Afrepipona scabra sp. nov., 2024

Selis, Marco & Carpenter, James M., 2024, Revision of the Afrotropical genus Afrepipona Giordani Soika, 1965 and description of Afrepsilon gen. nov. (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Eumeninae), European Journal of Taxonomy 944, pp. 1-80 : 39-42

Afrepipona scabra sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:1374A70F-122C-4A55-AE6F-0B692F755077

Figs 16 , 27K

Diagnosis

Recognized by the following characters: apical margin of clypeus subtruncate with produced lateral teeth, clypeus 1.35 × (♀) and 1.3 × (♂) as wide as long ( Fig. 16B–C ); vertex of male 2.05 × as long as distance between posterior ocellus and inner eye margin; pronotal carina sharp but not lamellate, apical translucent margin separated from rest of tergite by large punctures, pigmented digitations running between punctures ( Fig. 16F ); mesosoma matte and densely punctate, scutellum and area between parapsidal furrows with punctures touching each other and forming irregular series. Genitalia in Fig. 27K .

Etymology

The specific epithet comes from the Latin adjective ‘scaber, scabra, scabrum’ (= ‘rough’), in reference to the rough sculpture of the head and mesosoma.

Type material

Holotype

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO • ♀; Tshuapa, Bokuma ; 1953; R.P. Lootens leg.; MSNVE.

Paratypes

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO • 1 ♀; Elisabethville ; Oct. 1934; P. Quarré leg.; MSVI • 1 ♂; Lualaba, Kabongo ; 5 Jan. 1953; Cg. Sydel leg.; MSNVE .

Description

Female

MEASUREMENTS. Body length 7.6–8.0 mm (holotype 8.0 mm); fore wing length 6.5–6.8 mm (holotype 6.8 mm).

MORPHOLOGY. Head 1.2 × as wide as long in frontal view. Clypeus 1.35 × as wide as long, apical margin truncate between lateral teeth, 0.25 × as wide as maximum width of clypeus; apical teeth bluntly subtriangular with rounded apex; clypeus weakly convex in lateral view. Vertex 2 × as long as distance from posterior ocellus to inner eye margin; cephalic foveae small and close to each other but separated by more than their diameter, placed in smooth depression about as large as one ocellus and with V-shaped carinate posterior margin; gena 0.9 × as wide as eye at bottom of ocular sinus; occipital carina incomplete, very weak and irregular on vertex, sharp on gena, more or less evenly curved on ventral half. F1 1.25 × as long as wide and 1.4 × as long as F2, F2–9 transverse and becoming proportionally shorter apically. Fifth tooth of mandible projecting but apically rounded. Mesosoma 1.4 × as long as wide. Sides of pronotum weakly convex, almost straight and slightly converging in dorsal view; pronotal carina complete and sharp but not lamellate, rounded on humeri; pretegular carina absent; lateral faces of pronotum depressed and clearly separated from dorsal face. Mesoscutum as long as wide, posteriorly flattened in lateral view. Scutellum flattened and on same level of mesoscutum; anterior margin crenate with a series of small pits, median one markedly larger than other pits. Metanotum weakly and evenly convex in lateral view, slightly projecting anteriorly. Tegula not equaling parategula, outer margin evenly rounded; parategula small and right-angled. Epicnemial carina weak and reaching epipleural suture but disappearing on mesosternum. Propodeum falling almost vertically behind metanotum in lateral view; posterior face shallowly concave, distinct from dorsal faces but not sharply separated; lateral faces flattened and separated from other faces but without distinct carinae. T1 semicircular, 0.5 × as long as wide in dorsal view; posterior margin shallowly thickened with a very short translucent margin disappearing medially. T2 0.85 × as long as wide in dorsal view; preapical area very shallowly depressed. Apical margins of T2–4 translucent and lamellate, separated from rest of surface by a series of irregular coarse punctures; lamella short on T2, becoming progressively longer on T3 and T4. S2 almost flattened and then convex basally, with a sharp longitudinal furrow basally. S2–4 with lamellar margin shorter than on respective tergites but more sharply separated from rest of surface.

SCULPTURE AND VESTITURE. Clypeus shiny with shallow punctures, larger and denser on disc and apically, much finer basally, interspaces finely and densely micropunctate. Head with deep punctures, interspaces slightly convex and weakly shiny, interspaces much shorter than puncture diameter, becoming partly large and shiny on gena. Scape weakly shiny with dense micropunctures and sparse very fine punctures. Most of mesosoma sculpted like vertex but interspaces mostly ridge-like; lateral faces of pronotum with dull and short striae; posterior half of mesoscutum with very dense punctures touching and forming irregular series; punctures on scutellum larger with some flattened interspaces; punctures on mesepisternum larger and sparse dorsally, becoming smaller and denser ventrally, fine and sparse on mesosternum, epicnemium shallowly shagreened and shiny; dorsal faces of propodeum with large and deep flat-bottomed punctures, interspaces reduced to sharp ridges; posterior face weakly shiny, mostly with fine oblique striae, invaded by punctures of dorsal faces on upper third; lateral faces with dense flat-bottomed cells, some interspaces flattened and matte due to shagreen. T1 finely shagreened and weakly shiny, with sparse deep small punctures, denser on disc; T2 similar to T1 but punctures finer, with a preapical series of larger and coarse punctures; T3 similar to T2, but punctures smaller; T4–5 shagreened, T4 with a preapical series of small coarse punctures; T6 densely micropunctate with some fine sparse punctures; S1 shiny with irregular ridges and punctures; S2 similar to respective tergite but punctures much larger and deeper; S3–6 micropunctate with very fine punctures becoming progressively sparser. Head and mesosoma with short pale brown pubescence with metallic reflections, mostly arising from punctures, denser on frons and sides of mesosoma, much denser and dust-like on mesosternum; clypeus with dust-like silvery pubescence along basal margin and curved whitish setae; mesepisternum with apically bent pale setae; propodeum almost entirely covered in short white pubescence, with brownish tinge on upper part, angles with fine long setae; metasoma with brassy dust-like pubescence, short suberect setae on T3–6 and S2–6.

COLORATION. Red; following parts black: most of frons, anterior face and lower corners of pronotum, mesoscutum except sides, anterior margin of scutellum, mesepisternum and mesosternum except large dorsal spot, most of metaepisternum, extreme base of S2; following parts yellow: lines on basal corners of clypeus, small basal spot on mandible, lower half of inner eye margin, tip of parategula, narrow apical margin of T1, sinuate apical bands on T2–4 and S2–4, irregular spots on ventral face of mid and hind coxa. Wings hyaline with yellowish tinge along costal margin and weakly infuscate apical spot.

Male

MEASUREMENTS. Body length 6.8 mm; fore wing length 6.0 mm.

Differing from the female as follows: clypeus 1.3 × as wide as long, apical teeth less projecting but more acute, punctures more regular and deeper; vertex 2.05 × as long as distance from posterior ocellus to inner eye margin; F11 finger-shaped and reaching middle of F8, parallel-sided with rounded apex in dorsal view, barely curved in lateral view; punctures on head and mesosoma slightly sparser, interspaces more shiny; punctures on metasoma larger but sparser.

Distribution

Democratic Republic of Congo.

Figures

Fig. 16. Afrepipona scabra sp. nov. A, C, E–F. ♀, holotype from Bokuma (MSNVE). B, D. ♂, paratype from Kabongo (MSNVE). A. Habitus, dorsal view. B–C. Head, frontal view. D. Flagellum, lateral view. E. Head, dorsal view. F. T2–3. dorsal view. Scale bars: A–C, E–F = 1 mm; D = 0.5 mm.

Fig. 27. Male genitalia: aedeagus in ventral view, aedeagus in lateral view, digitus. A. Afrepipona angusta (de Saussure, 1863) from Adi Keyh (MSVI). B. Afrepipona cellularis sp. nov., holotype from Nyamandhlovu (MSNVE). C. Afrepipona clonata sp. nov., holotype from Nairobi (MSNVE). D. Afrepipona cuprea sp. nov., paratype from Malindi (MSVI). E. Afrepipona lamptoensis Giordani Soika, 1965 from Lamto (AMNH).F. Afrepipona lobulata sp. nov.,holotype from Lubumbashi (AMNH). G. Afrepipona macrocephala (Gribodo, 1894) from Delagoa (MSNVE). H. Afrepipona meridionalis sp. nov., holotype from Durban (MSNVE). I. Afrepipona occidentalis sp. nov., paratype from Lamto (MSNVE).J. Afrepipona punctatissima sp. nov.,holotype from Maralal (MSNVE).K. Afrepipona scabra sp. nov., paratype from Kabongo (MSNVE). L. Afrepipona segregata sp. nov., holotype from Tulear (NHMW). M. Afrepipona tertia Gusenleitner, 2011, holotype from Bangui (OLML). N. Afrepipona ulterior sp. nov., paratype from Pretoria (MSVI). O. Afrepipona vulcanica sp. nov., paratype from Mount Kilimanjaro (MSVI). P. Afrepsilon ferrugineoaureum gen. et sp. nov., paratype from Berea (MSVI). Q. Afrepsilon minor gen. et gen. et sp. nov., holotype from Mount Kilimanjaro (OLML).