Scrapter gessorum sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 03602B44-A91A-431C-A1B2-4277EA13643D

Fig. 8

Diagnosis

The female of S. gessorum sp. nov. can be separated from other species of this group by the combination of the following characters: facial fovea long (Fig. 8D), scutum sparsely punctate, looking almost impunctate and shiny (Fig. 8 E–F), mesepisternum strongly reticulate, stigma brown, apical margins of metasomal terga black (Fig. 8B). The male is unknown.

Etymology

Named after Friedrich† and Sarah Gess from the Albany Museum in Grahamstown who have done pioneering research on the bees and aculeate wasps of southern Africa. Their support of my taxonomic studies on southern African bees is much appreciated.

Type material (2 specimens)

Holotype

SOUTH AFRICA: ♀, Cape Province, Willowmore / 000368, 33°17' S, 23°28' E, 7 Oct. 1971, C. Jacot-Guillarmod (identified as Scrapter albitarsis (Friese), det. C.D. Eardley 1995) (AMGS).

Paratype

SOUTH AFRICA: 1 ♀, Nieuwoudtville, path to farm Glenlyon, 740 m, 31°23'24" S, 19°09'06" E, 7 Sep. 2007, on Ruschia unca, KT (RCMK).

Description

Female

BODY LENGTH. 4.8 mm.

HEAD. Head slightly wider than long. Integument black, except part of mandibles dark reddish-brown. Face sparsely covered with long, greyish, erect hair (Fig. 8C). Clypeus almost flat with dense large, shallow punctation (i = 1.5–2.0 d); surface between punctures apically smooth or only superficially sculptured, shiny, basally more heavily sculptured and matt (Fig. 8 C–D). Malar area medially narrow, almost linear. Antenna dorsally blackish-brown, ventrally yellowish-brown.

MESOSOMA. Integument black. Mesoscutal disc between punctures with superficial sculpture, shiny; disc very sparsely (i = 3–5 d), finely and shallowly punctate (Fig. 8 E–F). Metanotum about 3/4 as long as basal area of propodeum, apically with indistinct, narrow, carinate depression (Fig. 8F). Propodeum basilaterally with shallow carination (Fig. 8F). Mesoscutum, scutellum, metanotum, mesepisternum and propodeum sparsely covered with short, greyish, erect hair (Fig. 8A).

WINGS. Yellowish-brown; wing venation and stigma brown.

LEGS. Integument black to dark reddish-brown; fore tibia anteriorly dominantly yellowish-brown, mid tibia basally with small yellow spot (Fig. 8A). Vestiture greyish-white, scopa greyish-white, dorsally blackish-brown.

METASOMA. Integument black, apical margins of terga sometimes narrowly translucent dark reddishbrown (Fig. 8B). Disc of T1 without hair; following terga with increasingly more and longer hair; apical tergal hair bands missing on all terga (Fig. 8B). Prepygidial and pygidial fimbriae sparse, greyish-brown. T1 impunctate, superficially sculptured and shiny; following terga with stronger sculpture, partly with very fine, dispersed and superficial punctation; T2–T4 with finely sculptured, relatively broad apical tergal depression (Fig. 8B).

Male

Unknown.

Distribution

The species is just known from two localities that are about 450 km apart in the Northern Cape and Eastern Cape provinces.

Floral hosts

Aizoaceae: Ruschia unca .

Seasonal activity

September–October.