Picardiella Lichtenstein, 1920

Watanabe, Kyohei, 2020, Expression of green fluorescent protein defines a specific population of lamina II excitatory interneurons in the GRP :: eGFP mouse, Bulletin of the Kanagawa Prefectural Museum (Natural Science) 49, pp. 29-66 : 60-61

Genus Picardiella Lichtenstein, 1920

Picardiella Lichtenstein, 1920: 76 . Type species: Cryptus melanoleucus Gravenhorst, 1829 . Monobasic.

Borciella Constantineanu, 1929: 516 . Type species: Borciella crenulata Constantineanu, 1929 (= Cryptus melanoleucus Gravenhorst, 1829 ). Monobasic.

Nipporicnus Uchida, 1931: 147 . Type species: Acroricnus tarsalis Matsumura, 1912 . Original designation.

Paretha Seyrig, 1952: 200 . Type species: Paretha tarsalis Seyrig, 1952 (= Picardiella seyrigi Townes, Townes & Gupta, 1961 ). Original designation.

Two species, P. rufa ( Uchida, 1932) and P. tarsalis (Matsumura, 1912) , have been recorded from Japan. I herein record P. melanoleuca (Gravenhorst, 1829) from Japan for thE first timE.

Picardiella melanoleuca (Gravenhorst, 1829) (New standard Japanese name: Tsushima-togarihimebachi)

Cryptus melanoleucus Gravenhorst, 1829: 489 .

Mesostenus argiolus Rudow, 1882: 33 .

Mesostenus peregrinus Schmiedeknecht, 1905: 572 .

Borciella crenulata Constantineanu, 1929: 516 .

Habrocryptus assertorius tarsoleucus Kiss, 1929: 108 .

Description based on Japanese specimens. Female (n=2). Body largely dull, covered with short, dense silver setae, length 8.0– 9.8 mm.

Head 0.61–0.63 × as long as wide. Clypeus punctate, 0.38–0.4 × as long as maximum wide, convex in lateral view, its apical margin subtruncate ( Fig. 14H). Face 0.53 × as long as maximum wide. Frons with a longitudinal carina anterior to median ocellus, with some transverse rugae above antennal sockets. Length of malar space 0.4–0.5 × as long as basal mandibular width. Mandible strongly twisted medially, its upper tooth distinctly longer than lowEr tooth. BasE of mandiblE almost flat. OD: POL: OOL = 1.0: 1.2–1.3: 1.25–1.3. Flagellum with 27 segments. FL I 0.45–0.5 × as long as maximum depth in lateral view and 1.2–1.25 × as long as FL II.

Mesosoma. Lateral aspect of pronotum densely punctate dorsally and ventrally, longitudinally strigose medially. Epomia present. Posterior ends of notauli rEachEd to middlE of mEsoscutum and both Ends confluEnt posteriorly. Mesoscutum and scutellum densely punctate. Mesopleuron largely reticulate rugose dorsally and densely punctate ventrally, with a smooth area on speculum. Mesosternum with a median part of posterior transverse carina. Metapleuron finely reticulate rugose. Juxtacoxal carina present. Propodeum finely reticulate rugose, with complete anterior transverse carina and posterior transverse carina ( Fig. 14I). Pleural carina complete except for indistinct posterior area. Propodeal spiracle elongate. Area basalis indistinct. Fore wing length 6.1–7.5 mm. Areolet pentagonal, small, vein 2rs-m and vein 3rs-m subparallel ( Fig. 14J). Nervellus of hind wing intercepted below the middle by second abscissa of vein Cu. Hind femur 6.0 × as long as maximum depth in lateral view. Hind TS I: II: III: IV: V = 4.8: 2.0: 1.3: 0.7: 1.0.

Metasoma more or less polished. T I 3.4–3.5 × as long as maximum width, dEnsEly and finEly punctatE, without latero-median carina and dorso-lateral carina, with a pair of triangular projections at base. T II 1.0–1.05 × as long as maximum width. T II and T III finEly coriacEous, covErEd with finE puncturEs. Ovipositor shEath 0.92–0.96 × as long as hind tibia, shorter than fore wing and metasoma. Apex of ovipositor as Fig. 3N.

Colouration ( Figs 14 F-J). Body (excluding wings and legs) black to blackish brown, except for: clypeus, a median spot of face, mandible except for apex, a pair of spots on vertex along inner margin, palpi, tegula, subtegular ridge, a median spot of mesoscutum, scutellum, postscutellum, a posterior small spot of metapleuron, a large median spot of propodeum, a basal longitudinal spot of T I and posterior margin of each metasomal tergite whitish yellow; malar space partly tinged with yellowish brown; FL V to FL XI white except for outer surface; humeral plate and membranous parts of metasomal sternites yellowish brown; ovipositor reddish brown. Wings hyaline. Veins and pterostigma blackish brown to brown except for yellowish brown wing base. Coxa black. Fore and mid legs except for coxae dark brown to yellowish brown. Hind trochanter, trochantellus, femur, tibia, base of TS I and TS V blackish brown to black. Subbasal part of hind tibia more or less tinged with reddish brown. Tarsus except for base of TS I and TS V whitish yellow. Yellow spot of face sometimes absent. Yellow posterior margin of T IV and T V partly narrow.

Male. No material is collected in Japan.

Material examined. JAPAN: KPM-NK 75744 , F, Nagasaki Pref., Izuhara Town , Tsushima Is., 30. VII. 1998, A. Shimizu leg. ; KPM-NK 75745 , F, ditto, 31. VII. 1998 .

Destribution. Japan (Tsushima Is.). Outside Japan, this species widely distributed in Palearctic region ( Yu et al., 2016).

Remarks. This is the first record of this species from Japan.