Chrysis polita Rosa, 2021

Rosa, Paolo, Aswathi, Pokkattu Gopi & Bijoy, Chenthamarakshan, 2021, An annotated and illustrated checklist of the Indian cuckoo wasps (Hymenoptera: Chrysididae), Zootaxa 4929 (1), pp. 1-100 : 54-56

Chrysis polita Rosa , sp. nov.

( Figs 50 A–50F, 51A, 51E, 52A–52E)

Material examined. Holotype: ♂; India: Darjeeling , Ramam, 2450m, 19.v.1975, leg. W. Wittmer, Chrysis fulgidaria Ts. det. Linsenmaier, GBIF_ Chr 00037886 ( MNLU) . Paratypes: 3 ♀, Uttaranchal st, 30 km NW Bageshwar, 2400m, 25–30.vi.2003, leg. Kejval & Tryzna (PRC, MHC); Myanmar : 1♀, N.E. Burma: Kambaiti , 2000m, 14.v.1934, leg. Malaise, Chrysis fulgidaria ? det. Linsenmaier, NML_ENT GBIF_ Chr 0037887 ( MNLU) .

Diagnosis. Species with head, mesosoma and tergum I metallic blue, partly with green reflections; terga II and III red with purple-violet reflections on tergum II dorsally. Metasomal tergum II with scattered punctation. Tergum III, with deep and dense small punctures, contrasting with scattered punctation of tergum II; pits of pit row deep and large; apical margin with four pointed, triangular teeth. Terga II and III with median longitudinal carina. Black spots on sternum II relatively small.

Description. Male. Body length 8.0 mm. Forewing length 5.3 mm. OOL 2.1 × MOD; POL 1.4 × MOD; MS 1.2 × MOD; relative length of P:F1:F2:F3 = 1.0:1.6:1.0:0.8.

Head. Frons with small (about 0.2 × MOD) and contiguous punctures, smaller around ocelli and along eye margin; vertex between ocelli and eye with larger punctures and with polished areas posterior to ocelli and on occipital area; transverse frontal carina strong and slightly arcuate, with lateral endings close to inner eye margin, about 0.5 × MOD apart; scapal basin micropunctate, medially irregularly punctate; subantennal space about 1.0 × MOD; apical margin of clypeus slightly incurvedc; genal carina well developed to mandibular insertion, very close to eye margin on malar space.

Mesosoma. Pronotum narrow as in ruddii subgroup; medial pronotal line [= pronotal groove] incise, as long as ¾ length of pronotum; pronotum with double punctation; dorsally with large and polished interspaces, with tiny dots; mesoscutum with slightly larger punctures, denser posteriorly on median area of mesoscutum; notauli basally as deep and elongate foveae; parapsidal signum [= parapsidal line] hardly visible; mesoscutellum with double punctation and scattered punctures, antero-dorsally polished; metanotum with foveate punctures, anteriorly larger punctures; metapectal-propodeal disc unmodified; posterior propodeal projections [= propodeal teeth] subparallel, slightly divergent; mesopleuron with posterior oblique sulcus [= scrobal sulcus], formed by large, foveate punc- tures, with small punctures on interspaces. Spurs of mesotibia almost equal in length; mesotarsomere I as long as following three together. Wings with nervures unmodified.

Metasoma. Tergum I medially with large and contiguous punctures, slightly smaller than those on metascutellum; laterally with smaller punctures (ca. 0.5 × PD) with larger interspaces, 1.0–2.0 × PD apart; tergum II with even punctures of small diameter, ca. 0.5 × PD of largest punctures on tergum I, equally spaced, 1.0–2.0 × PD apart; with tiny dots on interspaces; largely polished along median longitudinal line; tergum III, with deep and dense small punctures, contrasting with scattered punctation of the tergum II; pits of pit row deep and large, ca. 1.0 × MOD; apical margin with four pointed, triangular teeth. Terga II and III with weak median longitudinal carina. Black spots on sternum II relatively small, 1.5 × MOD distant from each other.

Colouration. Head, mesosoma and tergum I metallic blue, with green reflections on face and genae, anteriorly and posteriorly on pronotum, tegula, mesopleuron, posterior propodeal projections, sterna, and ventrally on legs and sterna; terga II and III red with purple-violet reflections on tergum II dorsally. Scape and pedicel green to blue, flagellum black. Wings clear, slightly brownish in the cells.

Vestiture. Body with whitish, erect and long setae, about 1.0 × MOD long on head, about 1.5 × MOD laterally on metasomal tergum; meso-, metafemora and tibiae with erect, whitish setae, 1.5 × MOD long.

Female. Similar to male in habitus and colouration, with flagellomere I fully metallic blue. Body punctation similar to male ( Fig. 52A, 52D ). Black spots on the sternum II smaller and subrectangular ( Fig. 52E ); pit row with large pits, and post pit row area elongate; apical rim with characteristic, widely arcuate interval between median apical teeth, and deeply concave interval between median and lateral tooth.

Distribution. India (Palaearctic part: West Bengal, Uttaranchal); Myanmar.

Etymology. The specific name polita (feminine, adjective) derives from Latin adjective politus, meaning both elegant (referred to the general habitus of this species), and polished (referred to punctation on the tergum II, with large and polished interspaces).

Remarks. Chrysis polita sp. nov. belongs to the Ch. ignita species group. It is related to Ch. castigata , Ch. immaculata du Buysson, 1898a , and Ch. exsulans Dahlbom, 1854 , for general habitus, genitalia and colouration, with tergum I blue, contrasting with the other two red metasomal terga. Chrysis polita sp. nov. can be easily separated from other similar species for the scattered punctation of the metasomal tergum II ( Fig. 51A ) and for the shape of the genital capsule ( Fig. 51E ); moreover, it is separated from Ch. castigata and Ch. immaculata by different colour pattern of the tergum I, which is apically red to golden red, whereas it is fully blue in Ch. polita sp. nov. Besides different punctation and genitalia, it is separated from Chrysis exsulans by different shape of tergum III, and its apical teeth.

Another two species have contrasting blue tergum I, the females of Chrysis fulgida Linnaeus, 1761 and Ch. fulgidaria Tsuneki, 1952 . The first is a relatively common species in the Palaearctic region but genetically belongs to a different subgroup, together with Ch. iris Christ, 1791 ( Pauli et al. 2019); besides the morphological differences, the male of Ch. fulgida is also differently coloured, having a large blue dorsal spot on tergum II. Chrysis fulgidaria was described on a single female Korean specimen, and it can be easily separated from Ch. polita sp. nov. by dense metasomal punctation and narrow and spine-like apical teeth on tergum III.

Figures

FIGURE 50. Chrysis polita Rosa, sp. nov., holotype, male. A. Habitus, dorsal view. B. Habitus, lateral view. C. Head, frontal view. D. Head, dorsal view. E. Metasoma, dorso-lateral view. F. Metasoma, ventral view. Scale bars 1.0 mm.

FIGURE 51. Chrysis metasoma, dorsal view, and genital capsule. A, E. Chrysis polita Rosa, sp. nov. B, F. Chrysis exsulans Dahlbom, 1844. C, G. Chrysis castigata Linsenmaier, 1959. D, H. Chrysis immaculata du Buysson, 1898. Scale bars 1.0 mm.

FIGURE 52. Chrysis polita Rosa, sp. nov., paratype, female. A. Habitus, dorsal view. B. Head, frontal view. C. Habitus, lateral view. D. Metasoma, dorso-lateral view. E. Metasoma, ventral view. Scale bars 1.0 mm.