Exochus ahmedi Kaplan, 2024

Kaplan, Emin, 2024, Four new species of Darwin wasps from Türkiye, Zootaxa 5424 (4), pp. 456-466 : 463-465

Exochus ahmedi Kaplan sp. nov.

( Figs 1 & 5 )

Material. Holotype: Male, Türkiye, Bingöl, Çeltiksuyu , N 38 o 51’ 43.68’’, E 40 o 34’ 04.36’’, 1023 m, 19.V.2021, leg, E. Kaplan.

Description (Holotype). Male (n=1). Body length 8.1 mm ( Fig. 5A ); fore wing length 5.8 mm.

Head. Mandible tapered, with a single tooth apically; malar space not very short, about 1.2×basal mandibular width ( Fig. 5B ); maxillary palp 5-segmented, clypeus smooth and flat, with ventral margin rounded, subocular sulcus absent ( Fig. 5C ); face about 1.3×as broad as long, strongly convex and densely punctate on a smooth background ( Fig. 5B ); interantennal projection acute and short, slightly back curved and shortly extending between the scapus; face and clypeus covered with brown setae, clypeus 1.8×as long as wide; gena not narrowed posteriorly to the eye, long and curved; posterior ocellus separated from eye by about 1.3× its own maximum diameter; space between posterior ocelli and anterior ocellus about 1.2× their own maximum diameter ( Fig. 5F ); occipital carina present; vertex convex smooth and shiny, with setiferous punctures sparsely distributed with setae; frons smooth and shiny, with very fine sparse setiferous punctures, anterior part of ocellus convex, laterally concave, posterior part of ocellus convex, compound eyes glabrous, parallel sided in frontal view ( Fig. 5B ). Antenna stout with 38 flagellomeres, first flagellomere 1.8× as long as wide.

Mesosoma. Pronotum smooth ventrally, shiny and glabrous, strongly concave, dorsal part slightly convex, with fine and dense setae with setiferous punctures; epomia present ( Fig. 5E ); mesosoma with mesoscutum elongate, 1.5× as long as wide, sparsely punctate on a shiny background, completely with setae, scutellum flat, delimited by a carina, mesopleuron slightly convex, shiny, with setae, similar sculpture to mesoscutum, episternal scrobe distinct; metapleuron smooth and shiny, glabrous and slightly punctate; submetapleural carina moderately broad ( Fig. 5E ). Propodeum smooth and shiny, with only a few setae laterally; lateromedian longitudinal carina only insinuated, slightly diverging posteriorly; lateral longitudinal and pleural carinae and posterior transverse carina present and form a pentagon; spiracle situated laterally and in the mid-length of propodeum, not ovoid, about 1.3× longer than wide ( Fig. 5G ). First tarsomere as long as the next three combined. Hind tibia with two long and two short apical spurs, the posterior spur longer than the anterior spur; hind femur twice as long as wide; hind tibia 3.2× as long as wide; tarsal claws not pectinate ( Fig. 5A ). Fore wing with cu-a oblique, distal vein 2 m-cu subvertical, areolet absent ( Fig. 5H ).

Metasoma. T1 almost some as long as posteriorly broad, lateromedian longitudinal carinae elevated and reaching about 0.5 the length of T1; T2–8 not longer than posteriorly broad, all tergites more or less densely punctate on a smooth background.

Colouration. Body black with yellow and brown marks ( Fig. 5A ). Head mostly black; face, clypeus, ventral part of genal orbits, frontal and facial orbits, base of mandible, palpi and scapus ventrally yellowish ( Fig. 5B, C ). Also yellow between compound eyes and lateral ocelli. Flagellomeres dark brownish black ( Fig. 5D ). Mesosoma mostly black: medial part of mesopleuron, anterior part of tegulae, posterior part of scutellum and postscutellum yellowish ( Fig. 5E, F ). Propodeum and metasoma entirely black. Legs mostly yellow brownish. Fore legs and mid legs, coxae and trochanters ventrally yellowish, dorsally black; femur, tibia and tarsomeres yellowish, tarsal claws brownish black. Hind coxa and trochanter black, hind femur and tibia brownish, tarsomeres yellowish, tarsal claws brownish black. Terga entirely black.

Female. Unknown.

Etymology. The species has been named the author’s father, Ahmet Kaplan.

Hosts. Unknown

Remarks. With its extraordinarily convex face, with vertical and horizontal parts separated, and colour pattern of the Exochus ahmedi Kaplan sp. nov. ( Fig. 5B, C ) the species resembles Exochus vexator Tolkanitz, 1993 from Russia, but differs by having the face and clypeus with small and dense punctures (face and clypeus with large sparse punctures in E. vexator ); short medial interantennal process (long medial interantennal process in E. vexator ); flagellomeres dark brownish black (flagellomeres black in E. vexator ); medial part of mesopleuron with yellow spot (medial part of mesopleuron without yellow spot in E. vexator ); propodeum shiny (propodeum dull in E. vexator ).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Map showing where the species Cryptus ayseae (1), Mesostenus kamileae (2), Ichneumon licensis (3) and Exochus ahmedi (4) were collected from eastern Türkiye.

FIGURE 5. Exochus ahmedi Kaplan sp. nov., male (holotype): A. habitus (lateral view); B. head (frontal view); C. head (ventral view); D. portion of antennae (ventral view); E. head and mesosoma (lateral view); F. head and mesosoma (dorsal view); G. mesosoma, propodeum and T1 (dorsal view); H. fore wing and hind wing (dorsal view). Scale bar: 1 mm (A, E, H); 0.5 mm (B, C, D, F, G).