Malayepipona sparsipuncta Bai, Chen & Li, 2021

Bai, Yue, Chen, Bin & Li, Ting-Jing, 2021, Two newly recorded genera Malayepipona Giordani Soika and Megaodynerus Gusenleitner, with eight new species from China (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Eumeninae), Zootaxa 5060 (3), pp. 371-391 : 383-385

Malayepipona sparsipuncta Bai, Chen & Li , sp. n.

( Figs 51–59 )

Material examined. Holotype, 1♀, China, Yunnan Province, Nujiang Prefecture, Lanping County, Jinding Town , 26.435°N, 99.411°E, 2349 m, 12–13.VII.2011, Tingjing Li ( CNU); paratypes: 2♀, same data as holotype ( CNU).

Diagnosis. This species resembles M. furva Nguyen & Carpenter 2013 by sharing with the characters of T2–T3 with apical lamella, and T3 with shorter apical lamella, and border between anterior and dorsal surfaces of T1 bluntly angulate, with obvious edge. But it can be distinguished from all other species of Malayepipona by the following character combination: clypeus black with two yellow lateral spots at base ( Fig. 52 ), T1–T5 with apical yellow bands (widest on T2 and narrowest on T5) ( Fig. 58 ) and S2 ( Fig. 59 ) laterally convex and medially with longitudinal concave at base.

Description. Female ( Fig. 51 ). Body length 9.5–10.0 mm, forewing length 9.2–10.0 mm; body covered with short, silver setae except lower part of propodeum with dense, long silver setae; black, with the following parts orange–yellow: two spots on upper lateral corner of clypeus, one below spots along inner eye margin, scape ventrally, interantennal spot, one small spot on gena, base of pronotum, parategula, two lateral spots of scutellum (or not), two big connected spots of metanotum, apical bands on T1–T5 (widest on T2 and narrowest on T5), lateral apical bands on S2; tegula dark brown; wings brown, marginal cell of fore wing without an apical dark spot.

Head. In frontal view, head subcircular, slightly wider than long ( Fig. 52 ); vertex with two small cephalic foveae slightly bigger than maxmium puncture on vertex, bearing dense and long pubescence, area surrounding foveae nomal and punctate, distance between foveae about 0.8 times as long as distance between posterior ocelli ( Fig. 53 ); distance from posterior ocellus to apical margin of the vertex about 1.6 times the distance from posterior ocellus to inner eye margin; vertex and gena with coarse, dense punctures ( Fig. 53 ); punctures on frons coarser than vertex and gena, interspaces reticulate ( Fig. 52 ); gena slightly wider than eye, occipital carina complete along gena; in frontal view, distance between inner eye margins at vertex about 1.2 times that at clypeus; clypeus ( Fig. 52 ) basally with moderate punctures, medially and apically with sparse punctures, about 1.1 times as wide as long, in lateral view convex at basal half, apical margin emarginated medially, laterally forming a sharp tooth; clypeal width: emargination width = 1.32: 0.40; mandible with four prominent teeth, the first tooth with inner side slightly concave, the second and the third with inner side slightly produced to form round edges, the outer one pointed apically ( Fig. 52 ); A1 about 3.2 times as long as its maximum width, curved; A3 about 1.6 times as long as wide, A4 slightly longer than wide, A5–A11 wider than long, A12 bullet–shaped, as long as its basal width.

Mesosoma. Mesosoma longer than wide in dorsal view ( Fig. 57 ); pronotum coarsely, densely punctate and strongly reticulate, punctures coarser and larger than vertex and gena; pronotal carina raised and complete; mesoscutum ( Fig. 57 ) weakly convex, about 1.1 times as wide as long, punctures on mesoscutum similar to those on pronotum; scutellum weakly convex, in lateral view at the same level of mesoscutum, scutellum and metanotum medially with longitudinal furrow ( Fig. 57 ), punctures on scutellum similar to those on mesoscutum; metanotum weakly convex, sloping down to apical margin, punctures on metanotum deeper than mesoscutum; scutellum and metanotum with deep depression ( Fig. 56 ); mesepisternum with dense, large, flat–bottomed punctures, larger than pronotum posterodorsally; metapleuron dorsally with several punctures and weak striae, ventrally with sparse shallow punctures ( Fig. 55 ); propodeum ( Figs 54, 55, 57 ) dorsally with deep, dense, flat–bottomed punctures, interspaces strongly carinate and reticulate, its maximum punctures on body, medially excavated roundly and the basal fovea about 0.3 times of the length of the median carina which runs from the fovea to the apical margin; dorsal and posterior surfaces connected by a sharp edge; posterior and lateral surfaces connected by sharply angulate; lateral surface coarse, punctures much shallower and mixed with striae (Fig.); posterior surface densely with minute punctures mixed with striae, and with deep flask-shaped depression along propodeal carina.

Metasoma. T1 ( Fig. 58 ) about 1.8 times as wide as long, and basally truncate and weakly with raised edge, anterior vertical surface weakly convex, with sparse punctures; T2–T3 ( Fig. 58 ) with obvious apical lamella, T2 about 1.1 times as wide as long; S2 ( Fig. 59 ) in lateral view slightly convex from base to apical margin, in frontal view laterally convex, and medially with shallow depression at base; T1 with moderate punctures, T2 with sparser punctures, S2 punctures similar to those on T2, punctures on T3–T5 denser than T2, punctures on S3–S6 and T6 smaller and denser than S2, punctures on metasoma smaller and sparser than those on mesosoma.

Male. Unknown.

Distribution. China (Yunnan).

Etymology. The specific name is derived from two Latin words: sparsus (= sparse) and punctus (= puncture), referring to the sparse puncture of the metasoma.

Figures

FIGURES 51–59. Malayepipona sparsipuncta sp. nov., holotype, ♀. 51. Habitus, dorsal view; 52. Head, frontal view; 53. Head, dorsal view; 54. Propodeum, posterior view; 55. Mesosoma, lateral view; 56. Scutellum and metanotum, lateral view; 57. Mesosoma, dorsal view; 58. Metasoma, dorsal view; 59. Metasoma, ventral view.