Pristomerus bemba, Rousse & Noort, 2015

Rousse, Pascal & Noort, Simon van, 2015, Revision of the Afrotropical species of Pristomerus (Ichneumonidae: Cremastinae), with descriptions of 31 new species, European Journal of Taxonomy 124, pp. 1-129 : 37-39

Pristomerus bemba sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:C0EE1F41-9AEC-4873-BB1B-3775997F7966

Fig. 5

Diagnosis

Small; mostly testaceous interspersed with black, and with yellow parts on head; flagellum bicolour, dark brown with flagellomeres 1–3 testaceous; hind femur apically pale dotted; face densely punctate; clypeus strongly transverse, ventrally smooth; malar line moderately long; antenna with 24–26 flagellomeres, slightly widening toward apex, penultimate flagellomere quadrate; mesosoma moderately to densely punctate with pronotum almost entirely smooth, speculum ventrally smooth and mesoscutum coriaceous with most punctures located along notaulus; propodeum with area superomedia elongate; femoral tooth long and relatively narrow; ovipositor long, strongly sinuous apically. Male with inner margins of eyes moderately diverging ventrally, ocelli greatly enlarged, hind femur stouter, femoral tooth long and acute, followed by strong denticles.

Differential diagnosis

Small testaceous and black species with inner orbits lighter, pale yellow, and hind legs noticeably mottled; differentiated from all other Afrotropical species by the combination of this unique colour pattern, the largely coriaceous mesoscutum with scutellum punctate, the strong femoral tooth and the antenna with few flagellomeres.

Type material

Holotype

ZAMBIA: ♀, “ Zambia , South Luangwa nr. Mfuwelabout 10 km E. Mfuwe Malinba village vicinities, 12.XII.2011, Gumovsky leg. SAM–HYM–P047391”( SAMC).

Paratypes

IVORY COAST: 1 ♂, “Lamto-RCI, 5°02 W 6°13 N, 8.8– 11.9.1985, Afrormosia laxiflora ” ( BMNH).

KENYA: 1 ♂, “Kenya, Lake Nakuru Hippo Point 16. xii. 1970, A.E. Stubbs B.M. 1972–211” ( BMNH).

SOUTH AFRICA: 1 ♀, “South Africa, Kranskloof SW of Buffelspoort Dam Magaliesberg, Tvl 16. iii. 1993, S. Neser & R. Urban, with tingids on Rothmannia capensis ” ( SANC); 1 ♂, “Retief’s Kloof Transvaal 5.9.1961 H. N. Empey” ( SANC).

Description

Female (2 specimens)

B 5.8–6.8; A 3.0–3.6; F 3.3–3.9; CT 2.1; ML 0.5; POL 0.8; OOL 0.7; Fl n-1 1.0; ASM 2.3; OT 2.0; FFT 2.

COLOUR. Head testaceous with frons, inter-ocellar area and occiput black, orbits, clypeus and malar space yellow, and mandible and palpi pale yellow; antenna dark brown with scape, pedicel and flagellomeres 1–3 testaceous; mesosoma mostly testaceous with tegula yellow, and propodeum, metapleuron and most of mesosternum black; tergites 1–3 black, following tergites black with apical half fading to orange; fore and mid legs yellow; hind leg testaceous with trochanter, trochantellus, tibia and tarsus yellow, but apex of tibia black and apex of femur whitish-dotted; wings hyaline, venation pale brown, pterostigma anteriorly paler.

HEAD. Face densely punctate, punctation sparser on median bulge; inner margins of eyes parallel; clypeus strongly transverse, almost smooth with some punctures dorsally; malar line rather short; frons, vertex and temple coriaceous; ocelli enlarged; occipital carina joining mandible base; antenna with 24–26 flagellomeres, slightly widening toward apex, penultimate flagellomere quadrate.

MESOSOMA. Elongate; pronotum hardly sculptured, mostly smooth with some punctures ventrally; mesopleuron and metapleuron densely and deeply punctate, with a shallow striate furrow below speculum, speculum ventrally smooth; mesoscutum coriaceous with apical margin, notaulus, and base of median lobe densely punctate; scutellum moderately punctate; propodeum coarsely and deeply punctate, area superomedia elongate and centrally smoother. Legs. Femoral tooth long and narrow, without denticles behind.

METASOMA. Metasoma coriaceous with apex of tergite 1, entire tergite 2 and base of tergite 3 longitudinally aciculate; thyridium subcircular; ovipositor long, strongly sinuous apically.

Male (paratypes)

B 6.2–6.6; A 3.1–3.5; F 3.5–4.0; POL 0.7; OOL 0.1. Inner margins of eyes moderately diverging ventrally; antenna with 25–26 flagellomeres; ocelli enlarged, median ocellus nearly connected to eye; hind femur stouter, femoral tooth long and acute, followed by strong denticles; antenna slightly lighter orange with flagellomeres 1–3 yellow; otherwise similar to female.

Biological record

Unknown host on Afrormosia laxiflora (Fabaceae) .

Distribution

Ivory Coast, Kenya, South Africa, Zambia.

Figures

Fig. 5. Pristomerus bemba sp. nov. Holotype, ♀. A. Habitus, lateral view. B. Head, mesosoma, dorsal view. C. Head, anterior view. D. Propodeum, dorsal view. E. Mesosoma, lateral view. F. Hind tibia, lateral view (inset: data labels).