Propalachia beaveri Bouček, 1978

Binoy, C., Sureshan, P. M. & Copeland, Robert S., 2025, Taxonomic reappraisal of the enigmatic genus Propalachia Bouček (Hymenoptera: Torymidae) - the first confirmed association with mantid oothecae and a new species from southern India, Zootaxa 5725 (3), pp. 409-420 : 411

Propalachia beaveri Bouček, 1978

( Figs 1–4 )

Propalachia beaveri Bouček 1978: 103 . Holotype ♀ [BMNH], Malaysia ( Penang): Universiti Sains , 20.i.1976.

Propalachia intermedia Narendran, 1994: 63–64 . Holotype ♀ [BMNH], India: Kerala. Synonymised with P beaveri by Bouček (1998).

Diagnosis. Body dark with metallic bluish-green reflection, antenna black with scape and pedicel white. Metacoxa dark basoventrally (over two-thirds from base); metafemur distally (especially at teeth) and tibia in basal two-thirds slightly infuscate. Fore wing with slightly oblique infumation. Head with elongate eyes, narrow frons, and short, rounded, receding temples. Occiput slopes steeply behind ocelli. Thoracic dorsum flat with shallow, widely spaced notaular grooves; mesoscutellum convex, apically smooth. Fore wing with pmv 1.28× as long as stv; smv, parastigma, and proximal mv with strong bristles. Propodeum with irregular cross-carinae anteriorly and coarse basal reticulation forming four longitudinal ridges. Mesepimeron mostly smooth except for reticulate depression. Metafemoral teeth variable in shape. Metasoma dorsally smooth and blunt; posterior margin of Gt 2 broadly emarginate, dorsally half as long as Gt 3.

Biology. Hypothesised to be parasitic in the eggs of Cerambycidae by Bouček (1978), but likely incorrectly (see Discussion).

Distribution. China, India ( Kerala), Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand ( Bouček 1978).

Figures

FIGURES 1–4. Propalachia beaveri Bouček, holotype ♀: 1, habitus, lateral view; 2, habitus, dorsal view; 3, hind leg and metasoma, lateral view; 4, type labels.