Malayepipona brunnea Bai, Chen & Li, 2021

Bai, Yue, Chen, Bin & Li, Ting-Jing, 2021, Two newly recorded genera Malayepipona Giordani Soika and Megaodynerus Gusenleitner, with eight new species from China (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Eumeninae), Zootaxa 5060 (3), pp. 371-391 : 373-375

Malayepipona brunnea Bai, Chen & Li , sp. n.

( Figs 1–9 )

Material examined. Holotype, 1♀, China, Tibet, Linzhi City, Medog County, Beilong Village , 29.319°N, 95.321° E, 29.VII.2014, Tingjing Li, ( CNU); paratype: 2♀, same data as holotype ( CNU).

Diagnosis. This species can be easily distinguished from all other members of the genus by the following character combination: area surrounding foveae distinctly depressed, smooth and shiny, foveae obvious ( Fig. 3 ), clypeus wider than long (1.2 times), head and mesosoma mostly brown mixed with a bit ferruginous and/or yellow spots ( Figs. 1 –5,7), forewing with a dark spot at apex of marginal cell ( Fig. 1 ), and T2 without apical lamella ( Figs 6, 8 ).

Description. Female ( Fig. 1 ). Body length 10.5–13.0 mm, forewing length 11–12.5 mm; body covered with short, ferruginous setae except lower part of propodeum with dense long silver setae; black, head and mesosoma mostly brown mixed with a bit ferruginous and/or yellow spots as follows: clypeus, mandible except black teeth, frons, vertex, gena, A1–A4 and other antennal segments ventrally, pronotum except medial yellow narrow band, tegula, parategula, entire mesoscutum (or with irregular brown spot), scutellum, metanotum, mesepisternum, propodeum, legs except ventral irregular black spot of hind femur, and anterior vertical surface of T1 laterally; apical narrow bands of T1–T2 yellow; wings brown, marginal cell of fore wing with an apical dark spot.

Head. In frontal view, head subcircular, about 1.2 times as wide as long ( Fig. 2 ); vertex with two small cephalic foveae as big as maximum punctures on vertex, bearing dense pubescence, distance between foveae about 0.6 times as long as distance between posterior ocelli, area surrounding foveae depressed, smooth and shiny ( Fig. 3 ); distance from posterior ocellus to apical margin of vertex about 2.2 times of the distance from posterior ocellus to inner eye margin; vertex and gena with coarse, dense punctures; punctures on frons coarser than those of vertex and gena, interspaces slightly reticulate ( Figs 2–3 ); gena slightly wider than eye, occipital carina complete along gena; in frontal view, distance between inner eye margins at vertex about 1.2 times that at clypeus; clypeus moderately punctate, about 1.2 times as wide as long, in lateral view slightly convex at basal half; apical margin emarginated medially, laterally forming a short tooth ( Fig. 2 ); clypeal width: emargination width = 1.70: 0.46; mandible with four teeth, the first tooth quite short and with inner side slightly concave, the other three teeth strongly prominent, the outer one pointed apically ( Fig. 2 ); A1 about 3.8 times as long as its maximum width, curved; A3 about 1.5 times as long as wide, A4–A11 wider than long, A12 bullet-shaped, as long as its basal width.

Mesosoma. Mesosoma longer than wide in dorsal view ( Fig. 7 ); pronotum coarsely, densely punctate and strongly reticulate, punctures coarser than punctures on vertex and gena, and those punctures lateroventrally mixed with longitudinal striae ( Fig. 4 ); pronotal carina raised and complete, slightly produced at humeral angle ( Fig. 7 ); mesoscutum weakly convex, about as wide as long between tegulae, densely and coarsely with strongly reticulate punctures ( Fig. 7 ); scutellum weakly convex, in lateral view at the same level of mesoscutum, medially with a shallow longitudinal furrow, punctures on scutellum a little sparser than mesoscutum ( Fig. 7 ); metanotum weakly convex, sloping down to apical margin, punctures on metanotum larger than mesoscutum, strongly carinate and reticulate ( Fig. 7 ); punctures on mesepisternum larger than pronotum posterodorsally, and strongly reticulate and carinate; metapleuron dorsally with long and strong striae, ventrally with scattered shallow punctures ( Fig. 4 ); propodeum ( Figs 4–5, 7 ) dorsally with deep coarse flat-bottomed punctures and without a pair of blunt teeth behind metanotum, medially excavated and the basal fovea about 0.4 times of the length of the median carina which runs from the fovea to the apical margin; dorsal and posterior surfaces connected by a blunt and curved edge, posterior and lateral surfaces connected by bluntly angulate, punctures on lateral parts coarse and strongly with longitudinal striae; posterior surface with sparse large and shallow punctures mixed with striae, and longitudinally with flaskshaped depression along propodeal carina.

Metasoma. T1 ( Fig. 8 ) about 2.1 times as wide as long and basally truncate and strongly with raised edge, with horizontal carina; anterior vertical surface weakly convex, with sparse punctures; T2–T6 ( Fig. 6 ) without apical lamella; T2 about 1.2 times as wide as long; S2 ( Fig. 9 ) in lateral view slightly convex from base to apical margin, in frontal view concave at basal; metasomal segments dull, T1–T2 with moderate punctures, S2 punctures similar to those on T2, punctures on T3–T4 smaller and denser than punctures on T2, S3–S5 and T5 punctures sparser and smaller than T4; metasomal segment 6 with minute punctures, S6 coarser than T6.

Male. Unknown.

Distribution. China (Tibet).

Etymology. The specific name is derived from Latin word: brunneus (= brown), referring to head and mesosoma being mostly brown.

Figures

FIGURES 1–9. Malayepipona brunnea sp. nov., holotype, ♀. 1. Habitus, dorsal view; 2. Head, frontal view; 3. Head, dorsal view; 4. Mesosoma, lateral view; 5. Propodeum, posterior view; 6. T2–T3, dorsal view; 7. Mesosoma, dorsal view; 8. Metasoma, dorsal view; 9. Metasoma, ventral view.