Pseudagris holomelas rubripes ( Giordani Soika, 1987 )

Selis, Marco, 2023, Taxonomic revision of the Afrotropical genus Pseudagris de Saussure (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Eumeninae), with description of four new species, Zootaxa 5315 (3), pp. 201-230 : 213-215

Pseudagris holomelas rubripes ( Giordani Soika, 1987)

( Fig. 6b )

Synagris junodianus rubripes Giordani Soika 1987: 139 , ♀ —“ Senegal: Casamance, Foresta di Tobor ” (MSNVE).

Diagnosis. Differentiated from the typical form by having the following parts red: apical third of median part of clypeus, scape, mandible except apical margin, irregular markings on gena, fore legs entirely, mid femur, mid tibia except dorsal line, apical tarsomere of mid leg, inner face of hind femur, apex of hind tibia ( Fig. 6b ).

Material examined. HOLOTYPE: ♀, labeled “Forêt classée / de Tobor / 15–16-XI-1966 // Mission IFAN / en / Basse-Casamance // HOLOTYPUS / Synagris / junodiana / rubripes [red label] // Pseudagris holomelas rubripes / ( Giordani Soika, 1987) / Det. Marco Selis 2022 ” ( MSNVE).

Description. Female. Body length 18.5 mm; fore wing length 19.3 mm.

Head as wide as long in frontal view. Clypeus in frontal view as long as wide, apical margin truncated and 0.2× as wide as width of clypeus; two carinae running from apical angles up to basal third, sharp apically and reduced to rounded folds dorsally, area between carinae weakly depressed; clypeus in lateral view convex basally, then flattened to apex. Distance from posterior ocellus to occipital carina 2.8× as long as the distance from posterior ocellus to inner eye margin; cephalic foveae located in an indistinct transverse oval area, barely depressed. Gena as wide as eye at bottom of ocular sinus; occipital carina entire, shortly lamellate on gena, weak on vertex. F1 2.5× as long as wide; F2–F9 weakly longer than wide. Mesosoma 1.4× as long as wide. Pronotal carina complete, sharp but very low. Mesoscutum as long as wide between tegulae, weakly convex in lateral view. Scutellum weakly convex, with a low median ridge anteriorly. Metanotum nearly vertical, evenly convex from base to apex. Epicnemial carina reaching transverse furrow but weak. Dorsal faces of propodeum weakly convex anteriorly and depressed near lateral angles of propodeum, distinct but not sharply separated from posterior face; lateral faces shallowly depressed; inferior carina developed in a lamella, regular and sharp ventrally and becoming dull and denticulate dorsally, continuing in dull lateral carina. T 1 in dorsal view 1.9× as wide as long; T 2 in dorsal view as wide as long; S2 with a large deep depression that almost covers the median third of the surface, margined laterally by low rounded elevations, in lateral view strongly convex basally, then evenly convex to apex.

Clypeus with deep oblique punctures in basal third and dense smaller punctures on lateral areas, area between carinae microreticulate with scattered shallow punctures. Frons with dense oblique flat-bottomed punctures, interspaces irregular and very thin; vertex and gena with deeper punctures, disappearing posteriorly and around cephalic foveae. Pronotum, mesoscutum and scutellum with deep and dense punctures, interspaces shorter than diameter of punctures and dull, some punctures in contact with each other. Metanotum more coarsely punctured, interspaces reduced to thin carinae. Mesepisternum with dense flat-bottomed punctures, arranged in irregular oblique series, punctures disappearing posteroventrally. Metaepisternum smooth, with some shallow punctures on dorsal margin. Tegula with dense barely visible fine punctures and some larger shallow punctures on posterior lobe. Dorsal faces of propodeum coarsely punctured, interspaces reduced to narrow reticulation; posterior face weakly shining, with irregular transverse striae; lateral faces impunctate, dull. T1–T4 dull with dense deep punctures, interspaces shorter or slightly larger than diameter of punctures; T5–T6 dull and impunctate. S2–S6 densely micropunctate, S2 shiny and following tergites becoming progressively more matt, punctures large and deep on S2 and becoming denser on following tergites, interspaces on S2 as long as several diameters of punctures.

Head and mesosoma covered with short dense black pubescence, longer black hairs on frons and mesepisternum. Metasoma velvety due to extremely short and dense black pubescence.

Deep black; following parts bright red: apical half of area margined by carinae on clypeus, mandible except apical margin, not defined line behind eye on gena, underside of antenna, ventral spot on fore coxa, whole fore leg from base of femur to tarsus, mid leg except tarsus and dorsal line on tibia, inner side of hind leg. Wings strongly fuscous with bluish reflections.

Male. Unknown.

Distribution. Senegal ( Giordani Soika 1987) ( Fig. 14 ).

Notes. This subspecies differs from the typical form by the characters listed in the diagnosis. Though the females of the two forms do not show morphological differences, intermediate color forms could not be found. Due to the morphological homogeneity of the females in the subgenus Pseudagris , this subspecies is maintained until the discovery of the male.

Giordani Soika (1987) reported IFAN ( Senegal) as type depository, but the holotype is actually found in MSNVE, as reported by Dal Pos et al. (2022) ( Fig. 6b ).

Figures

FIGURE 6. a, female lectotype of Synagris aterrima Maidl, 1914, habitus and labels. b, female holotype of Pseudagris holomelas rubripes (Giordani Soika, 1987), habitus.

FIGURE 14. Distributional map of Pseudagris species.