Habropoda christineae, Dubitzky, 2007

Dubitzky, Andreas, 2007, Revision of the Habropoda and Tetralonioidella species of Taiwan with comments on their host-parasitoid relationships (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Apidae), Zootaxa 1483 (1), pp. 41-68 : 47-54

Habropoda christineae , sp. n.

( Figs 1A, B , 2E, F , 3 , 4G, H, 5C)

Female. BL: 11.2–13.4 mm (12.3 mm). FWL: 8.9–9.2 mm (9.0 mm).

Structure. Head triangular, about 1.3 times broader than long. Proboscis medium long in repose, extending beyond the forecoxae. Galea smooth and shiny with sparse, shallow punctures. Stipites smooth and shiny. PMX4 and PMX5 equal in length. Mandible strongly punctured basally. Labrum nearly twice as broad as long, irregularly punctured. Area near ventral margin of labrum with two small tooth-like projections. Clypeus smooth and shiny with sparse irregular punctation which is smallest and most dense basally. Basal half of clypeus protuberantly rounded, ventral half with flattened, triangular area. SCA protuberant apically, with large, dense punctation and two lateral humps before each antennal insertion. Median ridge of SCA indistinct, flattened. Other parts of head as POA, face, vertex and GA shiny with small, dense punctation. Scape about as long as following three AS together, with large and dense punctation on ventral side. AS 3 conical, becoming increasing broader from base to apex, nearly as long as AS 4 and AS 5 together. AS 4 slightly broader than long. AS 5 nearly as broad as long, AS 6– AS 11 distinctly longer than broad. AS 12 twice as long as broad. Mesoscutum smooth and shiny, with very dense and distinct punctation. Scutellum rounded, weakly tessellated, punctation similar to mesoscutum with slightly notched median line. Metanotum with dull area in the middle, lateral parts with large, distinct punctation, more shiny. Propodeum strongly tesselate, dull, with indistinct and small but dense punctation, except impunctate, smooth to weakly tesselate, triangular area in the middle. Structure of pronotal lobe and mesepisternum similar to mesoscutum and scutellum. Tegula shiny, with indistinct small punctation. Tarsal segments of foreleg conspicuously truncate ( Fig. 3 ), especially segments 2–4 distinctly broader than long, heart-shaped. T shiny, with small, dense punctation (<1), also on marginal zone. Marginal zone of T2–T3 about one third of total length of T. Dorsolateral convexity of all T distinctly developed. Pygidial plate triangular, strongly tesselate, dull. Apical half of pygidial plate distinctly narrower, apically pointed. All S tesselate, dull with more coarse punctation than on T. Apical margin of S2 and S3 impunctate, shiny.

Integument colour. Colour of body black. Proboscis reddish brown. Mandible brown basally, nearly black apically. Labrum and clypeus chestnut brown. Clypeus sometimes with weak yellowish white marking along ventral margin (one female with additional marking along median line). Antenna black, from AS 4 onwards chestnut brown beneath. Fore and middle leg black to chestnut brown. Mid basitarsus reddish brown. Hind leg brown (femur) to yellowish brown (tibia, tarsus). Claws of all legs yellowish brown basally, dark reddish brown apically. Spurs yellowish brown. T1–T4 black, T5 and T6 orange. Pygidial plate yellowish brown basally to black apically. S dark brown basally to transparent yellowish brown apically.

Pubescence ( Fig. 1A ). Labrum regularly covered with medium long, golden brown hairs. Disc of clypeus with sparse inconspicuous short, golden brown hairs. Lateral parts of clypeus with scant, long black hairs. Ventral margin of mandible with yellowish brown hairs apically and long, blackish brown hairs basally. Upper parts of GA covered with long black hairs, lower parts near mandible with long greyish brown hairs. Pubescence of other parts of head black. Scapus with medium long black hairs mostly on ventral side. Thorax densely covered with long black hairs. Ventral surface of thorax and LP covered with long, dark grey hairs. Propodeum covered with short, dark grey hairs except area along median line. Tarsal segments of foreleg conspicuously covered with dense, bottlebrush-like yellowish grey pubescence mostly with the characteristically hooked tips of the hairs ( Fig. 3 ). Pubescence of other parts of foreleg black except small spot of short golden brown hairs on apical part of tibia. Hairs of femur and tibia of middle leg similar to foreleg. Tarsus of middle leg with simple, sparse, yellowish brown hairs, except inner side of basitarsus with dense brush of short orange-brown hairs. Hind leg with relatively long black hairs on coxa and trochanter but short dark grey hairs on ventral surface of femur. Outer side of hind tibia with long and bright orange hairs, in contrast to the relatively short (dorsally) to long (ventrally), dense and simple brown hairs on inner side. Tibial scopa with feathery hairs along ventral (brown) and dorsal margin (dark orange). Hind basitarsus with orange brown hairs about twice as long on outer than on inner side and dense orange hairbrush along apical margin. Other segments of hind tarsus with sparse brown hairs. T1–T2 with regular pubescence of black hairs being longest on basal part of T1. Pubescence of T3 black except an inconspicuous spot of sparse orange hairs in the middle. T4 with dense pubescence of short orange hairs, intermixed with single long black hairs on disc and black hairs laterally. Prepygidial as well as pygidial fimbria of bright orange hairs. S2–S4 with apical hair fringe of long blackish brown hairs, S5 with golden brown hairs and S6 nearly bare with few golden brown hairs apically.

Male. BL: 10.4–12.9 mm (11.5 mm). FWL: 8.0– 8.9 mm (8.5 mm).

Structure. Head triangular, similar to female ( Fig. 2E ). Proboscis and other mouthparts similar to female. Clypeus with more sparse punctation on triangular flattened area than in female. Other parts of head similar to female. Scape as long as following three AS together ( Figs 2E, F ). AS 3 conical, distinctly shorter than in female about as long as AS 4 ( Figs 2E, F ). AS 4– AS 12 longer than broad, AS 13 about twice as long as broad. Thorax in all parts similar to female. Tarsal segments of foreleg longer than broad, not truncate as in female. T as female except pygidial plate absent. S not as intensively tesselate as in female, more shiny. Punctation of S similar to those of T, but more sparse (>1). S7 (Fig. 4G) strongly convex apically. Apical part of S7 funnelshaped in dorsal view. S8 (Fig. 4H) with distinct, broad incision apically, apical margin bilobed.

Integument colour. Body mostly black. Proboscis bright reddish brown. Mandible similar to female except small ivory spot basally. Clypeus ivory except chestnut line along ventral margin and black areas along lateral margins ( Fig. 2E ). Triangular ivory maculation along ventral margin of SCA with distinct incision medially ( Fig. 2E ). Labrum chestnut brown. Antenna black, AS 3– AS 13 dark brown beneath. Foreleg dark brown to chestnut brown. Femur of all legs dark brown except inner side reddish brown. Tibia and tarsus of middle leg brown except pale yellowish brown maculation at tibia apically. Tibia and tarsus of hind leg yellowish brown to orange. Claws of all legs yellowish brown basally, dark brown to nearly black apically. Spurs of all legs yellowish brown. Basal part of T1 chestnut brown, apical part (disc) black. T2–T4 black, except chestnut macu- lations laterally. T5 brown except large, dark brown to black maculation in the middle. T6–T7 bright yellowish brown to orange. S1–S5 chestnut brown basally to yellowish brown apically. S6–S8 transparent amber.

Pubescence ( Fig. 1B ). Labrum with medium long yellowish grey hairs. Disc of clypeus almost bare, with few yellowish grey to black short hairs. Lateral parts of clypeus with scant long black hairs, similar to female. Ventral part of occiput (area around proboscis insertion) and GA with long, greyish white to brownish grey hairs. Pubescence of other parts of head similar to female. Pubescence of thorax similar to female but slightly more pale (blackish brown) dorsally. Foretarsus with simple, yellowish brown hairs (not hooked apically as in female). Pubescence of other parts of foreleg as in female. Femur of middle and hind leg with sparse medium long black hairs. Dorsal surface of tibia of middle and hind leg with short yellowish grey hairs intermixed with single black hairs apically. Ventral surface of tibia of middle and hind leg with sparse, long, black hairs especially along front and hind margins. Mid tarsus with yellowish grey to orange pubescence forming a dense brush of strong hairs ventrally. Pubescence of hind tarsus similar to those of mid tarsus, except row of long sparse hairs along hind margin of basitarsus. T1–T2 with long blackish brown hairs similar to pubescence of mesoscutum, longest on basal half of T1. Pubescence of T3 similar to T2 but intermixed with few single yellowish grey hairs. T4 with black hairs basally and yellowish grey hairs on marginal zone. Pubescence of T5 short, yellowish grey except few black hairs intermixed basally. T6 with yellow pubescence except row of strong black hairs along each lateral margin. Pubescence of T7 completely yellowish orange. Disc of S1–S5 with sparse pubescence of short, simple, yellowish grey hairs. Apical margin of S1–S5 with row of long, feathered, yellow to dark brown hairs. S6 with inconspicuous sparse pubescence of short yellow hairs except strong, dense brush of dark orange hairs in the middle of apical margin. Ventral surface of S7 (Fig. 4G) densely covered with microtricha apically, dorsal surface only along apical margin. Ventral surface of S8 (Fig. 4H) with single microtricha only along apical margin.

Male genitalia ( Fig. 5C ). DGS long, about twice as long as VGS, slightly broadened apically. DGS with distinct brush of long hairs (about half length of ventral process) along apical and inner margin. Inner margin of apical part of DGS straight, without concave incision. VGS ear-shaped, distinctly broader than long, with dense brush of distinct hairs (length about 1/4 of lateral extension of VGS) along inner margin.

Diagnosis. H. christineae sp. n. is very similar to H. tainanicola Strand, 1913 , which occurs in two subspecies, the nominotypical H. t. tainanicola Strand from Taiwan and H. t. maiella Lieftinck from mainland China (Fukien). Superficially the new species could be confused with these two subspecies but it is clearly differentiated by the following characters (character states of the two subspecies of H. tainanicola Strand in parenthesis).

Both sexes: Structure of galea smooth and shiny (structure of galea tesselate, dull); pubescence of labrum shorter, more sparse (pubescence of labrum longer, dense); apical tooth-like projections of labrum short, inconspicuous (apical tooth-like projections of labrum long, distinct); all T completely black (all T black only basally, marginal zone amber transparent); all T polished, shiny with strong, distinct punctation (dull between shallow, indistinct punctation). Females: Pubescence of POA black (yellowish grey); AS 3 continuously becoming broader, twice as long as broad apically, about as long as AS 4 and AS 5 together ( AS 3 cylindrical basally and conical apically, about three times as long as broad apically, distinctly longer (1.3 times) than AS 4 and AS 5 together); ventral part of GA, occiput and mesepisternum with dark brown pubescence (with bright yellowish grey pubescence); foretarsus truncate, with bottlebrush-like pubescence of apically hooked hairs (foretarsus with normal pubescence of apically straight hairs). Males: Clypeus ( Fig. 2E ) ivory, along lateral margins distinctly black (clypeus ( Fig. 2C ) completely yellow, without black along lateral margins); POA and ventral surface of scape ( Figs 2E ) completely black (POA and ventral surface of scape with yellow maculation ( Fig. 2C )); AS 3 ( Fig. 2F ) about as long as AS 4 ( AS 3 ( Fig. 2D ) distinctly longer than AS 4); pubescence of body mostly blackish brown (pubescence of body mostly yellowish brown: H. t. tainanicola Strand ; pubescence dark greyish brown: H. t. maiella Lieftinck, see also Lieftinck 1974); S7 (Fig. 4G) convex rounded apically, ventral surface apically with inconspicuous microtricha (S7 (Fig. 4E) apically concave, ventral surface with distinct, strong and dense hairs apically). S8 (Fig. 4H) with strong and distinct incision apically (S8 (Fig. 4F) with weak, indistinct incision apically); male genitalia as in Fig. 5C , lateral sclerites of penis valve slender, hardly broadened apically (male genitalia as in Fig. 5A , lateral sclerites of penis valve distinctly broadened apically); inner margin of apical spatulate part of DGS ( Fig. 5C ) about half as long as basal part (inner margin of apical spatulate part of DGS ( Fig. 5A ) about as long as basal part); VGS ( Fig. 5C ) distinctly broader than long, with strong, dense hairbrush along inner margin (VGS ( Fig. 5A ) distinctly longer than broad, without distinct hairbrush along inner margin).

FIGURE 4. S7 (A, C, E, G) and S8 (B, D, F, H) of male Habropoda (ventral surface) of Taiwan. A, B, H. bucconis ; C, D, H. sinensis taiwana ; E, F, H. tainanicola tainanicola ; G, H, H. christineae . Scale bars, 500 µm (A, C, E, G), 250 µm (B, D, F, H).

Etymology. This species is named christineae in honour of my beloved mother Christine Dubitzky in gratitude for her tremendous support of me and my studies. She has always encouraged my biological interests and showed great sympathy and tolerance for the diverse zoological pursuits of my youth.

Distribution. H. christineae sp. n. is known from the surroundings of the mountain range near the medium altitude TESRI station Tengchi (1600 m), Kaoshiung Hsien, from Meifeng (2150 m), Tsuifeng (2700 m), Sungkang (2100 m) in Nantou Hsien, Central Taiwan and from Tapinshan (1950 m), Ilan Hsien, North Taiwan. Strangely enough two males were also collected in the low land area of Taiwan: Taichung, Tong-hai University (ca. 310m), Taichung Hsien and in the area of the Taiwan provincial council (ca. 100 m), Nantou Hsien. The collection localities of these males show a strong discrepancy with the altitudinal data of all other specimens of this species. The data from these two male specimens were excluded from the seasonal and altitudinal distribution table ( Fig. 9 ) of the species. As yet, they are the only records for lowland Taiwan, an area that has been more intensively collected than the mountainous regions. It is possible that mislabelling or drifting of specimens by typhoon winds from mountainous to lowland regions of Taiwan may be the reason for their appearance.

Biology. All specimens were collected by the author in Tengchi and taken on Rubus formosensis (Rosaceae) , where females gathered pollen and males patrolled for females.

Type material. Holotype, ♂, TAIWAN: Tengchi , near Taiwan Endemic Species Research Institute ( TESRI), 1600 m, 23°07'N / 120°47'E, 6.VII.2000, leg. A. Dubitzky ( NCHUT) . Paratypes, 35 ♂♂, 11 ♀♀,

TAIWAN: 9 ♂♂, same data as holotype (5 ♂♂ collected on 7.VII.2000) (CAD, NCHUT); 7 ♂♂, same collecting locality as holotype, 6 ♂♂ collected on 6.VII.2000, 1 ♂ on 7.VII.2000, all leg. S. Szczepanek ( CAD, NCHUT); 4 ♀♀, same data as holotype (1 ♀ collected on 6.VII.2000, 3 ♀♀ on 7.VII.2000,) (CAD, NCHUT); 1 ♀, same collecting locality as holotype, 7.VII.2000, leg. S. Szczepanek ( CAD); 15 ♂♂, 4 ♀♀, Meifeng (2150 m), Nantou Hsien, Malaise trap, VIII. 1984, leg. K.S. Lin & K.C. Chou (1 ♂ and ♀ collected in IX.1984) ( TARI, ZSM); 1 ♂, Sungkang (2100 m), Nantou Hsien, 6.VIII.1984, leg. K.S. Lin ( TARI); 1 ♂, Tapinshan (1950 m), Ilan Hsien, 26.–28.VII.1983, leg. L.Y. Chou ( TARI); 1 ♂, Taichung, Tong-hai University, 27.VII.1976, leg. Chi-ping Lin ( NCHUT); 1 ♂, Nantou , Taiwan provincial council, 13.VIII.1976, leg. Chiping Lin ( NCHUT); 2 ♀♀, Tsuifeng (2300 m), Nantou Hsien, Malaise trap, VIII.1984, leg. K.S. Lin & K.C. Chou ( TARI) .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Habitus of new species of Habropoda and Tetralonioidella of Taiwan. A, B Habropoda christineae; C, D, Tetralonioidella heinzi (D with attached orchid pollinium). A, C, female; B, D, male.

FIGURE 2. Colour pattern of head (A, C, E, G) and basal AS (B, D, F, H) of male Habropoda of Taiwan. A, B, H. bucconis; C, D, H. tainanicola tainanicola; E, F, H. christineae; G, H, H. sinensis taiwana. Dotted lines indicate yellow to ivory areas (except on clypeus of H. tainanicola (C), dark maculations). Scale bars, 1 mm.

FIGURE 3. Foretarsus of Habropoda christineae. A, bottlebrush-like pubescence; B, close-up of ventral surface of forebasitarsus showing apically bent hairs. Scale bars, 250 µm (G), 100 µm (H).

FIGURE 5. Genitalia of male Habropoda (left dorsal, right ventral view). A, H. tainanicola tainanicola; B, H. bucconis; C, H. christineae; D, H. sinensis taiwana. Scale bars, 500 µm.

FIGURE 9. Seasonal-altitudinal distribution pattern of Habropoda on Taiwan.