Pristomerus veloma, Rousse & Villemant & Seyrig, 2013

Rousse, Pascal, Villemant, Claire & Seyrig, André, 2013, Ichneumonid wasps from Madagascar. VI. The genus Pristomerus (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Cremastinae), European Journal of Taxonomy 49, pp. 1-38 : 32-34

Pristomerus veloma sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:C0D38F99-99B0-43A6-8E24-AE23BED6CDF8

Fig. 16

Diagnosis

Large species; face rufo-testaceous; head and mesosoma rufo-testaceous, metasoma black; face densely punctate-granulate, clypeus smooth and transverse; mesoscutum densely punctate-granulate anteriorly, smoother posteriorly, scutellum punctate; area superomedia about 2 x longer than wide; female femoral tooth strong; ovipositor moderately long, apically sinuate; POL 0.7; OOL 0.7; CT 2.0; ML 0.5; OT 1.5–1.7; FFT 2.

Differential diagnosis

Species characterized by the unusual color pattern and the strong femoral tooth of female.

Etymology

“veloma” is the Malagasy word for “good-bye, farewell”.

Type material

Holotype

MADAGASCAR: ♀ ( MNHN EY3545 ), Rogez, 48°18’ S, 48°32’ E, verbatim label data: “Madagascar, Rogez, forêt côte est, XII. 30 ”, complete.

Paratypes

MADAGASCAR: 2 ♀♀, 2 ♂♂ ( MNHN EY3546–3549), same locality, same date; 1 ♂ (EY8719), same locality, 1935.

Other material examined

SOUTH AFRICA: 2 ♀♀, 1 ♂, Goshen, Eastern Cape, Mar. 1954, SAM-HYM P001202.

Description

Female

LENGTH. 7.5, 7.2 (7.1–7.5) (3 specimens).

HEAD. Distinctly constricted behind eyes, temple very short, not rounded. Vertex punctate-granulate. Frons mid-longitudinally bulging below central ocellus. Face slightly shorter than frons and slightly widened ventrally, mid-longitudinally distinctly bulging, densely punctate-granulate. Clypeus smooth and transverse. Mandible stout and hairy. Malar line short. Antenna thin with 34–37 flagellomeres.

MESOSOMA. Stout, about 1.5 x longer than high. Pronotum centrally smooth, epomia strong. Mesoscutum shining and densely punctate-granulate anteriorly, smoother posteriorly. Scuto-scutellar groove striate, scutellum punctate. Pleurae and propodeum shining and densely punctate, speculum ventrally smooth. Propodeum with strong carination, area basalis truncate, area superomedia about 2 x longer than wide. Legs: femoral tooth fine and acute followed by a raw of very short denticles, denticles sometimes almost indistinct, their bases more or less merging.

METASOMA. Post-petiole, tergite 2 and base of tergite 3 finely aciculate, the following tergites granulate. Tergite 2 about half as long as tergite 1 and about 1.5 x longer than apically wide. Thyridia transverse and oval. Ovipositor thin and moderately long, its apex slightly sinuate.

COLOR. Head, thorax and legs rufo-testaceous. Antenna, inter-ocellar area, whole metasoma and ovipositor sheath black. Base of hind tibia and hind tarsus infuscate. Tergite 2 usually with a thin yellow margin. Wings hyaline, pterostigma dark brown.

Male

Length: 6.5 (5.9–7.2) (3 specimens). Ocelli greater, closer to eyes (OOL = 0.3) than from each other (POL = 0.4). Mesonotum smoother with sparse punctures. Thyridia circular. Tooth on hind femur sharper, followed by a more or less merging dense row of fine denticles. Otherwise similar to female.

Distribution

Madagascar (Toamasina province), South Africa (Eastern Cape).

Remarks

The three specimens from South Africa have the head differently colored, with face blackish, and mandible and orbits yellow. Furthermore, the dorsal edge of clypeus is densely punctate. They are otherwise strictly similar to the holotype and are included as non-type specimens.

Figures

Fig. 16. Pristomerus veloma sp. nov. A. ♀, habitus, profile. B. ♀, head, facial. C. ♀, hind femur, profile.