( CNC) [Morphbank]. 1 female, VENEZUELA: Aragua, Rancho Grande: 9.vii.1988 – 27.vii.1988, C. Porter & L. Stange, Malaise trap, voucher DERV100a ( FSCA) [Morphbank]. 3 males, same locality, voucher DERV100b ( FSCA) [Morphbank], voucher DERV100c ( FSCA) [Morphbank], voucher DERV100d ( FSCA) [Morphbank]. 1 male, same locality, 5.vii.1988 – 8.vii.1988, voucher DERV100e ( FSCA) [Morphbank]

Etymology: The specific epithet is a patronym honoring Marcelo T. Tavares, professor and researcher of Chalcididae at Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Brazil.

Web resources: ZooBank LSID; Morphbank image collection; Evanioidea Online descriptive Web page; ToL taxon Web page.

Remarks: Alobevania tavaresi has the most restrictive range of these three species, with collecting events coming from a single locality in Venezuela. This is also the largest species of Alobevania, with most specimens measuring up to 3.0 mm in length (head to metasoma).

Figures

FIGURES 2 – 4. Alobevania head, anterior view; scale bars = 0.25 mm. 2) A. gattiae (Morphbank), 3) A. longisaeta (Morphbank), 4) A. tavaresi (Morphbank).

FIGURES 5 – 7. Alobevania lateral mesosoma; scale bars = 0.5 mm. 5) A. gattiae (Morphbank), 6) A. longisaeta (Morphbank), 7) A. tavaresi (Morphbank).

FIGURES 10 – 12. Alobevania dorsal mesosoma and head; scale bars = 0.5 mm. 10) A. gattiae (Morphbank), 11) A. longisaeta (Morphbank), 12) A. tavaresi (Morphbank).