Pristomerus vahaza Rousse, Villemant & Seyrig, 2013

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 : 104-105

Pristomerus vahaza Rousse, Villemant & Seyrig, 2013

Fig. 39

Diagnosis (range of variation from Rousse et al. 2013)

Moderately large to large; head distinctly transverse, whitish yellow with frons, inter-ocellar area and occiput black; remainder of body testaceous orange with tergites 1–3 medially blackened; face and frons moderately punctate-granulate; inner margins of eyes subparallel; clypeus weakly transverse, almost smooth; malar line short; remainder of head coriaceous; occipital carina joining hypostomal carina weakly above mandible base; antenna with 31–33 flagellomeres, penultimate flagellomere shortly elongate; mesosoma strongly elongate; pronotum almost quite smooth; mesopleuron and metapleuron moderately punctate with ventral half of speculum smooth; mesoscutum moderately punctate-granulate, inter-puncture spaces smoother on lateral lobes and finely transversely rugose along notaulus, scuto-scutellar groove hardly sculptured; scutellum sparsely punctate-granulate; area superomedia narrow and elongate; female femoral tooth absent; ovipositor moderately short, apically moderately sinuous. B 6.9–8.2; A 5.2–5.8; F 4.7–5.5; CT 1.5; ML 0.4; POL 0.4; OOL 1.3; Fl n–1 1.2; ASM 2.4; OT 1.3–1.4; FFT 0. Male with inner margins of eyes diverging ventrally, ocelli and femoral tooth enlarged. POL 0.3; OOL 0.2.

Differential diagnosis

Moderately large, mostly yellowish orange and white-faced; differentiated from all other species by the combination of the white orbits, the narrow clypeus, the transverse head, the absence of a femoral tooth and the short ovipositor. Pristomerus vahaza appears to be related to P. albescens with which it shares the unusually transverse head and narrow clypeus, but these species cannot be confused because P. albescens has an apically straight ovipositor, a strongly reduced but distinct femoral tooth and a distinctly darker head.

Material examined

Holotype

MADAGASCAR: ♀, “ MADAGASCAR, Rogez , forêt côte est, II.31, EY0000003534” ( MNHN).

Distribution

Madagascar.

Figures

Fig. 39. Pristomerus vahaza Rousse, Villemant & Seyrig, 2013. 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).