Digonocryptus varipes ( Brullé, 1846 )

Aguiar, Alexandre Pires & Ramos, Adriana C. B., 2011, 2846, Zootaxa 2846, pp. 1-98 : 71-73

Digonocryptus varipes ( Brullé, 1846)

Figs 21, 22, 99, 100, 112, 214, 254

Mesostenus varipes Brullé, 1846:238 . ♀, ♂ Description.

Mesostenus varipes: Dalla Torre, 1902:548 . Emendation.

Digonocryptus varipes: Townes and Townes, 1966:127 . Generic transfer.

Digonocryptus varipes: Yu and Horstmann, 1998:241 . Listed.

Description. FEMALE. Fore wing 13.4 mm.

Head. Ventral tooth of mandible slightly longer than dorsal tooth. Clypeus apical area delimited medially by brief emargination or incision; clypeal margin with two weak teeth. Antenna with 26 flagellomeres; white band starting at flagellomere V; 5 flagellomeres at least 50% white.

Mesosoma . Mesopleuron glabrous, 100% of cuticular surface visible; mostly polished, smooth, with some weak strigation. Subalar prominence narrow and more or less elongate, not keeled. Sulcus between sternaulus and scrobe absent. Posterior transverse carina of mesosternum absent. Lower metapleuron finely strigate-rugulose. Propodeum: area in front of anterior transverse carina anteriorly polished, smooth, posteriorly weakly alutaceous, medially without ridges. Propodeal apophyses present as weak and small scale-shaped structures. Posterior transverse carina absent. Propodeum behind anterior transverse carinae densely and regularly finely arcuate-strigate, changing to oblique on area between apophyses and apex. Fore wing in Fig. 214; vein 3-Cu 1.60 length of 4-Cu. Hind wing in Fig. 254.

Metasoma. Postpetiole dorsally at level of spiracles weakly concave, forming shallow depression; dorsolateral and median dorsal carinae absent; petiolar spiracles in dorsal view not prominent. Ovipositor 1.39 length of hind tibia. Apex of lower valve with 14 teeth.

Color. Black and yellowish to reddish brown, with pale yellow marks. Lateral pattern as in Fig. 21. Orbital band interrupted at malar space and between 12–3 h; width on supra-antennal area and temple 0.2 of interocular distance, on gena about twice as wide. Supraclypeal area entirely yellow. Clypeus yellow, except apical area black; clypeal sulcus lateral portion black. Mesosoma dorsally from posterior margin of pronotum to propodeal area in front of anterior transverse carina black, yellow marks as follows. Pronotum collar dorsally entirely yellow, pronotum laterally on dorsal margin with elongate yellow spot. Propleuron apex pale yellow; each hemisternite mediolongitudinally broadly yellowish brown, laterally and mesally dark brown. Mesoscutum centrally, at level of tegula, with distinct yellow spot between notaulus. Axillar carina, scutellum and postscutellum yellow. Propodeum as in Figs 21 & 22, reddish brown behind anterior transverse carina, with medio-anterior dark brown spot, followed by medio-longitudinal wide yellow stripe; deep sulcus between propodeum and metanotum reddish brown. Fore and mid femora yellowish brown. Hind femur reddish brown, more reddish than in any other part of body, apical 0.3 progressively darker until apex dark brown. Fore and mid tibiae opaque or milky light yellow. Hind tibia also opaque yellow, darker than mid tibia, apical end brown, dorso-apically darkest. Metasoma dorsally black, except as follows. Postpetiole subapically with large round yellow spot. T2 apical margin with yellow stripe ending laterally at a distance from margin of 0.15 tergite width (Fig. 99); thyridium yellow, continuously with yellow of lateral margin (Fig. 99). T3–7 apical margin with yellow stripe of regular width, stripe width narrowing from T3 to T6, on T6 and T7 medially briefly interrupted, on T7 stripe, at point of interruption, on each side, wider and somewhat round (Fig. 100). T8 without yellow visible above.

Morphological variation. Fore wing 9.3–15.6 mm. Ovipositor 1.00–1.39 length of hind tibia. Mesopleuron often distinctly striate. Propodeum with posterior transverse carina sometimes distinct and complete. White on antenna rarely (7%) starting at apex of flagellomere IV. Clypeal sulcus lateral portion sometimes (20%) concolorous with yellow clypeus. Propleuron normally mostly yellowish brown, sometimes with small yellowish or dark brown marks; in one case mostly dark brown. Propodeum varying between all degrees from orange brown to dark reddish brown; often (40%) area in front of anterior transverse carina with small to large areas of yellow laterally, near or around spiracle, and medio-anteriorly. Mid femur sometimes dark brown. Hind femur reddish brown only in homotype, normally entirely or almost entirely dark brown, basal end rarely reddish brown. In one case, T2 apical margin without yellow stripe, and T7 apical margin with stripe widely interrupted medially. T3–7 yellow stripe often complete and of similar width.

MALE. Similar to female, except as follows. Antenna with white band starting at apical 0.3–0.5 of flagellomere IX, with 7–9 fully white flagellomeres. For the two largest specimens examined, pronotum with black replacing orange brown (as for female of D. archisius , Fig. 23). Speculum often yellow. Hind femur varying from entirely orange brown to almost entirely dark brown. Hind tibia apical 0.2 sometimes dark brown. Yellow stripes on apical margin of tergites more variable in shape and width, but all stripes complete, and approximately equal in shape on each specimen.

Comments. The concept for this species is here based on a homotype designated by S. Gupta. For the similar D. archisius we have also examined a specimen labeled “c. w. [compared with] type of Mesostenus varipes Brullè (+ black femur)”; there is no identification of the author who made the comparison; the black femur is indeed atypical. We have accepted Gupta’s comparison as correct because this author formally labeled the specimen as homotype.

Very similar to D. archisius , from which it can be readily isolated by having orbital band of regular appearance, broadly interrupted dorso-posteriorly (vs. protruding towards center and complete; compare Figs 112 vs. 108), and mesoscutum central yellow spot anteriorly round (vs. usually pointed). Males of these two species can be generally separated by the same features which characterize the respective females, and by the white band of antenna starting at apex of flagellomere IX in D. varipes (vs. VII or VIII). The highly variable presence of black on the hind femur of this species, for both sexes, seems to be of little or no taxonomic use.

Material examined. 18 females, 5 males. Homotype ♀ “ Corcovado, Guan. // IX. 1969, Brazil // Alvarenga&Seabra”; “HOMOTYPE// Mesostenus // varipes Br. // V.K.GUPTA 19” [blue]; “ Digonocryptus // varipes // S.GUPTA, 198 Br” ( AEIC) . Other specimens : ♀ “ BRASIL:RJ: Rio de Janeiro // Parque Estadual do Desengano // 21°50’S 41°40’W Trilha, pt.7// 20–23.IV.2002 Bandejas Amarelas// AMPenteado-Dias et al. leg.// BIOTA- FAPESP” ( DCBU) . ♀ “ BRASIL:RJ: St. Maria Madalena // Parque Estadual do Desengano // 21°59’03.9”S 41°57’08.4”W // Bandejas Amarelas 560m // 16–19.IV.2002 Trilha, pt.8// AMPenteado-Dias et al. leg.// BIOTA- FAPESP” ( DCBU) . ♀ “S. Bocaina , 1650m.// S.J.Barreiro,S.P.// XI. 1969 Brazil // Alvarenga&Seabra” ( AEIC) . ♀ “ Campina Grande // nr. Curitiba // 23.II.66 Brazil // H. & M. Townes ” ( AEIC) . ♀ “ Campina Grande // nr. Curitiba // II-16-66 Brazil // H. & M. Townes ” ( AEIC) . ♀ “ BRASIL:RJ: St. Maria Madalena // Parque Estadual do Desengano // 21°59’03.9”S 41°57’08.4”W // 16–19.IV.2002 Trilha, pt.10// Bandejas Amarelas 560m // AMPenteado-Dias et al. leg.// BIOTA-FAPESP” ( DCBU) . ♀ “S. Antônio do Imbé // S. M. MADALENA// E. Rio BR. I-1961 // M. Alvarenga leg ” ( DZUP) . ♀ “Itatiaia Nat. Pk.// RiodeJan. , Brazil // Sept. 8, 1967 // Moacir Alvarenga” ( AEIC) . ♀ “COLOMBO - PR // EMBRAPA Br 476 Km 20// BRASIL 06.X.1986 // Lev. Ent. PROFAUPAR// MALAISE” ( DZUP) . ♀ “ BRASIL:SP: Salesópolis // Est. Biol. Boracéia // Trilha dos Pilões, pt.1// 23°38’05.9”S 45°53’52.6”W // 19–22.IV.2003 Bandejas Amarelas// APAguiar et al. leg.” ( MZUP) . ♀ “ Est. de S. Paulo // C.de Jordâo // 22-1 1936 / / F.Lane coll.” ( MZUP) . ♀ “ 21.XII.1897 // E. DE// S. PAULO// Iguapé [ A.N.?]” ( MZUP) . ♀ “ BRASIL:RJ: Nova Iguaçu // Res. Biol. do Tinguá // 22°34’33”S 43°26’08”W 6–9.III.2002 Trilha, pt.8// Bandejas Amarelas// STPAmarante et al. leg.// BIOTA-FAPESP” ( MZUP) . ♀ “ Rio de Janeiro // III-5-66 Brazil // H. & M.Townes ”; “ Digonocryptus // sp.19// Tow. 1957” ( AEIC) . ♂ “DPTº ZOOL// UF-PARANÁ”; “ Chap. Guimarães-MT// 22–25.XI.1983 // Exc.Dep.Zool-UFPR// (Polonoroeste)// Malaise” ( DZUP) . ♂ “DPTº ZOOL// UF-PARANÁ”; “ Chap. Guimarães- MT// 03.XII.1983 // Exc.Dep.Zool-UFPR// (Polonoroeste)// Malaise” ( DZUP) . ♂ “ReprêsaRioGrande// V´72 Guana. Brazil // M. Alvarenga ” ( AEIC) . ♂ “ Quatro Barros // nr. Curitiba // II-5-66 Brazil // H. & M. Townes ”; “ Digonocryptus // sp. 19?// S. Gupta, 198” ( AEIC) . ♀ “BRA: ES, Cariacica // RES. Biol. Duas Bocas // Pau Amarelo // 24–26.X.2005 YPT// APAguiar et al. leg. Pt 11”; “ Digonocryptus sp. // BFSantos det 2007” ( UFES) . ♀ “BRA: ES, Cariacica // RES. Biol. Duas Bocas // Pau Amarelo // 23–25.X.2005 YPT// APAguiar et al. leg. Pt 17” ( UFES) . ♀ “BRA: ES, Cariacica // RES. Biol. Duas Bocas // Pau Amarelo // 25–27.X.2005 YPT// APAguiar et al. leg. Pt 12” ( UFES) . ♂ “BRA: ES, Cariacica // RES. Biol. Duas Bocas // Pau Amarelo // 23–25.X.2005 YPT// APAguiar et al. leg. Pt 18” ( UFES) .

Distribution. Brazil (Atlantic Forest of ES NR, RJ, MG, SP NR, PR NR).