Nemeritis bespalovi, Vas, 2020

Vas, Zoltán, 2020, Contributions to the taxonomy and biogeography of Nemeritis Holmgren (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Campopleginae), Zootaxa 4758 (3), pp. 486-500 : 492-494

Nemeritis bespalovi sp. nov.

Material examined. Holotype: female, Turkey, vil. Ankara, Camlidere, 1200m, 24–25.VI.1996, leg. A. Podlussány; specimen card-mounted, apical sections of antennae and middle legs damaged, Id. No. HNHM-HYM 153205 .— The holotype specimen is deposited in the Hymenoptera Collection of HNHM (Budapest, Hungary).

Diagnosis. Nemeritis bespalovi sp. nov. can be identified by the combined presence of the following characteristics: second flagellomere ca 3.0× as long as wide apically; gena in dorsal view 0.65× as long as eye width, moderately narrowed behind eye; face slightly narrower than width of frons below median ocellus; clypeus granulate, matt, with few indistinct punctures, its apical margin weakly convex, sharp, medially smooth and shiny; mandibular teeth of equal length; mesosoma not elongate; propodeal carinae well developed; area basalis trapezoidal, about 0.7× as long as its basal width; area superomedia about as long as wide, impressed, its lateral carinae weakly converging behind costulae, apically opened, confluent with area petiolaris, little shorter than area petiolaris; area petiolaris impressed, lying in the same level with area superomedia; fore wing with areolet; second tergite 1.7× as long as its apical width; ovipositor sheath ca 3.3× as long as hind tibia; scapus dark brown, ventrally yellowish brown; tegula yellow; second tergite extensively reddish; third tergite basally reddish; hind femur reddish, apically little darkened; hind tibia basally with a small yellowish spot, externo-medially yellowish brown, subbasally and apically brown. Nemeritis bespalovi sp. nov. is most similar to N. elegans (Szépligeti) , which species’ female can be readily distinguished from the new species by its shorter ovipositor sheath (ca 2.8× as long as hind tibia), shorter and more strongly narrowed gena (in dorsal view 0.5–0.55× as long as eye width), wider area basalis (ca 0.3× as long as its basal width), less elongate second tergite (about 1.5× as long as its apical width), and by colouration of second and third tergites (second tergite blackish with apical 0.2 reddish, third tergite entirely blackish).

Description. Female ( Figs 9–12 ). Body length ca 5.0 mm, fore wing length ca 3.5 mm.

Head: Basal flagellomeres slender, first flagellomere ca 4.5× as long as wide apically; second flagellomere ca 3.0× as long as wide apically. Head granulate with moderately dense, greyish hairs, transverse, moderate sized, ca 1.5× as wide as maximum width of mesoscutum. Ocelli small, ocular-ocellar distance 2.0× as long as ocellus diameter, posterior ocellar distance 1.8× as long as ocellus diameter. Inner eye orbits subparallel, inconspicuously convergent ventrally, not indented. Frons not impressed above toruli. Gena (temple) moderately long, in dorsal view 0.65× as long as eye width, moderately narrowed behind eye. Occipital carina complete, reaching hypostomal carina slightly behind mandibular base; hypostomal carina not elevated. Malar space 0.7× as long as basal width of mandible. Face about flat in profile, slightly narrower than width of frons below median ocellus. Clypeus flat, wide, very weakly separated from face, granulate, matt, with few indistinct punctures; apical margin of clypeus weakly convex, sharp, medially smooth and shiny. Mandible relatively long, lower margin of mandible with relatively low carina from teeth toward base, mandibular teeth of equal length.

Mesosoma: Mesosoma granulate with moderately dense greyish hairs, not elongate, ca 2.3× as long as wide. Pronotum with transverse wrinkles in ventral two-third; epomia distinct. Mesoscutum convex in profile, about as long as wide, notaulus not developed. Scuto-scutellar groove moderately deep. Scutellum convex in profile, without lateral carina. Mesopleuron granulate, matt; speculum very finely granulate to smooth and subpolished; mesopleural suture with weak transverse costae. Pleural part of epicnemial carina strong, bent to anterior margin of mesopleuron reaching it below its middle height; transversal part of epicnemial carina (i.e. part at the level of sternaulus running through the epicnemium to the ventral edge of pronotum) not developed; ventral part of epicnemial carina (behind fore coxae) inconspicuously elevated. Sternaulus indistinct. Posterior transverse carina of mesosternum complete. Metanotum about 0.5× as long as scutellum. Metapleuron granulate; juxtacoxal carina indistinct; submetapleural carina complete. Pleural carina of propodeum complete; propodeal spiracle small, circular, separated from pleural carina by about its length, connected to pleural carina by a weak ridge. Propodeum granulate, with denser and longer hairs than other parts of mesosoma; propodeal carinae well developed. Area basalis trapezoidal, about 0.7× as long as its basal width. Area superomedia granulate without distinct wrinkles, hexagonal, impressed, about as long as wide, its lateral carinae weakly converging behind costulae, apically opened, confluent with area petiolaris, little shorter than area petiolaris, costulae connected to lateral margins of area superomedia at about its middle.Area petiolaris granulate with transverse wrinkles, impressed, lying in the same level with area superomedia. Fore wing with relatively large, subsessile areolet, second recurrent vein (2 m-cu) strongly distal to its middle, 3 rs-m pigmented; distal abscissa of Rs almost straight, its distal part weakly curved toward anterior wing margin; distal abscissa of M weakly pigmented; nervulus (cu-a) interstitial, weakly inclivous; postnervulus (abscissa of Cu 1 between 1 m-cu and Cu 1a + Cu 1b) intercepted slightly above middle by Cu 1a; lower external angle of second discal cell about rightangled. Hind wing with nervellus (cu-a + abscissa of Cu 1 between M and cu-a) about vertical, intercepted by discoidella (distal abscissa of Cu 1) at about its posterior third; discoidella spectral, connected to nervellus. Coxae finely granulate. Hind femur relatively slender, 5.0× as long as high. Inner spur of hind tibia about 0.45× as long as first tarsomere of hind tarsus. Tarsal claws small and thin, little longer than arolium, with few indistinct basal pecten.

Metasoma: Metasoma finely granulate with moderately sparse greyish hairs. First tergite relatively long and slender, ca 3.0× as long as its apical width, about as long as second tergite, without glymma; dorsomedian carina of first tergite basally distinct. Second tergite 1.7× as long as its apical width; thyridium long oval, weak, its distance from basal margin of tergite about 2.0× as long as its length. Third tergite about as long as its apical width. Metasoma from third tergite onward moderately compressed, posterior margin of apical tergites medially very weakly excised. Ovipositor sheath long, ca 3.3× as long as hind tibia; ovipositor thin, compressed.

Colour: Antenna dark brown, scapus ventrally and pedicellus apically yellowish brown. Head black, palpi yellowish, mandible yellow except dark reddish brown teeth. Mesosoma black except tegula yellow. Metasoma: first tergite black with a narrow yellowish brown apical band; second tergite reddish (anterior half little darker reddish) with a pair of blackish patches on its posterior half, blackish patches starting at about 0.5× tergite length and extending to about 0.8× tergite length, medially not touching each other, and connected to basal margin by a pair of weaker, dark brownish lines; basal third (laterally) to half (medially) of third tergite light reddish, apical part black; following tergites black; ovipositor sheath dark brown. Wings hyaline, wing veins and pterostigma brown. Fore leg: coxa blackish, apically very narrowly yellowish brown; trochanter and trochantellus yellow; femur, tibia and tarsus reddish yellow, apical tarsomeres brownish. Middle leg: coxa black, apically very narrowly yellowish brown; trochanter dark brown, its upper side and apical margin yellowish. Hind leg: coxa black, apically very narrowly, inconspicuously yellowish brown; trochanter blackish, apically narrowly yellowish brown; trochantellus yellow, basally slightly darkened; femur reddish, apically little darkened; tibia basally with a small yellowish spot, externo-medially lighter yellowish brown, subbasally and apically darker brown; tarsus brownish, extreme base of first tarsomere narrowly yellowish brown.

Male: unknown.

Distribution. Currently known from Turkey.

Ecology. No host is known.

Etymology. The new species is dedicated to Valeriy O. Bespalov, one of the three men who went under the damaged reactor of Chernobyl nuclear power plant to drain the water tank to prevent further explosions.

Remarks. The new species belongs to the N. elegans species group sensu Horstmann (1975, 1994). It can be distinguished from all species of the group by the combined presence of the characters given in the Diagnosis section. Species of this group are known to be parasitoids of Raphidiidae (Raphidioptera) .

Figures

FIGURES 9–12. Nemeritis bespalovi sp. nov., holotype female: 9, lateral habitus; 10, head in dorsal view; 11, propodeum in dorsal view; 12, colouration of basal tergites.