Afrepipona clonata, Selis & Carpenter, 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 : 11-13

Afrepipona clonata sp. nov.

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Figs 5 , 27C

Diagnosis

Similar to A. angusta but differing as follows: male clypeus 1.3 × as wide as long, apical teeth bluntly carinate ( Fig. 5B ); gena depressed in ventral third, forming crenate furrow along high occipital carina; occipital carina incomplete on vertex; male vertex 1.9 × as long as distance between posterior ocellus and inner eye margin; clypeus finely and sparsely punctate; metanotum marked with yellow. Also similar to A. punctatissima , differing as follows: carinae of clypeus shorter and not exceeding the lamellate apical margin, apical emargination deeper; posterior ocelli closer to eyes than to each other; F11 reaching apex of F8 ( Fig. 5C ); pronotal lamella about ⅓ × as long as ocellar diameter; interspaces on mesoscutum variable but up to one puncture diameter posteriorly; preapical margin of T2 flattened, punctures slightly larger than on rest of tergite but of equal density; apical decolorate margin of T3 longer than that on T2 ( Fig. 5D ); largely marked with red on mesosoma. Genitalia in Fig. 27C .

Etymology

The specific epithet is in reference to the strong similarity to A. punctatissima and A. angusta .

Type material

Holotype

KENYA • ♂; Nairobi, Karen ; 3 May 1967; C.D. Michener leg.; MSNVE.

Description

Male

MEASUREMENTS. Body length 8.0 mm; fore wing length 7.0 mm.

MORPHOLOGY. Head 1.2 × as wide as long in frontal view. Clypeus 1.3 × as wide as long, apical margin emarginate with pointed and shortly carinate lateral teeth, 0.25 × as wide as maximum width of clypeus, emargination 0.2 × as deep as wide; clypeus weakly and evenly convex in lateral view. Vertex 1.9 × as long as distance between posterior ocellus and inner eye margin; gena 0.85 × as wide as eye at bottom of ocular sinus, depressed in lower third and forming a furrow along occipital carina; occipital carina complete, fine and irregular on vertex, strong and lamellate on gena, angled in lower third. F1 1.3 × as long as wide and 1.37 × as long as F2, F2 and F9 slightly longer than wide, F3 and F8 subquadrate, F4–7 transverse, F11 small and finger-shaped, reaching apex of F8 and almost straight in lateral view, parallel-sided with rounded apex in dorsal view. Mesosoma 1.4 × as long as wide. Sides of pronotum straight and slightly converging anteriorly, anterior margin nearly straight except slightly produced humeri; pronotal carina complete and shortly lamellate, becoming lower medially, as long as 0.33 × ocellar diameter on humeri; pretegular carina fine but sharp and sinuate. Mesoscutum 0.95 × as long as wide, evenly convex in lateral view. Scutellum barely convex, almost on same level of mesoscutum; anterior margin crenate with a larger pit in the middle. Metanotum slightly produced anteriorly. Tegula short and not equaling parategula, outer margin evenly rounded, posterior lobe subtriangular and shallowly depressed; parategula small and right-angled. Epicnemial carina very fine and shallow, barely visible. Propodeum in lateral view shallowly convex and completely oblique; posterior face shallowly concave and not clearly separated from dorsal faces; lateral faces flattened; dorsal, lateral and inferior carinae absent, propodeum entirely rounded. T1 short bell-shaped, 0.6 × as long as wide, sides slightly diverging posteriorly; apically with a duplicated lamellar margin. T2 0.9 × as long as wide in dorsal view, 1.35 × as wide as T1 and separated from it by a constriction; apical translucent margin longer than that on T1, sharply separated from rest of surface by sudden change in coloration and sculpture. Apical margin of T3 with translucent apical margin, about twice as long as margin of T2. S2 flattened on disc, then sloping basally; basal longitudinal furrow barely indicated; apical margin lamellate with basal pigmented digitations. S3 with translucent margin similar to S2.

SCULPTURE AND VESTITURE. Clypeus shiny and shallowly punctate, punctures finer and sparser on sides, becoming larger and denser on disc. Frons and vertex with deep rounded punctures, interspaces shallowly convex and shiny with sparse micropunctures, reaching up to one ocellar diameter; gena punctured like vertex but interspaces exceeding puncture diameter. Scape shagreened and with sparse fine punctures. Punctures of mesosoma similar to frons but larger; punctures denser on pronotum and metanotum with interspaces narrower than half puncture diameter, sparser on mesoscutum, scutellum and mesepisternum with interspaces reaching and partly exceeding one puncture diameter; epicnemium and mesosternum shiny and shallowly shagreened and micropunctate; metaepisternum with few scattered shallow punctures; dorsal faces of propodeum with flat-bottomed polygonal cells, arranged in irregular transverse series, interspaces sharp ridge-like, posterior face invaded by sculpture of dorsal faces in upper half and very finely striate in lower half, lateral faces sparsely microstriate with sparse flat-bottomed rounded punctures. T1 with deep rounded punctures, sparser on sides and denser on disc, interspaces ranging from half to several puncture diameters, leaving a smooth apical margin; T2 similar to T1 but punctures more oblique and slightly finer on disc, becoming coarser preapically; T3–6 similar to preapical area of T2, but sculpture becoming progressively smaller and sparser; T7 shagreened with very small dense punctures and scattered larger shallow punctures. S1 matte and shagreened on basal petiole, shiny with longitudinal ridges on posterior part; S2 with deep punctures arranged in transverse or oblique series, distance between series 1–3 puncture diameters, shallower punctures preapically; S3–6 similar to respective tergites; S7 shiny with dense fine punctures. Head and mesosoma with very short pale pubescence and short erected setae, some setae on frons strongly bent toward clypeus, long setae on lower part of propodeum; clypeus with dense silvery pubescence and appressed white setae; metasoma with dust-like pale pubescence and scattered suberect setae.

COLORATION. Black; following parts red: mandible, antenna, gena and posterior margin of vertex, pronotum except ventral corners of lateral faces, tegula, scutellum except anterior and posterior margins, anterior half of metanotum, upper plate of mesepisternum, dorsal faces and margin of other faces of propodeum, suffused spots on sides of T1, suffused spots covering lateral thirds of T2, S1 and most of S2; following parts ferruginous-orange: inverse cross-shaped marking connecting clypeus to anterior ocellus, inner eye margin reaching lateral ocelli, legs, most of T4–7 and S4–7; following parts pale yellow: clypeus, basal triangle of mandible, lower face of scape, anterior margin of pronotum, anterior and posterior spots on tegula, parategula, anterior margin of metanotum, spot at apex of fore and mid femora and all tibiae, apical band on T1–4, wider on T2, apical sinuate band on S2–3 and lateral spots on S4. Wings hyaline with yellowish reflections, marginal cell infuscate with purplish reflections.

Female

Unknown.

Distribution

Kenya.

Figures

Fig. 5. Afrepipona clonata sp. nov., ♂, holotype from Nairobi (MSNVE). A. Habitus, dorsal view. B. Head, frontal view. C. Flagellum, lateral view. D. T2–3, dorsal view. Scale bars = 1 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).