Angiopolybia obscuriorina Barroso, 2024

Barroso, Paulo Cézar Salgado, Somavilla, Alexandre, Broad, Gavin R., Menezes, Rodolpho Santos Telles & Oliveira, Marcio Luiz De, 2024, Contributing to the understanding of Angiopolybia Araujo, 1946 (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Polistinae): a new species, and descriptions of the nest of A. obidensis and male of A. zischkai, Zootaxa 5536 (2), pp. 315-324 : 316-319

Angiopolybia obscuriorina Barroso , sp. nov.

( Figs 1–3, 7–9 )

Diagnosis. Anterior wings 15–16 mm; tergum II without row of very long bristles on posterior margin; overall color dark brown with only faint posterior bands on terga; eye with very small and sparse bristles; gena angulate with an enlarged lower region; pronotal lamella low on anterior margin, one-fifth of height of the antennal socket; axillary fossa with anterior margin directed anteriorly; posterior submedian translucent mark of the propodeum not inserted in depression.

Comparative diagnosis. Angiopolybia obscuriorina sp. nov. resembles A. paraensis , particularly the brown variants ( Figs 4–6 , 10, 11 ), and A. obidensis . However, it differs from A. paraensis in the absence of a row of very long bristles along the posterior margin of tergum II ( Fig. 9 ), which is present in A. paraensis ( Fig. 11 ), and the area of the propodeum anterior to the spiracle projects less in the metapleural basalar area ( Fig. 8 ), while it projects more in A. paraensis ( Fig. 10 ). Additionally, it differs from A. obidensis by the lamella on the anterior margin of the pronotum, which is one-fifth of the height of the antennal socket, the pronotum with a slight prominence in front of the fovea, and the gena not enlarged in the upper region.

Type material. Holotype. ♀, Surinam, Brownsberg Nature Park , 500m, 4°58’N, 55°11’W, 20.II.1982 (J. Carpenter), AMNH_IZC 00178415 [ AMNH]. The holotype has the right hind leg broken but associated with the specimen, and tarsomeres IV and V of the left hind leg broken and lost. Paratypes: 2♀, Guyana, Pakaraima Mountains , 1057 m, 2.XI.[19]32 (D.V. FG), O.W. Richards Collection, B.M. (N.H.) 1967-510 [ NHMUK] ; 1♀, Guyana, Oronoque & New River Heads , 1938 (H. Beddington), B.M. 1938-346 [ NHMUK] ; 1♀, Surinam, 1.151, Stelop. paraens var. ruficornis, Ducke rev. [19]11 [ MZUSP] ; 2♀, Surinam, Raleighvallen-Voltzberg Nature Reserve , Voltzberg Camp ., 60 m, 29.I–13.II.1982 (J. Carpenter & D. Trail) [ AMNH] ; 2♀, Surinam, Raleighvallen-Voltzberg Nature Reserve , Foengoe, 4º43’N, 56º12’W, 26.I–15.II.1982 (J. Carpenter & D. Trail) [ AMNH] ; 1♀, French Guiana, Crique Alama, Borne 1 , trails A. , creek level, 347m., 02.24837°N, 54.46895°W, 17.III.2015, hand catch (C. Villemant), Our Planet Reviewed MNHN/PNI, Mitaraka 2015, APA-973 -1, 23.II–25.III.2015, Angiopolybia paraensis (Spinola) (det. J.M. Carpenter), AMNH_IZC 00178103 [ AMNH] [specimen used for DNA extraction by Barroso et al. 2022] .

Type locality. Brokopondo, Surinam.

Description (measurements of the holotype are given in parentheses). FEMALE. Size. Head 1.9–2 mm (1.94) mm long, 3.4–3.6 (3.57) mm high, and 3.8–4.2 (3.97) mm wide; mesosoma 6.15–6.20 (6.20) mm long, fore wing 15–16 (15.34) mm long, and hind wing 9.8–10.5 (10.36) mm long; metasoma 9.5–9.8 (9.6) mm long. Head. Lateral ocelli 0.28–0.29 (0.28) mm and median ocellus 0.28–0.3 (0.28) mm diameter, inserted in a declivity of vertex and lateral ocelli separated from eyes by two times ocellar diameter. Eyes with very small and sparse bristles. Frons with interantennal space 1.7 times height of antennal socket. Anterior tentorial pit closer to antennal socket than to eye. Upper central region of frons with very long bristles. Antennal socket 0.4 mm high. Clypeus as high as wide, in contact with eyes for approximately height of an antennal socket, with lateral lobe not touching eye. Clypeus with long bristles, but with very long bristles on apical one-third. Gena wider than half width of eye at level of ocular sinus. Mesosoma. Anterior lamella of pronotum one-fifth height of antennal socket. Pronotal fovea ellipsoid, shallow, and with slight anterior prominence. Mesoscutum convex and 1.1 times longer than wide. Tegula 1.6 times longer than wide. Axillary fossa with anterior margin anteriorly directed. Propodeum with median longitudinal elevation in propodeal furrow, in posterior region. Propodeum with region anterior to spiracle projecting shallowly into metapleural basalar area. Propodeum without translucent posterior submedian mark, anterior to propodeal valve. Propodeal valve complete and expanded, median region half height of antennal socket. Fore wing with prestigma as long as wide. Hind wing with 12–14 (12) hamuli. Metasoma. Tergum I 1.6 times longer than wide, angled at posterior third in lateral view. Tergum II 0.7 times as long as broad and without row of very long bristles on posterior margin. Color. Dark brown in general. Brown: mandibles, gena, radicle of scape, flagellomere 1 dorsally, mesepisternum (except for region posterior to scrobal furrow), metapleural basalar area, coxae, tibiae, and tarsi. Yellow: lateral region of frons and spot on tegula. Yellowish-brown: flagellomeres 1–10. Wings with yellowish-brown cells in proximal halves and yellow cells in distal halves, and yellowish-brown venation, except for reddish-brown veins costa, subcosta+radius, radial sector, prestigma, and base of pterostigma. MALE. Unknown.

Nest. Unknown.

Distribution. Guyana: Pakaraima Mountains, East Berbice –Corentyne; Surinam: Brokopondo, Sipaliwini; French Guiana: Maripassoula ( Fig. 7 ).

Etymology. The name ‘ obscuriorina ’ is a fusion of two Latin words: obscurior = subspecific epithet of an A. paraensis variant, designated a morph by Richards (1978) + ina = likeness. The name is based on the resemblance to the ‘variant’ obscurior.

Comments. While the specimens designated as paratypes of Stelopolybia paraensis var. obscurior by Bequaert (1944) from Guyana (Mountain Roraima and Essequibo River) and Surinam (Brownsberg) have not been examined in detail, because of their geographical distribution we believe that these specimens also correspond to the new species, A. obscuriorina sp. nov. Also, specimens from Pakaraima Mountains in Guyana were excluded from the distribution map due to the challenges in precisely determining the locality. Moreover, the distribution map ( Fig. 7 ) highlights distinct geographic discontinuity between brown specimens of A. paraensis and the newly identified A. obscuriorina sp. nov. While A. paraensis predominantly inhabits regions proximal to the Andes of Ecuador, Colombia, and northwestern Amazonas, Brazil, the newly discovered species has a confined distribution, with populations exclusively found in the plains of Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana.

Figures

FIGURES 1–7. 1–3. Angiopolybia obscuriorina sp. nov., holotype, ♀. 4–6. Stelopolybia paraensisvar.(or subspecies) obscurior Bequaert, holotype, ♀ (current A. paraensis brown). 1, 5. Habitus, lateral view. 2, 6. Habitus, dorsal view. 3, 4. Head, frontal view. 7. Map of distribution (© President and Fellows of Harvard College, MCZ, for images 4, 5, and 6, https://mczbase.mcz. harvard.edu/guid/MCZ:Ent:36021). Scale bar: 1 mm.

FIGURES 8–11. 8, 9. Angiopolybia obscuriorina sp. nov., holotype, ♀. 10, 11. Stelopolybia paraensis var. (or subspecies) obscurior Bequaert, holotype, ♀ (current A. paraensis brown). 8, 10. Metapleural basalar area, lateral view. 9, 11. Tergum II, lateral view. Scale bar: 1 mm.