Malayepipona nigricans 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 : 381-383

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

( Figs 40–50 )

Material examined. Holotype, 1♀, China, Yunnan Province, Lincang City, Shuangjiang County, Bangkuang Village, Lama River , 23.366°N, 99.786° E, 1316m, 4.VI.2019, Huachuan Wang ( CNU) . Paratypes: 1♂, same data as holotype ; 1♂, China, Yunnan Province, Lincang City, Shuangjiang County, Bangbing Town , Cha River , 23.311°N, 99.794° E, 1561m, 5.VI.2019, Huachuan Wang ( CNU) .

Diagnosis. This species resembles M. fincta Nguyen 2020 with the character of forewing with a dark spot at apex of marginal cell sculpture of clypeus and male clypeus wholly yellow. It differs from the related species M. fincta Nguyen 2020 and all other members of the genus by the following character combination: propodeum with a pair of relatively blunt teeth behind metanotum, shorter than M. clypeata ( Fig. 48 ), head and mesosoma largely with ferruginous markings ( Figs 40–47 ), T1 except apical band black, and wings darker brown.

Description. Female ( Fig. 40 ). Body length 11.7 mm, forewing length 12.0 mm; body covered with short, ferruginous setae except lower part of propodeum with dense long silver setae; black, with the following parts ferruginous: clypeus, mandible except black teeth, scape except black apical margin, pedicel ventrally, interantennal spot, narrow band along inner eye margin extending from bottom of frons to lower ocular sinus, long spot on gena, pronotum except lateral margin, scutellum, metanotum, posterodorsal spot of mesopleuron, bands on femora dorsally, fore tibia ventrally, apical bands on T1–T2; tegula and parategula dark brown; wings dark brown, lightly infuscate, purple reflective, and marginal cell of forewing with an apical dark spot.

Head. In frontal view, head subcircular, about 1.0 times as wide as long ( Fig. 42 ); vertex with two small cephalic foveae as big as maximum punctures on vertex, bearing dense pubescence, distance between foveae about 0.5 times as long as distance between posterior ocelli, interspace between foveae smooth and shiny ( Fig. 44 ); distance from posterior ocellus to apical margin of the vertex about 2.0 times of the distance from posterior ocellus to inner eye margin; vertex and gena with coarse, dense punctures ( Fig. 44 ); punctures on frons coarser than vertex and gena, interspaces strongly reticulate ( Fig. 42 ); gena slightly wider than eye, occipital carina complete along gena; in frontal view, distance between inner eye margins at vertex about 1.1 times that at clypeus; clypeus ( Fig. 42 ) moderately punctate, punctures sparser on apical half, about 1.2 times as wide as long, in lateral view slightly convex at basal half; apical margin emarginated medially, laterally forming a sharp tooth; clypeal width: emargination width = 1.67: 0.45; 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. 42 ); A1 about 3.7 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. 47 ); pronotum coarsely, densely punctate and reticulate, punctures coarser than punctures on vertex and gena; pronotal carina raised and complete, slightly produced at humeral angles ( Fig. 47 ); mesoscutum weakly convex, slightly longer than wide between tegulae; mesoscutum moderately to densely and coarsely covered with flat–bottomed punctures, interspaces incarinate and irreticulate ( Fig. 47 ); scutellum weakly convex, in lateral view at the same level of mesoscutum, medially with a shallow longitudinal furrow ( Fig. 47 ), punctures on scutellum moderate and sparser than mesoscutum; metanotum weakly convex, sloping down to apical margin, medially with a wide longitudinal furrow ( Fig. 48 ), punctures on metanotum larger than mesoscutum, interspaces strongly carinate and reticulate; mesepisternum with dense, coarse and flat–bottomed punctures, larger than pronotum posterodorsally, interspaces strongly reticulate; metapleuron dorsally with several punctures and short striae, ventral metapleuron with sparse shallow punctures ( Fig. 45 ); propodeum ( Figs 47–48 ) dorsally with irregular punctures, interspaces slightly reticulate, and with a pair of relatively blunt teeth (shorter than Malayepipona clypeata ) 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 sharp edge, posterior and lateral surfaces connected by bluntly angulate, punctures on lateral parts coarse, dense, flat–bottomed and interspaces reticulate, shallower and larger than mesepisternum; posterior surface sparsely with irregular and shallow punctures mixed with carinae, and with shallow depression along propodeal carina.

Metasoma. T1 ( Fig. 49 ) about 1.9 times as wide as long, narrower than T2, and basally truncate and slightly with raised edge, basally with transverse carina, visible at lateral sides, anterior vertical surface weakly convex, with sparse punctures; T2 ( Fig. 49 ) without apical lamella, about 1.2 times as wide as long; S2 ( Fig. 50 ) in lateral view slightly convex from base to apical margin, in frontal view weakly concave at basal; metasomal segment dull, T1–T2 with moderate punctures, punctures on S2 similar to those on T2, punctures on T3–4 smaller and denser than punctures on T2, S3–S5 and T5 punctures smaller than T4, tergum and sternum 6 with minute punctures.

Male ( Fig. 41 ). Body length 9.8–10.5 mm, forewing length 10.0– 10.5 mm. Sculpture, punctuation, setae, and coloration as in female except as follows: clypeus yellow ( Fig. 43 ), yellow spots on upper side of fore tibia, T2 with small apical band or not; head proportionally smaller, about 1.1 times as wide as long in frontal view; distance from posterior ocellus to apical margin of the vertex about 1.7 times of the distance from posterior ocellus to inner eye margin; in frontal view ( Fig. 43 ), distance between inner eye margins at vertex about 1.2 times that at clypeus; vertex without cephalic foveae; gena narrower than eye; punctures on clypeus sparser and smaller than in female, slightly wider than long; clypeal width: emargination width = 1.22: 0.38; antenna ( Fig. 46 ) slightly slender than in female, about 2.9 times as long as its maximum width; A3 about 1.8 times as wide as long, A4 slightly longer than wide, A5–A12 longer than wide, A13 elongate, curved and backward reaching base of A11, about 1.6 times as long as its basal width; metapleuron dorsally with long and strong striae; propodeum dorsal surfaces shiny, smooth in the part middle area and with irregular punctures in the marginal area.

Distribution. China (Yunnan).

Etymology. The specific name is derived from the Latin word nigricans (= black), referring to the conspicuous dark spot at the apex of the marginal cell of the forewing.

Figures

FIGURES 40–50. Malayepipona nigricans sp. nov., 40, 42, 44–45, 47–50, holotype, ♀; 41, 43, 46, paratype, ♂. 40–41. Habitus, dorsal view; 42–43. Head, frontal view; 44. Head, dorsal view; 45. Mesosoma, lateral view; 46, antenna; 47. Mesosoma, dorsal view; 48. Propodeum, posterior view; 49. Metasoma, dorsal view; 50. Metasoma, ventral view.