Pristomerus mbaka, 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 : 65-67

Pristomerus mbaka sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:943E40C0-B8F2-4AB1-BE51-10F875C98FE1

Fig. 19

Diagnosis

Rather small; mostly black with scutellum and apical half of metasoma testaceous-brown; trochanters and apex of femora white-dotted; anterior edge of pterostigma whitish; face moderately punctate; inner margins of eyes barely converging ventrally; clypeus moderately transverse, sparsely punctate; tentorial pits reduced; malar line very short; remainder of head coriaceous; antenna with 28 flagellomeres, penultimate flagellomere elongate; mesosoma moderately to densely punctate-granulate, including entire speculum and almost entire pronotum, except scutellum coriaceous, mesoscutum transversely rugose along notaulus, and propodeum coarsely rugose-punctate; female femoral tooth small; ovipositor very short, apically straight and hardly swollen. Male with inner margins of eyes strongly diverging ventrally, ocelli greatly enlarged, hind femur stouter, femoral tooth long and acute, mesoscutum mostly coriaceous with punctures along notaulus, and area superomedia more slender.

Differential diagnosis

Moderately small and mostly black; differentiated from all other Afrotropical species by the very short and entirely straight ovipositor. Also characterized by the very short malar line, the coriaceous scutellum and the entirely punctate speculum.

Type material

Holotype

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: ♀, “ Central African Republic, Préfecture Sangha-Mbaéré, Réserve Spéciale de Forêt dense de Dzanga–Sangha, 12.7km 326°NW Bayanga, 3°00.27’N 16°11.55’E, 420m, 12.v.2001, S. van Noort, Sweep, CAR01–S120, Lowland Rainforest, SAM–HYM–P047405” ( SAMC).

Paratype

IVORY COAST: ♂, “Lamto-RCI 5°02W. 6°13N, 19.5–19.6.84, Cynometra megalophylla ” ( BMNH).

Description

Female (holotype)

B 5.2; A 4.0; F 4.1; CT 1.7; ML 0.3; POL 0.7; OOL 0.7; Fl n-1 1.2; ASM 2.2; OT 0.8; FFT 1.

COLOUR. Head black with clypeus, scape and frontal orbit testaceous-orange, and mandible, palpi, malar space and pedicel yellow; flagellum testaceous; mesosoma black; tergite 1 black, metasoma fading to testaceous-brown from tergite 2; legs yellow with hind coxa and hind femur testaceous-brown, and trochanters and apex of femora with a more or less defined white spot; wings hyaline, venation brown, anterior edge of pterostigma whitish.

HEAD. Face moderately and finely punctate; inner margins of eyes barely converging ventrally; clypeus moderately transverse, convex in profile view, finely and sparsely punctate; tentorial pits reduced, hardly distinct; malar line very short; frons, vertex and temple coriaceous; occipital carina joining hypostomal carina near mandible base; ocelli enlarged; antenna with 28 flagellomeres, penultimate flagellomere elongate.

MESOSOMA. Elongate; pronotum moderately punctate, hardly smoother postero-dorsally; mesopleuron and metapleuron densely and evenly punctate, with an oblique striate furrow below speculum, speculum entirely punctate; mesoscutum densely punctate-granulate, punctures confluent into transverse rugosities along notaulus; notaulus moderate; scutellum nearly smooth, shallowly coriaceous without punctures; propodeum coarsely punctate rugose but area superomedia centrally smoother; area superomedia elongate. Legs. Femoral tooth small.

METASOMA. Tergite 2 and apical half of tergite 1 longitudinally aciculate, tergite 3 and following coriaceous; thyridium subelliptic, its main axis longitudinal; ovipositor unusually short, its apex straight and hardly swollen.

Male (paratype)

B 5.5; A 4.3; F 4.4; POL 0.4; OOL 0.2. Inner margin of eyes strongly diverging ventrally; antennae broken; ocelli greatly enlarged; hind femur stouter; femoral tooth long and acute, followed by strong denticles; mesoscutum smoother, coriaceous with some punctures along notaulus; area superomedia more slender; hind femur distinctly lighter, yellowish orange, but apical pale spot present; otherwise similar to female.

Distribution

Central African Republic, Ivory Coast.

Figures

Fig. 19. Pristomerus mbaka 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).