Polyphrix Townes

Santos, Bernardo F., Aguiar, Alexandre P. & Tedesco, Anazélia M., 2009, Phylogenetic revision and the origin of Polyphrix Townes (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae, Cryptinae), with description of a new species, Zootaxa 2214, pp. 29-44 : 38-39

Polyphrix Townes

Polyphrix Townes, 1970:282 –283, 482. Description, figure. Type species: Polyphrix varians Townes , by monotypy and original designation.

Polyphrix: Nogueira & Aguiar, 2005:26 . Redefinition, description, figure, new taxa, key to species.

Redescription. Fore wing 7.9–9.9 mm. Body slender, shiny, scarcely punctate and sparsely pilose. Head: clypeus strongly convex; CHW 1.63–1.84, rectangular to almost triangular, CWW 1.48–2.02; apical margin convex, without teeth; mandible moderately long, MLW 1.57–2.02, apex slightly to distinctly narrower than base, MWW 0.53–0.72; ventral tooth slightly longer than dorsal tooth; malar space very narrow, MSM 0.40– 0.50; subapical flagellomeres as wide as basal ones, not flattened; supra-antennal area ventrally slightly concave, near ocelli slightly convex, dorsally with distinct longitudinal carina; occipital carina ending relatively far from hypostomal carina, at distance of 0.63–1.00 the width of mandible base; temple and gena very narrow. Thorax: dorsal margin of pronotum not swollen, but sometimes with elongate tubercle or lamellar protuberance; epomia absent; mesoscutum strongly convex, circular; mesoscutum and scutellum glabrous, polished, shiny; notaulus faint, from almost completely absent to distinct on anterior 0.3 of mesoscutum; scuto-scutellar groove smooth, polished, moderately deep; lateral carina of scutellum near scuto-scutellar groove with circular perforation; epicnemial carina restricted to ventral 0.7 of mesopleuron, sinuous to almost straight; sternaulus weak, incomplete, reaching at most half the distance to mid coxa, strongly upcurved; mesopleural fovea very shallow; median portion of postpectal carina absent or weak and short; hind margin of metanotum without teeth-like projections; transverse furrow at base of propodeum very wide and shallow, usually smooth, sometimes with very faint oblique striation; pleural carina absent; justacoxal carina absent or vestigial. Legs. Fore tibia of female regular, not swollen; all tibae with numerous bristles; pre-apical tarsi usually slightly bilobed, fore lobe slightly longer than hind one. Propodeum: smooth, shiny; scarcely pilose; anterior margin laterally slightly prominent, centrally concave; spiracle elliptic, SWL 1.83–2.70; anterior transverse carina strong, straight or slightly arched forwards, complete, area in front of it smooth, shiny, with sparse hairs, area behind it with distinct straight, strong, widely spaced transverse wrinkles, either complete or incomplete; posterior transverse carina and apophyses absent. Wings: hyaline; fore wing crossvein 1cu-a basad of 1M+Rs by 0.25–0.27 its own length; vein 2-Cu 0.20–0.26 as long as crossvein 2cu-a, veins angled; ramellus absent; 4-Rs somewhat irregular, apically distincly upcurved, about same size or slightly shorter than vein 4-M, which is slightly arched; bulla of crossvein 2m-cu short, placed at posterior half of vein; cell 1+2Rs (areolet) of moderate size, APH 0.61–0.67, pentagonal or rectangular, usually much wider than high, AWH 1.17–2.40; crossveins 2r-m and 3r-m subparallel, of equal size, or 3r-m distinctly longer; 3r-m spectral; vein 2-M much longer than 3-M, or rarely the same length; hind wing vein M+Cu strongly convex apically; HW1C 0.80–1.00; vein 2-1A reaching 0.70–0.85 of distance to posterior wing margin. Metasoma: first tergite long, T1LW 3.35–3.93, very slender, T1WW 1.57–1.66, ventro-laterally round, very sparsely pilose, without basolateral tooth; spiracle at center, prominent; all longitudinal carinae absent; T2LW 1.07–1.48, T2WW 2.2–2.5; thyridium slightly longer than wide; OST 0.72–0.83.; ovipositor from slender to thick, straight, laterally slightly to distinctly compressed, apex from blunt to acute; dorsal valve nodus sharply defined, except vestigial or absent in P. atlantica ; ventral valve apex with 6–12 teeth, 1st and 2nd widely spaced, except all teeth regularly spaced in P. a t l a n t i c a.

Comments. The highly uniform and particular morphological structure of Polyphrix is characteristic. The transverse wrinkles of the propodeum, though uncommon, also occur in some other Cryptini , particularly Messatoporus Cushman , Prosthoporus Porter , and in some Digonocryptus Viereck , but never so stout, straight, and widely spaced as in Polyphrix . Nematocryptus Roman , a genus of the Oriental and Ethiopian regions, also shows such strong and widely spaced wrinkles, though slightly different than in Polyphrix . One species of Nematocryptus was coded and included in the analysis, but was not recovered as closely related to Polyphrix . Furthermore, it can be distinguished from the latter genus by the ventral tooth of mandible shorter than dorsal one (vs. longer), dorsal margin of pronotum strongly and uniformly swollen (vs. only weakly swollen, sometimes with a lamellar protuberance), body surface strongly sculptured (vs. smooth), mesoscutum somewhat flattened (vs. strongly convex) and notaulus very long and deeply impressed (vs. very short and faint), among other features. As pointed out by Nogueira & Aguiar (2005), the lamellar protuberance of the pronotum in P. cristata can be mistaken with the “upper margin of pronotum strongly swollen” mentioned by Townes (1970) in couplet eight of his key to Lymeonina genera, but other features will eventually lead to the correct determination of the genus. Albeit quite similar structurally, the four known species can be easily distinguished from each other through differences in their color pattern.

Biology. Unknown.

Distribution records. Recorded from twelve localities, including the Amazon Basin of Guyana and Brazil (states of Pará and Amazonas), the Brazilian Cerrado (state of Goiás), and the highlands of southern and southeastern Brazil (states of Bahia, Espírito Santo, São Paulo and Paraná). These records range 29º51' latitude degrees. Figure 5 shows all geographic records of the four species of Polyphrix . See section “Phylogeny and Distribution” for more information.

Figures

FIGURES 5 – 11. Polyphrix stellata sp. nov. Holotype Ƥ. 5, Head, frontal. 6, Lateral view. 7, Tip of ovipositor. 8, Head, mesosoma and metasoma, dorsal. 9, Right fore wing. 10, Right hind wing. 11, Propodeum, dorsal. Illustrations not to scale.