Pristomerus kagga, 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 : 52-54

Pristomerus kagga sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:2EF10C4A-F4E5-4F5D-8247-DA8F06876E80

Fig. 13

Diagnosis

Moderately sized; background colour rufo-testaceous with black markings of variable extent; face densely punctate-granulate, punctation sparser on clypeus and on remainder of head; inner margins of eyes subparallel; malar line very long; ocelli reduced; antenna with 25–28 flagellomeres, penultimate one slightly transverse; entire mesosoma densely, deeply and evenly punctate but pronotum and speculum mostly smooth; propodeum with area superomedia elongate, weakly delimited laterally; female femoral tooth very strong, followed by strong denticles; ovipositor moderately short, its apex moderately sinuous.

Differential diagnosis

Moderately sized species with a characteristic colour pattern, rufo-testaceous with large black markings; differentiated from all other Afrotropical species by the combination of the very long malar line and the strong femoral tooth in females. The reduced ocelli and the dense punctation over the entire mesosoma are also helpful for identification.

Etymology

Kagga is old Norse for a keg or casket and is taken from the name of the type locality.

Type material

Holotype

SOUTH AFRICA: ♀, “ South Africa, Western Cape, Cederberg, Kagga Kamma Nature Reserve , 32°45.382’S 19°34.045’E, 1065m, 19 July 2014, S. van Noort, Sweep, Swartruggens Quartzite Fynbos, KAG14-FYN1-S01, SAM-HYM-P048057” ( SAMC).

Paratypes

SOUTH AFRICA: 2 ♀♀, same label data except: “SAM-HYM-P048056 and SAM-HYM-P048058” ( SAMC).

Description

Female (3 specimens)

B 4.9–5.8; A 2.7–3.1; F 3.6–4.2; CT 1.5; ML 1.1; POL 2.1; OOL 1.5; Fl n-1 0.9; ASM 2.0; OT 1.2–1.3; FFT 2.

COLOUR. Background colour rufo-testaceous with black markings of variable extent on: frons, inter-ocellar area (marking sometimes extending to frons and occiput), occiput, mesoscutal lobes (sometimes only notaulus rufo-testaceous), sometimes scuto-scutellar groove and base of scutellum, propodeum (basally to entirely), mesopleuron and metapleuron almost entirely rufo-testaceous to black with only speculum area rufo-testaceous, entire mesosoma ventrally, basal half of tergite 1 only to metasoma almost entirely black, hind coxa more or less entirely, flagellum and ovipositor sheath; wings hyaline, venation dark brown.

HEAD. Face densely punctate-granulate, punctation sparser on median bulge; inner margins of eyes subparallel; clypeus barely transverse, long, shallowly and sparsely punctate; malar line very long; frons, vertex and temple sparsely to densely punctate-granulate; antenna with 25–28 flagellomeres, penultimate flagellomere shorter than wide.

MESOSOMA. Moderately elongate; pronotum almost smooth with some sparse punctures along dorsal, posterior and ventral margins; mesopleuron and metapleuron densely, deeply and evenly punctate, speculum smooth except some punctures dorsally; mesoscutum and scutellum densely, deeply and evenly punctate, apical third of mesoscutum with punctures somewhat confluent into weak transverse rugosities, notaulus relatively strong; propodeum densely, deeply and evenly punctate with area superomedia smoother centrally, area superomedia elongate, weakly delimited laterally beyond anterior transverse carina. Legs. Femoral tooth very strong, obviously higher than basally wide, followed by strong denticles.

METASOMA. Tergite 2 and apical half of tergite 1 longitudinally aciculate, following tergites coriaceous; thyridium large and subcircular; ovipositor moderately short, straight, moderately sinuous apically.

Male

Unknown.

Distribution

South Africa (Western Cape).

Figures

Fig. 13. Pristomerus kagga 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).