Xiphydria melanoptera Shinohara, Hara & Smith, 2020

Shinohara, Akihiko, Hara, Hideho & Smith, David R., 2020, The Xiphydria annulitibia group in northeastern Asia (Hymenoptera, Xiphydriidae), Zootaxa 4755 (2), pp. 375-389 : 387-388

Xiphydria melanoptera Shinohara, Hara & Smith , n. sp.

( Figs 1F , 3J–L, 5D)

Description. Female (holotype, Figs 1F , 3J–L, 5D). Length without ovipositor about 10.5 mm. Head black, with lateral part of clypeus to lower inner orbit and malar space (except for narrow orbital margin), spot on lower gena and fading obscure spot on lateral posterior part of vertex dirty yellowish white. Mouth parts dark brown to black; ligula mostly pale brown and mandible pale brownish except for blackish apex. Antenna blackish brown, scape and pedicel dark brown. Thorax black, with ventral posterior part of lateral pronotum, narrow dorsal posterior corner of pronotum and posterior part of tegula brownish. Legs blackish brown; narrow apices of all femora, bases of all tibiae (broadly in mid and hind legs) and most of tarsomeres (apically dark) whitish. Wings strongly stained with black, with apical 1/3 becoming hyaline; veins and stigma blackish brown. Abdomen black, with small lateral spots on terga 2, 4 and 5, broad lateral part of tergum 8, and broad lateral posterior margin of tergum 9 creamy white; ovipositor sheath with apical sheath medially brown and very narrow apex pale brown.

Malar space about 0.3× length of distance between toruli, with ventral pit deep and sharply delimited; occipital carina (crassa) distinct, entire; genal carina developed nearly to vertex but their dorsal ends widely separated from each other; inner orbits subparallel, interocular distance at level of toruli about 1.1× eye height. Labial palpus with 3 palpomeres; maxillary palpus with 5 palpomeres. Left antenna with 20 antennomeres and right antenna with 19 antennomeres; scape (incl. radicula):pedicel:flagellomere 1:flagellomere 2 as 2.9:1.0:1.7:0.9. Hind tarsomere 1 about 0.8× length of remaining tarsomeres combined; tarsal claws with large inner tooth. Forewing with cell 3R1 closed at apex (vein R1 connecting with vein Rs); cell 2Rs about as wide as cell 1M; crossvein 2r-m basal to crossvein 2m-cu on vein M; hindwing with cell R1 closed and rounded at apex posteriorly. Abdominal tergum 10 distinctly directed dorsally at apex in lateral view ( Fig. 5D ). Ovipositor sheath with apical sheath subequal in length to basal sheath.

Frons and interantennal area rugose; fine ridges extending laterally and anterolaterally from each lateral ocellus to inner orbit and similar ridges extending anteriorly and anterolaterally from ocellar area through supraclypeal area to clypeus; rather even, coriaceous space around median fovea; gena roughly shallowly rugose, with some large ill-defined punctures; pale area of lateral clypeus to lower inner orbit very shallowly finely striate and coriaceous, without distinct punctures ( Fig. 3 J–L). Pronotum irregularly wrinkled in dorsal half, smooth with several longi- tudinal ridges at middle, and very smooth and impunctate in ventral half; propleuron roughly shallowly wrinkled but without distinct punctures and surface rather smooth; mesoscutal median lobe coarsely reticulate; lateral lobes reticulate with large elongate patch coriaceous, mat and impunctate; mesoscutellum densely rugoso-reticulate, posterolateral part very shallowly so; mesepisternum rugoso-reticulate, pilose; mesepimeron nearly impunctate and glabrous, coarsely and obliquely wrinkled; metepisternum and metepimeron coarsely rugoso-reticulate. Abdomen with tergum 1 coarsely punctate, each half centrally and with broad inner margin nearly impunctate and shining; all other terga weakly shining with very fine surface microsculpture.

Male. Unknown.

Type material examined. Holotype: ♀, Rakusan, Muroran , Hokkaido, 42°21’ N 141°01’ E, 12–19. VIII. 2007, Malaise trap, T. Yoshida ( NSMT).

Distribution. Japan (Hokkaido).

Host plant. Unknown.

Etymology. The specific epithet refers to the largely blackish wings of the new species.

Remarks. Xiphydria melanoptera is similar to X. kastsheevi and X. konishii in having the wings rather strongly stained with black (apical part weakly so) and abdominal terga 8 and 9 with pale areas along the lateral posterior margins. The larger number of antennomeres (19 or 20) and the peculiar shape of the abdominal tergum 10 (distinctly directed dorsally at apex in lateral view, Fig. 5D ) will separate X. melanoptera from the two species.

Figures

FIG. 1. Xiphydria spp., females.—A, X. annulitibia, holotype; B, C, X. konishii, paratype, Bibai; D, X. konishii, holotype; E, X. konishii, paratype, Take; F, X. melanoptera, holotype.

FIG. 5. Apical parts of abdomens, holotypes, lateral view.—A, Xiphydria annulitibia; B, X. kanba; C, X. konishii; D, X. melanoptera.

FIG. 3. Heads, females, Xiphydria annulitibia, holotype (A–C), X. kanba, holotype (D–F), X. konishii, holotype (G–I) and X. melanoptera, holotype (J–L).—A, D, G, J, Dorsal view; B, E, H, K, frontal view; C, F, I, L, frontolateral view.