Tessmannella Hedicke

Buffington, Matthew L. & Noort, Simon van, 2012, Revision of the Afrotropical Oberthuerellinae (Cynipoidea, Liopteridae), ZooKeys 202, pp. 1-154 : 80-81

Tessmannella Hedicke

Tessmannella Hedicke, 1912: 303. Type species: Tessmannella spinosa Hedicke, by original designation.

Diagnosis.

Female antenna 13-segmented, subclavate; male 14-segmented. Face with reticulate to rugose sculpture and scattered pubescence. Pronotum coarsely rugose with median tooth or spine viewed laterally. Mesonotum with coarse variable sculpture, propodeum without pronounced side margins. Petiole three times as long as broad, terga 2-4 short (viewed laterally and dorsally), terga 5 largest. Metafemora with a rounded lobe between medial area and apex, tooth on metafemur angled, hind tibia with a distinct lobe apically, opposite the tibial spines. Scutellum with three foveae.

Distribution.

Central African Republic; Congo; Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire); Equatorial Guinea; Gabon; Kenya.

Biology.

Unknown.

Comments.

Only four species were previously known in this genus, two described by Hedicke (1912), one by Benoit (1955), and one by Quinlan (1979). Tessmannella transiens Benoit (1955) was transferred to Oberthuerella by Ronquist (1995) leaving three species in the genus. Here we describe three new species, elevating the total to six.

Included species.

Tessmannella copelandi Buffington & van Noort, sp. n.

Tessmannella expansa Quinlan, 1979: 116

Tessmannella kiplingi Buffington & van Noort, sp. n.

Tessmannella nigra Hedicke, 1912: 304

Tessmannella roberti Buffington & van Noort, sp. n.

Tessmannella spinosa Hedicke, 1912: 303

Key to species of Tessmannella (both sexes)

(Available online at http://www.waspweb.org/Cynipoidea/Keys/index.htm)