Afrepsilon hybridum gen. et 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 : 67-70

Afrepsilon hybridum gen. et sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:5F3345B9-29DD-46CF-8FEA-122A8F4B1082

Figs 21A–C, F , 24

Diagnosis

Recognized by the following characters: occipital carina rounded in the middle of vertex, punctures on pronotum, mesoscutum and scutellum very dense and mostly coalescent, interspaces reduced to sharp irregular ridges; metanotum oblique, long and semicircular when seen from above; dorsal faces of propodeum weakly but markedly separated from posterior face; metasoma covered by dense and long golden pubescence, hiding surface of tergites; preapical ridge of T2 lamellate and long, largely but not completely covering lamellate apical margin in middle ( Fig. 24D ); apical margin of T3 and some of following tergites ferruginous and translucent; body largely marked with red and yellow, mesosoma with red markings only and propodeum entirely black.

Etymology

This is the first species of Afrepsilon gen. nov. observed by the first author, who initially mistook it for an Afrepipona with characters similar to Epsilon , as if it was a strange hybrid between two different genera.

Type material

Holotype

ZIMBABWE • ♀; S. Rhodesia, Umtali ; 25 Sep. 1931; P.A. Sheppard leg.; MSNVE.

Description

Female

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

MORPHOLOGY. Head 1.25 × as wide as long in frontal view. Clypeus 1.3 × as wide as long, apical margin evenly emarginate between apical teeth, 0.25 × as wide as maximum width of clypeus, emargination 0.2 × as deep as wide; apical teeth subtriangular, with slightly pointing out rounded apex, with short longitudinal fold but not carinate; clypeus in lateral view very slightly convex. Vertex 1.35 × as long as distance from posterior ocellus to inner eye margin; cephalic foveae very small and separated by less than their diameter, placed in a small barely depressed area with different sculpture; gena 0.55 × as wide as eye at bottom of ocular sinus, depressed along posterior margin; occipital carina complete, sharp but not raised on vertex, raised in a sharp ridge on gena, evenly and weakly curved in lower half. F1 1.45 × as long as wide and 1.5 × as long as F2, F2–3 subquadrate, F4–9 transverse and becoming progressively shorter. Mesosoma 1.25 × as long as wide. Sides of pronotum in dorsal view convex and converging in dorsal view, weakly sinuate behind humeri; pronotal carina complete, sharp and raised but not lamellate, evenly rounded on humeri; pretegular carina disappearing in upper third; lateral faces of pronotum smoothly passing into dorsal face, weakly depressed in lower half. Mesoscutum 0.9 × as long as wide, evenly convex in lateral view. Scutellum weakly convex; anterior margin crenate, median pit slightly larger than others. Metanotum very weakly convex in lateral view. Tegula not equaling parategula, outer margin strongly convex in the middle, posterior lobe very short and blunt, shallowly depressed with raised posterior margin; parategula small and curved. Epicnemial carina strong and distinct but dull, exceeding epipleural suture and reaching mesosternum. Propodeum falling almost vertically behind metanotum in lateral view; posterior face shallowly concave but sharply separated from other faces; lateral faces distinctly depressed with convex posterodorsal margin; submarginal carina shallowly produced above valvula. T1 more or less trapezoidal, 0.45 × as long as wide in dorsal view; horizontal face weakly depressed on disc; posterior margin thin with a short hyaline lamellar margin. T2 0.85 × as long as wide in dorsal view, apical margin shortly lamellate and yellow-hyaline, transition between tergite and lamella marked by raised lamellar ridge mostly covering the true apical margin medially but disappearing laterally. T3–4 with lamellar apical margin. S2 evenly convex in lateral view.

SCULPTURE AND VESTITURE. Clypeus matte, finely shagreened with very fine sparse micropunctures and shallow rounded punctures, latter smaller basally and larger apically with interspaces always wider than one puncture diameter. Frons with shallow flat-bottomed polygonal cells, touching and separated by irregular interspaces reduced to narrow ridges, cells with shiny micropunctate bottom and interspaces matte; vertex shiny with barely visible shagreen and sparse shallow punctures, gena densely micropunctate and very shiny with punctures mostly restricted to anterior margin. Scape matte, shagreened with dense fine punctures. Pronotum, mesoscutum and scutellum with dense deep punctures; interspaces mostly reduced to narrow ridges, partly flattened but narrower than puncture diameter on scutellum; lateral faces of pronotum micropunctate and shiny with sparse shallow punctures. Metanotum with coarse oblique punctures in median area, more finely punctate laterally. Mesepisternum with large flat-bottomed punctures, denser along epicnemial carina and becoming sparser posteriorly, leaving a narrow impunctate area on posterior sloping part; epicnemium and mesosternum finely shagreened and shiny, with sparse fine punctures on mesosternum. Dorsal faces of propodeum with very large and coarse punctures, interspaces mostly reduced to very narrow and sharp raised ridges, anterior third with some shiny and micropunctate flattened interspaces; posterior face very finely micropunctate and shiny, with very fine oblique striae on lower fourth, some shallow punctures along dorsal margin; metaepisternum and lateral faces of propodeum finely shagreened and striate, gradually replaced by elongate flat-bottomed punctures along posterodorsal margin of propodeum. T1 finely shagreened and micropunctate, silky shiny, with sparse barely visible punctures; T2 similar to T1 but micropunctures denser and more evident, macropunctures barely deeper, interspaces more shiny; T3–4 shagreened with coarse and dense oblique punctures; T5–6 shagreened and micropunctate, with very sparse fine punctures; S1 matte and irregularly sculpted; S2 similar to T2 but punctures well marked and deep; S3–6 similar to respective tergites. Head and mesosoma with pale brassy suberect setae; clypeus, lower third of frons, gena and sides of mesosoma with dense whitish pubescence; dorsal and posterior faces of propodeum covered in short white setae, longer on lateral corners; metasoma with dense appressed brassy pubescence, T2–6 and S2–5 with preapical series of suberect longer setae.

COLORATION. Black; following parts red: most of clypeus and mandible, scape, spots at bottom of ocular sinus, small interantennal spot, line behind dorsal half of eye, anterior and posterior margin of pronotum, pronotal lobe, tegula, parategula, anterior margin of metanotum, apical margin of T3–4 and S1–6, outer margin of mid and hind coxae, all legs; following parts yellow-orange: large triangular spots on basal corners of clypeus, sinuate preapical bands on T1–4, narrower on T1. Wings brownish infuscate with brassy reflections on basal half and purplish reflections on apical half.

Male

Unknown.

Distribution

Zimbabwe.

Figures

Fig. 21. Diagnostic characters of Afrepsilon gen. nov. A–C, F. A. hybridum gen. et sp. nov., ♀, holotype from Umtali (MSNVE). D, H. A. aterrimum gen. et sp. nov., ♀, holotype from Uganda (SNVE). E, G. A. ferrugineoaureum gen. et sp. nov., ♂, paratype from Berea (MSVI). A. Head, frontal view. B. Mandible, frontal view. C. Head, dorsal view. D. Palpi, lateral view. E. Head, lateral view. F. Metanotum and propodeum, posterior view. G. Apex of wing, dorsal view. H. T1–2, dorsolateral view. Scale bars: A–C, E–H = 1 mm; D = 0.5 mm.

Fig. 24. Afrepsilon hybridum gen. et sp. nov., ♀, holotype from Umtali (MSNVE). A. Habitus, dorsal view. B. Head, frontal view. C. Head, dorsal view. D. T2–3, dorsal view. Scale bars: 1 mm.