Pristonesia querfil Azevedo & Colombo, 2022

Azevedo, Celso O. & Colombo, Wesley D., 2022, Revision of Pristonesia (Hymenoptera, Bethylidae, Pristocerinae), an endemic Afrotropical genus, Zootaxa 5124 (3), pp. 321-340 : 328-329

Pristonesia querfil Azevedo & Colombo , sp. nov.

Figs 2A–C , 4J–L

Diagnosis. This species differs from the others of the genus by having the harpe Y-shaped and the posterior hypopygeal margin strongly excavated forming two sharp lobes.

Description. Male. Body 4.2–5.5 mm long. Forewing 3.3–4.1 mm long. Antenna 2.1–2.5 mm long. Color. Head and mesosoma black, prothorax can be dark castaneous; clypeus dark castaneous almost black; antenna dark castaneous, except scape and pedicel castaneous; palpi castaneous; mandible light castaneous with all margins darker; legs evenly light castaneous; metasoma dark castaneous; wings subhyaline, veins dark castaneous, pterostigma darker.

Head. Subheptagonal, longer than wide. Mandible with five teeth, two ventral most sharpened and larger, otherwise rounded and short, progressively increasing in length ventrad. Clypeus with median lobe angulate; median carina complete, somewhat high and almost straight in lateral. Antenna with dense suberect pubescence, about as long as half flagellomeral diameter, with some outstanding erect setae on all flagellomeres; first four antennomeres in a ratio of about 20:5:12:12. Vertex crest mostly almost straight. Temple evenly little outcurved, progressively divergent anterad. Antennal rim poorly longer than wide, inter-torular space almost 2.0 × torular diameter. Frons polished, with few conspicuous punctures. Ocellar triangle with frontal angle about right, anterior ocellus fully anterior to supra-ocular line. Occipital carina partially visible on dorsal view.

Mesosoma . Dorsal pronotal area with irregularly large dense punctures, shorter than anteromesoscutum, posterior area much wider than anterior one, surface much depressed anterad, transverse pronotal carina welldefined, high, evenly outcurved; cervical pronotal area short, vertical, polished. Notauli well impressed, composed of series of fused foveae, reaching anterior margin of anteromesoscutum and almost reaching posterior one, straight, slightly widening posterad, converging posterad. Parapsidal signums well impressed, but missing anteriorly, slightly S-shaped, poorly converging posterad. Mesoscutum-mesoscutellar sulcus with anterior margin mostly straight, posterior margin angularly incurved, slightly narrower medially. Metascutellum polished, lateral margin incurved; metascutellar foveae not fused, semicircular, metanotal fovea well-delimited, equilateral-triangular; carinae of metanotal trough evident. Metapectal-propodeal disc fully striate-rugulose, 1.0–1.1 × as long as wide, metapostnotal median complete, but slightly weakening posteriorly lateral marginal carina evident, but somewhat confused with background texture, transverse posterior carina absent. Propodeal declivity rugulose. Lateral surface of metapectal-propodeal complex striate-rugulose. Mesopleuron sparsely foveolate on polished background, callus contrastingly smooth, posterior oblique sulcus subvertical, occupying only dorsal half of mesopleural height and not well-delimited. Mesodiscrimen with surface little concave. Metasternum with somewhat high posterior margin and with median pair of dentiform projection, without median carina.

Wings and legs. Forewing with poststigmal abscissa of radial 1 about as long as pterostigma, 2r-rs&Rs vein much longer than pterostigma, evenly arched, and not notched where 2r-rs sector connects to Rs sector; anterior medial flexion line long and posterior medial 1 flexion line short, m-cu flexion line angled, cubital flexion line absent, claval flexion line weak, r-m flexion line angled. Hind wing with three equidistant basal hamuli, and five equidistant distal hamuli. Claws conspicuously bifid, teeth long and curved.

Metasoma. Opening of spiracle of metasomal segment I elliptical and dorsal. Tergum I longer than tergum II. Sternum II with pair of longitudinal carinae, space between them finely longitudinally strigate. Epipygium wide apically so that its lateral margins touch each other ventrally, posterior margin almost straight, without median emargination, not excavated where epipygium folds ventrad. Hypopygium with spiculum very short and tip sharp, anteromedial apodeme short and sharp, anterolateral apodeme thick, but progressively narrowing apicad into sharp tip, anterior margin strongly double u-shaped, posterior margin strongly excavated forming two lobes without any spine, apical margin of lobe straight and inclined with protruding sharp corner, excavation wider medially and about three fourths as long as hypopygeal plate, median area of inner surface not thick.

Genitalia. Harpe Y-shaped, basal half very narrow, apical half divided into two very narrow branches, dorsal branch longer, ventral one with apical membranous flag-shaped extension on its dorsal margin; inner margin of ventral side of gonostipes with rectangular median callus, and with conspicuous set of short median setae; apical basivolsellar expansion high, subquadrate, apical margin with spine-shaped projection at inner corner; cuspis Sshaped, cross-section elliptical, apex sharp; digitus with cross-section subcylindrical, evenly curved along its length, apex squamate and somewhat membranous; aedeagus triangular with not so wide base in dorsal profile, ventral valve not membranous, short, apex mostly truncate, aligned with base of cuspis, dorsal valve much longer ventral one, its apical membranous extension conspicuously longer than wide, cat whisker-shaped set of setae long and somewhat dense; aedeagal apodeme arched mesad, ergot short as stub and sharp; genital ring strongly incurved ventrally.

Material examined. Holotype, ♂, Gabon, Prov. Ogooué-Maritime, Réserve des Monts Doudou , 25.2km 304º NW Doussala, 2º13.63’S 10º23.67’E, 660m, 15.iii.2000, S. van Noort, Sweep, GA 00-S96, Lowland Rainforest, undergrowth, low canopy in forest, SAM-HYM-P0024030 ( SAMC) . Paratype, 1♂, Gabon, same date as holotype, except 16.iii.2000, GA00-S118, SAM-HYM-P0024214 ( SAMC) .

Distribution. Gabon.

Figures

FIGURE 2. A–C. Pristonesia querfil sp. nov.; D–F. Pristonesia sicril sp. nov.; G–I. Pristonesia tainatril sp. nov.. A, D, G. Habitus, lateral view; B, E, H. Head, dorsal view; C, F, I. Mesosoma, dorsal view. Scale bars = 100 µm.

FIGURE 4. A–C. Pristonesia nyamuragira Benoit; D–F. Pristonesia oracil sp. nov.; G–I. Pristonesia parcetil sp. nov., J-L. Pristonesia querfil sp. nov.. A, D, G, J. Hypopygium, external view; B, E, H, K. Genitalia, dorsal view; C, F, I, L. Genitalia, ventral view. Black = cupula; dark grey = ventral valvae; light grey = apical membranous bubble. Scale bars = 100 µm.