Scambus amazonicus Gómez, 2015

Gómez, Isrrael C. & Yabar-Landa, Erick, 2015, Description of the first species of Scambus Hartig (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae) from Peru, with a key to the Neotropical species, Zootaxa 3956 (3), pp. 437-443 : 439-440

Scambus amazonicus Gómez sp. n.

( Figs 1 a, 1b, 1c, 1d)

Type locality. Peru, Department of Amazonas.

Type material. Holotype Female ( BMNH). Peru, Dept. of Amazonas, Chachapoyas, 2300 m, M. Cooper leg., 16.IV.1984.

Description. Female ( Fig. 1 a). Body length about 7 mm. Mandible subequally bidentate; malar space about 0,33 × as long as basal mandibular width; lower face broad, about 1.4 × as broad as medially high, rather flat, highly polished and sparsely punctate ( Fig. 1 b). Head, in dorsal view, with gena long, evenly narrowed behind eyes, occipital carina complete; lateral ocellus separated from eye by about 1.6 × its own maximum diameter. Antenna with 21 flagellomeres. Pronotum with epomia present. Mesoscutum convex, smooth with short sparse setiferous punctures. Submetapleural carina absent ( Fig. 1 c). Propodeum in profile declivous, posteriorly evenly rounded, dorsally smooth, with lateromedian longitudinal carina present only on extreme posterior margin as weak swellings; pleural carina present but weak. Fore wing length about 7 mm; cu-a opposite base of Rs & M; hind wing with distal abscissa of Cu1 present joining cu-a closer to 1A than to M. Metasoma moderately stout ( Fig. 1 d); tergite I about 1.0 × as long as posteriorly broad, with lateromedian carinae present anteriorly, converging towards centre of tergite, then evanescent; lateral longitudinal carina present posteriorly; tergite II about 0.9 × as long as broad, coarsely punctate centrally; tergite III about 0.65 × as long as broad, anteriorly coarsely punctate, following tergites similar though progressively more closely and shallowly punctate. Ovipositor with eight teeth; ovipositor sheath about 2.8 × length of hind tibia, with long black pubescence.

Black and red insects ( Fig. 1 a), palpi whitish, antenna dark brown. Tegula and pronotum dorso-posteriorly white; mesoscutum and mesopleuron red. Ovipositor sheath black. Fore and mid coxa whitish, hind coxa black; fore and mid trochanters whitish, hind trochanter whitish ventrally black; fore and mid femora white with weak black tinge, hind femur brown except dorsally where it is white, hind tibia white with weak brown apically; trochanters yellow, hind trochantellus brown. Wings hyaline; pterostigma light brown.

Male. unknown

Diagnosis. Scambus amazonicus sp. n. can be distinguished from all other Neotropical species of the genus by the combination of the following characters: 1) hind coxa black, 2) metasomal tergites strongly punctate anteriorly, 3) mesopleuron and mesoscutum red and 4) tergite III wide about 0.65 × as long as broad. This new species is similar to S. incanus sp. n., however, it can be distinguished because S. incanus has a totally black mesosoma. Scambus yalileae is also similar in size and coloration to S. amazonicus sp. n., however, the black hind coxa and stronger punctate metasoma of the latter differentiate these species.

Biology. Nothing is known about the biology of this species.

Etymology. The species name refers to the department of Amazonas in Peru.

Distribution. This species is, to date, only known to occur in the Northern Peruvian Andean-Amazonian interface.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Scambus amazonicus sp. n. a) habitus, b) face, c) mesosoma, and d) metasoma.