Dicaelotus hoerikwaggoensis Rousse & van Noort

Rousse, Pascal, van Noort, Simon & Diller, E., 2013, Revision of the Afrotropical Phaeogenini (Ichneumonidae, Ichneumoninae), with description of a new genus and twelve new species, ZooKeys 354, pp. 1-85 : 36-38

Dicaelotus hoerikwaggoensis Rousse & van Noort sp. n. Figs 17-18

Type material.

HOLOTYPE. Female: South Africa, W. Cape, Cape Town, abov. Tokai Forest, Constantiaberge, above Donkerboskloof, 460 m altitude, 34°02'S, 18°23.5'E, 9-15 Feb 1994, S. van Noort, mesic mountain fynbos on sandstone, Protea dominated. Malaise trap, SAM–HYM–P 005586 (SAMC). PARATYPE 1 Female: Natal, Van Reenen, Drakensberg 1-22.i.1927, S. Africa, R.E. Turner, Brit. Mus. 1927-54 (BMNH).

Diagnosis.

Mostly black species interspersed with numerous brown and yellow maculae; entire body shining; head sparsely to moderately densely punctate; face distinctly protruding medially; antenna short and stout; mesosoma coarsely punctate or strigose laterally, more finely punctate dorsally; mesoscutum without differentiated lobes; propodeal carination strong and complete; hind wing with distal abscissa of Cu1 present but non–pigmented; metasomal tergites sparsely punctate to almost smooth. HdWi 2.6; HfWi 1.2; Mi 0.6; Ci 2.4; Di 2.5; IOi 1.8; OOi 1.2; Fli1 1.6; Fli15 1.2; Fli24 1.0; OTi 0.4. Male unknown.

Description.

FEMALE (2 specimens). B 4.8-5.1; A 3.0-3.2; F 3.0-3.4 (Holotype B 5.1; A 3.2; F 3.4).

Color. Head yellow with black and brown parts; black: frons, vertex but two small triangles antero–posteriorly, occiput, temple and genae; brown: antenna and face around median protuberance; mesosoma mainly black with a yellow longitudinal stripe on lateral part of pronotum, another one on mesopleuron, propleuron and ventral part of pronotum and mesopleuron fading to reddish; wings hyaline, venation light brown; fore and middle legs testaceous with coxae and trochanters yellow, hind leg brownish with coxa and trochanter largely tinged with yellow; metasomal tergite 1 black, the following blackish brown and apically yellow.

Head. Transverse in dorsal view, shining; mandible sparsely punctate, moderately long, regularly narrowed to apex; malar line long, subocular sulcus present as a wide and shagreened groove; clypeus sparsely punctate, transverse, lenticular; face transverse, moderately densely punctate, medially protruding into a blunt square tubercle connected to antennal socket by a short and faint longitudinal carina; frons and vertex finely and sparsely punctate; ocellar triangle about equilateral; hypostomal carina joining occipital carina distinctly above mandibular base; antenna stout and short, flagellum not enlarged nor flattened, with 24-25 flagellomeres.

Mesosoma. Entirely shining; pronotum longitudinally strigose, except upper third moderately punctate and antero–ventral corner smooth; mesopleuron densely punctate, longitudinally strigose postero–dorsally, speculum smooth; sternaulus deep and crenulate at anterior third; epicnemial carina ventrally moderately expanded between fore coxae; postpectal carina ventrally absent; metapleuron transversally strigose, dorsally smooth; mesonotum finely and moderately punctate, notaulus hardly visible near base; scutellum flat, not carinate; propodeum punctate–rugose but area superomedia centrally smooth and area petiolaris transversely striate, carination complete and strong, area superomedia heart–shaped. Wings. Hind wing with distal abscissa of Cu1 present, non–pigmented. Legs. Stout and densely punctate; hind femur and hind tibia somewhat swollen.

Metasoma. Shining; tergites 1-2 sparsely punctate, following tergites almost smooth with isolated fine punctures; ovipositor straight and moderately long.

MALE. Unknown.

Etymology.

Named in honour of the Table Mountain National Park, the conservation area encompassing the type locality. The original inhabitants of the Cape, the KhoiKhoi, called the Table Mountain Hoerikwaggo meaning"sea mountain" or "mountain in the sea".

Distribution.

South Africa ( Kwazulu–Natal and Western Cape).

Discussion.

This species and the following one are sympatric and closely related. They share the same microsculpture, particularly the coarsely punctate and strigose mesosoma and the blunt median tubercle on the face. They are, however, distinct, and can be differentiated by the length of antennae, the pigmentation of the distal abscissa of Cu1 on the hind wing and the strikingly distinct coloration pattern.