Ophrella seagi, Vilhelmsen, 2016
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publication ID |
https://dx.doi.org/10.3897/jhr.51.9075 |
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publication LSID |
lsid:zoobank.org:pub:09799B9B-839C-499C-A531-B1FE299B3ECC |
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persistent identifier |
https://treatment.plazi.org/id/F9659E25-6E4D-4FBF-A329-FEE6F0195029 |
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taxon LSID |
lsid:zoobank.org:act:F9659E25-6E4D-4FBF-A329-FEE6F0195029 |
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scientific name |
Ophrella seagi |
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sp. n. |
Ophrella seagi sp. n.
Figs 4 View Figure 4 , 5 View Figure 5 , 6 View Figure 6
Holotype.
Female. ' FRENCH GUIANA, Montagne des Chevaux : 4°44'56"N - 52°26'28"W, alt. 75 m, Window Trap, SEAG leg., 4.ix.2013 / Ophrella seagi Vilhelmsen, 2016 female det. L. Vilhelmsen 2016/ Holotype /NHMD000071774'. NHMD. GoogleMaps
Paratype.
Male. FRENCH GUIANA, Montagne des Chevaux : 4°44'56"N - 52°26'28"W, alt. 75 m, Window Trap, SEAG leg., 28.xii.2013. NHMD000071775 GoogleMaps .
Description.
Female. Body length 9.2 mm, fore wing length 5.9 mm. Body predominantly black (Fig. 4A View Figure 4 ). Small brownish spot situated laterally on frons, just median to lower part of eye (Fig. 4B View Figure 4 ). Antenna and mouthparts dark brown to black, Antennomeres 9-10 slightly paler (Fig. 4C View Figure 4 ). Fore femur black, fore tibia and tarsus dark brown; mid leg dark brown to black throughout, except for brown trochanters; hind coxa brown, hind femur laterally with large brown area, remainder of hind leg black (Fig. 5B View Figure 5 ). Fore wing predominantly heavily infuscated, with dense covering of short coarse dark hairs (Fig. 4A View Figure 4 ); pterostigma with basal half pale; small hyaline spot situated between basal parts of M+Cu and anal veins, narrowing hyaline band extending from pterostigma proximally of vein 2r to hind margin, apex of wing hyaline; venation predominantly dark brown, except for vein M clear in median hyaline band. Hind wing weakly infuscated in anterior and distal parts, otherwise more or less hyaline, venation dark to light brown (Fig. 4A View Figure 4 ).
Ocellar corona narrow, distance between median ocellus and lateral coronal tooth subequal to ocellar width (Fig. 4B View Figure 4 ); ocellar teeth raised on low swellings with finely imbricate sculpture forming drop-shaped concavity around median ocellus; swellings converge dorsally, dorsalmost coronal teeth situated dorsal to lateral ocelli, teeth separated medially by narrow longitudinal furrow. Frons coarsely areolate, without dorsal transverse and longitudinal carinae, irregular swelling present in middle; hairs on frons slender, inconspicuous; ventral transverse frontal carina with distinct median notch. Vertex and gena areolate-punctate, dense silvery pilosity on vertex posterior to dorsal part of eyes (Fig. 5A View Figure 5 ), pilosity on posterior part of head otherwise inconspicuous; postocular carina absent (Fig. 4C View Figure 4 ), occipital carina well developed, without concavity dorsally. Antennomeres 9-10 slender, antennomere 10 [missing on right antenna] more than three times as long as broad, tapering distally (Fig. 4C View Figure 4 ).
Pronotum with prominent transverse carina anterodorsally, carina medially with distinct notch (Fig. 5A View Figure 5 ); pronotum areolate dorsally, glabrous with scattered punctures anterolaterally. Fore femur without ventral carina. Mesoscutum and mesoscutellum areolate, sculpture of equal density, no conspicuous pilosity (Fig. 5A View Figure 5 ); mesoscutellar sulcus deep, interrupted medially by small triangular projection from mesoscutellum; mesoscutellum raised relative to surrounding sclerites, laterally separated by narrow glabrous strip, posterior margin parallel with anterior margin of metanotum for some distance. Mesopleuron laterally coarsely areolate-punctate, ventrally micropunctate with slender pilosity; mesepisternal carina situated anterolaterally on mesopleuron. Metanotum coarsely areolate, with median longitudinal carina absent, lateral carina present; metepisternum predominantly glabrous. Hind coxa with dense pilosity laterally; hind femur with well-developed triangular protrusion laterodistally (Fig. 5B View Figure 5 ); hind tibia with 22-23 pegs in two rows dorsally, longitudinal carinae laterally and ventrally, and two apical tibial spurs.
Fore wing vein 2r arises 0.7 from base of pterostigma; vein cu-a inserts on Cu1 approx. 0.3 from proximal end of cell M (Fig. 4A View Figure 4 ).
Tergum 1 areolate (Fig. 5A View Figure 5 ), laterally with distinct postspiracular and subspiracular carina separated by prominent concavity with elongate hairs. Terga 2-6 finely areolate-punctate, without conspicuous pilosity, tergum 2 laterally with weakly developed carina in continuation of subspiracular carina on tergum 1, tergum 2 with smooth dark anterolateral area approx. twice as wide as long and adjacent to antecosta of tergum. Terga 7-8 more irregularly rugose, tergum 8 with prominent projection medially on posterior margin (Fig. 5B View Figure 5 ). Tergum 9 ventrally with spicules, longitudinal carina only present as short lobe posteriorly. Sterna 3-7 punctate.
Male. Body length 4.8 mm, fore wing length 3.2 mm. Body uniformly dark brown to black, even more so than female (Fig. 6A View Figure 6 ). Appendages and mouthparts dark brown to black, legs slightly paler towards apex, hind trochanters light brown. Fore wing infuscated almost throughout, not as heavily as in female, infuscation fades towards apex (Fig. 6C View Figure 6 ); pterostigma predominantly pale, with brown medial spot in distal half; venation dark brown proximally and anteriorly, light brown distally and posteriorly, vein M proximally hyaline.
Less pilose on top of head and on hind coxa than in female. Mesoscutellar sulcus not interrupted medially. Hind tibia with 22-23 pegs in two rows dorsally. Fore wing vein 2r arises 0.63 from base of pterostigma (Fig. 6C View Figure 6 ). Sternum 9 with three posteriorly directed spines, one anteromedially and two posterolaterally, sternum 9 terminating in stubby projection (Fig. 6A View Figure 6 ).
Etymology.
Named to acknowledge the contributions of Société Entomologique Antilles Guyane (SEAG) to further the exploration of the diversity of Orussidae in the Neotropics.
Comments.
The female and male that have been assigned to Ophrella seagi were collected in the same locality, albeit almost four months apart. There are some differences between the two specimens in the coloration of the body and appendages, and in the degree and pattern of infuscation of the fore wing (compare Figs 4 View Figure 4 - 6 View Figure 6 ), but this is within the degree of variation observed in other known species of Orussidae , especially between sexes (e.g., Vilhelmsen and Smith 2002, Blank et al. 2010).
Ophrella seagi has a unique combination of characters that differs somewhat from the other members of Ophrella . The generic placement is based on the presence of a median longitudinal furrow between the posteriormost coronal teeth (Figs 4B View Figure 4 , 6B View Figure 6 ; less developed in O. seagi than in O. amazonica and O. eldorado ), the presence of an elongate antennomere 10 (at least three times as long as broad; Fig. 4C View Figure 4 ), and the position of the fore wing vein cu-a on Cu1 some distance from vein M (Figs 4A View Figure 4 , 6C View Figure 6 ); all these characters are unique within the ophrynopine clade. Previously diagnostic features suggested for Ophrella , e.g., the presence of flattened, leaf-shaped setae ( Middlekauff 1985) and the presence of only one hind tibial apical spur ( Vilhelmsen et al. 2013) are not observed in O. seagi and cannot be upheld as potential autapomorphies for Ophrella . Nevertheless, the monophyly of the genus, including O. seagi , is well supported, and it is still possible to identify O. seagi correctly to Ophrella in the genus key in Vilhelmsen et al. (2013).
Ophrella seagi is a very distinct species, especially when compared to the other two species in Ophrella . The most distinctive feature is the prominent, medially subdivided transverse carina on the dorsal part of the pronotum (Figs 4C View Figure 4 , 5A View Figure 5 , 6A View Figure 6 ); O. eldorado also has a transverse carina, but it is less developed and not subdivided medially ( Vilhelmsen et al. 2013, fig. 7d). Like many other morphological features observed in Hymenoptera pupating in wood, the carina might help the wasp escaping from the wood after eclosion (see Vilhelmsen and Turrisi 2011), probably acting as a brace when the wasp is digging its escape tunnel with the mandibles. A possible analogue occurs in several species of Aulacidae , another family of woodliving parasitoid wasps. Some species of Pristaulacus Kieffer, 1900 have a prominent, medially interrupted transverse crest anteriorly on the mesoscutum ( Turrisi and Vilhelmsen 2010, fig. 14). Topologically it is in a similar position, i.e., anterodorsally on the thorax, indicating a similar function; morphologically it is developed on a different part (mesoscutum in the Aulacidae , pronotum in Orussidae ), perhaps because the pronotum is weakly developed medially in most Aulacidae ( Turrisi et al. 2009; char. 25).
Ophrella seagi also differs from the other Ophrella species in having slender setae on the frons and around the ocellar corona (Fig. 4A,B View Figure 4 ) (the setae are leaf-shaped in O. amazonica Vilhelmsen et al. (2013, fig. 4d), flattened and elongate in O. eldorado Vilhelmsen et al. (2013, fig. 4e)); not having dense pilosity behind the eyes and not having a postocular carina (Fig. 4C View Figure 4 ; compare with Vilhelmsen et al. 2013, figs 5c, 7a); this carina is present in most other members of the ophrynopine clade. The 9th antennomere in the female is slender and without a lateral carina in O. seagi (Fig. 4C View Figure 4 ), unlike O. amazonica and O. eldorado . The mesoscutum is less pilose, and the mesoscutellum is more coarsely sculptured in O. seagi and it is delimited more clearly from the surrounding sclerites (Fig. 5A View Figure 5 ; compare with Vilhelmsen et al. 2013, figs 6 c, 7c). A ventral longitudinal carina is absent from the fore femur in O. seagi , whereas the mesepisternal carina is well developed (Fig. 6A View Figure 6 ). There is only one short hind tibial apical spur present in O. amazonica and O. eldorado ( Vilhelmsen et al. 2013, figs 6d, 7e), whereas O. seagi has two larger spurs. O. seagi has at least the basal part of the fore wing pterostigma pale in both sexes (Figs 4A View Figure 4 , 6C View Figure 6 ), the other Ophrella species have at most a pale spot basally ( Vilhelmsen et al. 2013, fig. 8b). In the male of O. seagi , the fore wing is more evenly infuscate than in O. eldorado and abdominal sternum 9 has a distinct stubby projecting (Fig. 6A View Figure 6 ) as opposed to a raised rim in O. eldorado ( Vilhelmsen et al. 2013, fig. 8e); males of O. amazonica have still not been collected.
No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.
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