Pristomerus xhosa, Rousse & Noort, 2015

Rousse, Pascal & Noort, Simon van, 2015, Revision of the Afrotropical species of Pristomerus (Ichneumonidae: Cremastinae), with descriptions of 31 new species, European Journal of Taxonomy 124, pp. 1-129 : 111-113

Pristomerus xhosa sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:26B9F9AD-A183-4B2B-91B0-93C93F3C96F2

Fig. 43

Diagnosis

Moderately small; mottled overall, mostly yellow to reddish-testaceous with numerous large black areas; head densely and deeply punctate; clypeus long and rather narrow; malar line exceptionally long; ocelli unusually reduced; antenna long with 35–36 flagellomeres, penultimate flagellomere subquadrate; mesosoma deeply, densely and evenly punctate, but pronotum mid-dorsally and speculum ventrally smooth; female femoral tooth reduced to a subapical point, sometimes barely distinct; ovipositor moderately long, apically moderately sinuous. Male unknown.

Differential diagnosis

Moderately sized, mottled yellow, black and reddish-testaceous; unmistakably characterized by this unique colour pattern, the extremely long malar line, the strongly reduced ocelli and the long clypeus, all features making P. xhosa sp. nov. highly characteristic within Pristomerus . The only confusion might occur with P. kagga sp. nov., from which it may otherwise be differentiated by the very weak femoral tooth in P. xhosa sp. nov. females.

Type material

Holotype

SOUTH AFRICA: ♀, “ South Africa, Eastern Cape, Pearston, Plains of Camdeboo Game Reserve , 32°32.033’S 25°14.267’E, 969 m, 9 April–26 July 2010, S. van Noort, Malaise trap, Camdeboo Escarpment Thicket, PCD09–ACA1–M04, SAM–HYM–P047416” ( SAMC).

Paratypes

SOUTH AFRICA: 1 ♀, same label data; 2 ♀♀, same label data except: “ 30.x.2009 – 22.ii.2010, PCD09– ACA1–M02, SAM–HYM–P047416” ( SAMC).

Description

Female (3 specimens)

B 7.4–8.9; A 4.1–5.0; F 4.1–5.1; CT 1.4; ML 1.1; POL 1.5; OOL 1.6; Fl n-1 1.0; ASM 2.2; OT 1.8–1.9; FFT 0–1.

COLOUR. Head mostly reddish with mandible, malar space and frontal orbits pale yellow, and black markings on mid-dorsal face, tentorial pit, frons, inter-ocellar area, occiput and antenna; mesosoma mottled: background colour yellow variously fading to reddish-testaceous, with numerous variable black markings on: mesoscutal lobes, scuto-scutellar groove, scutellar trough, metanotum, propodeum dorsally, mesopleuron dorsally, metapleuron anteriorly and most of mesosoma ventrally; metasomal tergites black with apical half reddish to yellow but tergite 1 basally yellow, and tergite 3 and following sometimes without black marking but one or two postero-lateral dark spots; fore and mid legs reddish with coxae and trochanters somewhat paler, hind leg reddish with black markings of variable extent: coxa ventrally, trochanter ventrally, femur ventrally, tibia basally and apically, and entire tarsus; wings hyaline, venation pale brown.

HEAD. Vertex, frons, face and clypeus uniformly densely and deeply punctate-granulate; temple and gena coriaceous; clypeus narrow and long, convex in profile; malar line exceptionally long; ocelli reduced and subcircular; occipital carina joining hypostomal carina at mandible base; antenna with 35–36 flagellomeres, penultimate flagellomere quadrate.

MESOSOMA. Moderately elongate; entire mesosoma deeply, densely and evenly punctate, but pronotum mid-dorsally and ventral half of speculum smooth; notaulus shallow; punctures somewhat confluent in area superomedia and area petiolaris, area superomedia elongate. Legs. Femoral tooth distinct but very weak, reduced to a barely distinct subapical point followed by minute denticles.

METASOMA. Tergite 2, apical half of tergite 1, and basal half of tergite 3 aciculate, following tergites coriaceous; thyridium subcircular; ovipositor moderately long, its apical third moderately sinuous.

Male

Unknown.

Distribution

South Africa.

Figures

Fig. 43. Pristomerus xhosa sp. nov. Holotype, ♀. A. Habitus, lateral view. B. Head, mesosoma, dorsal view. C. Head, anterior view. D. Propodeum, dorsal view. E. Mesosoma, lateral view. F. Hind tibia, lateral view (inset: data labels).