Ceraphron eaerendili, Salden & Peters, 2023

Salden, Tobias & Peters, Ralph S., 2023, Afrotropical Ceraphronoidea (Insecta: Hymenoptera) put back on the map with the description of 88 new species, European Journal of Taxonomy 884 (1), pp. 1-386 : 171-174

Ceraphron eaerendili sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:6403C051-E6A1-42E1-95E4-116C4AFFB938

Fig. 48

Diagnosis

Mesosoma light brown; lateral margin of torulus light and raised; OOL:POL 1.52; Weber length 1.31 × mesoscutellum length; fore wing length 2.60 × width. Male genitalia: harpe finger-shaped in ventral and dorsal view; harpe/gvc index 1.05; dorsomedial margins of harpes not touching at distodorsal margin of gvc, dorsomedial margin of harpe straight and slightly diverging distolaterally in basal half, straight and parallel to other harpe in apical half, apex of harpe slightly pointed; lateral margin of harpe convex; harpe with at least four lateral setae restricted to apical half; gvc width more than three quarters of gvc length; gvc width equal to distal gvc width; genitalia weakly sclerotized with strongest sclerotization at lateral gvc; genital length 2.67 × gvc width.

Etymology

The species is named after Eärendil, a character of J.R.R. Tolkien’s mythology who carried a star across the sky. The light of Eärendil`s star was content of the Phial of Galadriel, a gift to use in dark places from Galadriel to Frodo Baggins, which was essential for Frodo and Samwise Gamgee to escape from death. The light of Eärendil refers to the description of new species of a Dark Taxon, to shed light into the dark, and to the rather light coloured species.

Material examined

Holotype

KENYA • ♂; Western Province, Kakamega Forest; 00°14′20.5 N, 34°51′52.8 E; 1634 m a.s.l.; 10 Aug. 2007; F. Hita Garcia leg.; Transect 17; primary rain forest; Winkler leaf litter extraction; ZFMK; ZFMK- HYM-00036914 .

Description

Male

BODY LENGTH. 0.88 mm.

COLOUR. Head brown, mesosoma light brown, metasoma light brown except anterior third lighter; scape and pedicel yellowish, flagellum light brown-yellowish, gradually darkening from F1 to F9; legs yellowish; fore wing venation light brown, fore and hind wing disc slightly melanized.

ANTENNA. 11-segmented, flagellomeres cylindric; scape 3.6× as long as pedicel, scape longer than F1 and F2 combined, F1 2.1× as long as wide, F1 1.6× as long as pedicel, F1 1.2× as long as F2, F1 shorter than F7 and F8 combined, F1 shorter than F9, F6 1.8 × as long as wide, F6 shorter than F7 and F8 combined, F6 1.3× as high as F9; few small multiporous plates on flagellomeres, sensillae on flagellomeres sickle-shaped and shorter than width of flagellomeres.

HEAD. Head width 1.12 × head height; head width 1.79 × interorbital space; maximum eye diameter 1.44 × minimum eye diameter; head height 1.80 × maximum eye diameter. Dorsal margin of occipital carina ventral to dorsal margin of lateral ocellus in lateral view; preoccipital furrow present; preoccipital carina present. OOL:POL:LOL 1.00:0.66:0.50; OOL 2.67 × lateral ocellus diameter. White, thick setae on upper face indistinct; supraclypeal depression present; lateral margin of torulus light and raised; intertorular carina present; posterolateral processes of gena absent.

MESOSOMA, METASOMA. Mesosoma not compressed laterally. Head width 1.01 × mesosoma width; Weber length 288 µm. Mesoscutum densely setose, setae curved backwards; median mesoscutal sulcus present; median mesoscutal sulcus adjacent to transscutal articulation; interaxillar sulcus present (= scutoscutellar sulcus not adjacent to transscutal articulation), scutoscutellar sulcus straight; dorsal axillar area setose, setae curved backwards; mesoscutellum sparsely setose, setae curved backwards or straight. Mesoscutum width 1.80 × mesoscutellum width; posterior mesoscutal width 1.36 × mesoscutellum width; mesoscutellum length 1.59 × mesoscutellum width; mesoscutellum length 1.17 × posterior mesoscutal width; Weber length 1.16 × mesoscutum width; Weber length 1.31 × mesoscutellum length. Anteromedian projection of the metanoto-propodeo-metapecto-mesopectal complex curved in lateral view with blunt, lighter and emarginated end, extending to end of mesosoma; mesometapleural sulcus absent; posterior propodeal projection straight and light in ventrolateral view; posterior mesosomal comb present. Basal transverse carina of petiole (on syntergum) present; basal longitudinal carinae on syntergum indistinct; translucent patches on metasoma absent.

FORE WING. Length 2.60 × width; stigmal vein shorter than 3× pterostigma marginal length.

MALE GENITALIA. Genital length 125 µm; Weber length 2.30 × genital length; gvc width 47 µm; genital length 2.67× gvc width; gvc width more than three quarters of gvc length; gvc width equal to distal gvc width. Proximodorsal margin of gvc straight; distodorsal margin of gvc descending proximomedially ( Fig. 48C ); proximoventral margin of gvc slightly convex; distoventral margin of gvc strongly descending proximomedially ( Fig. 48A ); ventral area of gvc straight; dorsal area of gvc slightly convex ( Fig. 48B ), slightly indented distomedially; proximolateral margin of gvc descending and emarginated ventrally; distolateral margin of gvc descending ventrally ( Fig. 48B ). Harpe finger-shaped in ventral and dorsal view; harpe/gvc index 1.05; lateral articulation site of harpe with gvc flush ( Fig. 48A, C ); ventral margin of harpe straight, dorsal margin straight ( Fig. 48B ), lateral margin convex, widest point of harpe at lateral articulation site with gvc ( Fig. 48A, C ); dorsomedial margins of harpes not touching at distodorsal margin of gvc, dorsomedial margin of harpe straight and slightly diverging distolaterally in basal half, straight and parallel to other harpe in apical half ( Fig. 48C ), apex of harpe slightly pointed, oriented slightly distomedially ( Fig. 48A, C ). Harpe with at least four lateral setae restricted to apical half, longest lateral setae less than half as long as harpe, lateral setae oriented distolaterally and distoventrally; harpe with at least three apical setae, longest apical setae more than two thirds as long as harpe, apical setae oriented distolaterally, distomedially and distoventrally; harpe with at least three median setae restricted to apical quarter, longest median setae less than one quarter as long as harpe, median setae oriented distomedially and distoventrally. Aedeagus + gonossiculus half as long as harpe, apex of aedeagus + gonossiculus broad ( Fig. 48A, C ) and dorsal to apex of harpe. Genitalia weakly sclerotized with strongest sclerotization at lateral gvc.

Female

Unknown.

Variation

Unknown.

Biology

Host unknown, specimen collected from leaf litter.

Distribution

Afrotropical: Kenya.

Remarks

Comparison with similar species

The male genitalia of C. eaerendili sp. nov. and C. malava sp. nov. are very similar in having weakly sclerotized genitalia with finger-shaped harpes and similar harpe/gvc indices. However, the lateral margin of the harpe in C. eaerendili is convex and straight in C. malava , the dorsomedial margin of the harpe is straight and slightly diverging distolaterally in basal half, straight and parallel to other harpe in apical half in C. eaerendili , and straight and slightly diverging distolaterally from base to apex in C. malava , and there are at least four lateral setae of the harpe distributed along the apical half in C. eaerendili and at least three distributed along the apical quarter in C. malava . In addition, C. eaerendili is overall very light and has a light brown mesosoma (brown in C. malava ), and the flagellomeres of C. eaerendili are slightly wider and shorter than those of C. malava .

For more comparisons with similar species, see remarks under C. semira sp. nov.

Condition of type material

Holotype is immaculate.

Figures

Fig. 48. Holotype of Ceraphron eaerendili sp. nov. (ZFMK-HYM-00036914). A–C. Male genitalia in ventral (A), lateral (B) and dorsal (C) views. D. Habitus in lateral view.