Methocha maai Lin, 1966

Narita, Keisuke & Mita, Toshiharu, 2021, A review of the subfamily Methochinae from Taiwan (Hymenoptera: Tiphiidae) with description of a new species and redescription of the known species, Zootaxa 4964 (2), pp. 303-329 : 319-322

8. Methocha maai Lin, 1966

Figs 77–94

Methocha maai Lin 1966: 183–185 . Type locality: Henchuen , Pingtung. Figs 1A–E .

Material examined. Type material. Holotype, ♀, Henchuen, Pingtung, 25.i.1958, T. C. Maa leg. [ TARI]. Nontype materials. 1♀, N22.1306. E120.7963, Alt. 270m, Mt. Gaoshifo-shan, Mudan , Pingtung, 14.vii.2014, Y. Komeda leg. [ ELKU]; 1♀ ( LC420049 ), N22.2478. E120.8318, Alt. 480m, Shouka, Shizi, Pingtung, 3.iv.2017, K. Sugiura leg. [ ELKU]; 1♂ ( LC422373 ), N22.3729. E120. 8417, Alt. 400m, Jinshuiying, Daren, Taitung, 9.v.2017, T. Mita leg. [ ELKU]; 1♂, N22.8895. E121.1762, Alt. 560m, Mt. Luan-shan , Yanping , Taitung, 10.v.2017, T. Mita leg. [ ELKU].

Diagnosis. This species can be distinguished from other Asian Methocha species by a combination of the following characters: (male) the distally wide mandible; the translucent distal margin of the clypeus; the anteriorly granulate, dorsally transversely striated propodeum; the faintly infuscate wings; the dorsally carinate hind coxa; the developed subapical tooth as long as the apical one of the tarsal claws; the basal tooth shorter than the half subapical one; the longitudinally rugose surface around anterior third of the T1; the costate anterior transverse depression of the T2; presence of a row of the stout setae on the posterior margin of the S2–S6 respectively; the roundly cleft the distal apex of the S7; (female) the punctate frons; presence of the frontal tubercles; the fused mesoscutum with the mesoscutellum and the mesepisternum; the developed subapical tooth as long as the apical one. The female is especially similar to M. plana Lin, 1966 , but can be distinguished by the following characters: the black mesosoma and the ventrally narrowed gena in the lateral view.

Description. Male (hitherto unknown).

Head ( Figs 80, 81 ) 0.8 times as long as wide in frontal view, temple weakly rounded in dorsal view; ocelli forming regular triangle, POL:AOL:DAO = 1.0:1.0:0.3–0.5; vertex sparsely punctate: 2.0–8.0 puncture diameters apart, with smooth interspaces; frons densely punctate: punctures 0–0.5 puncture diameters apart, inconspicuously rugose above antennal sockets, impunctate and excavated above antennal sockets; antennal sockets developed; gena sparsely punctate, clypeus rugulose and punctate by small punctures, distinctly convex, apical fifth translucent, clypeal apex truncate; mandible not distally narrowed, lower tooth longer than upper one; maxillary palpus shorter than length pronotum, ratio of length to width of palpomeres II–VI: 2:2–3:8:8:10; flagellum conspicuously flattened, ratio of length to width of flagellomeres I–III:1.4–1.7:2.1–2.3:2.3–2.5.

Mesosoma ( Fig 79 ). Pronotal disc punctate: punctures around anterior two-third larger, posterior third smaller, 0–3.0 puncture diameters apart, with smooth interspaces, anterior transverse carina absent, surface around anterior two-third sparsely rugose or rugulose, lateral surface punctate as dorsally, lower surface transversely rugose; mesoscutum punctate: punctures denser and larger around anterior fourth, with coriaceous and rugulose interspaces, sparser and smaller around posterior three-fourth, with smooth interspaces, notauli marked by transversely striated wide depression, reaching posterior half of mesoscutum, posterior margin effaced; mesoscutellum bulging, dorsal surface punctate: punctures 1.0–2.0 puncture diameters apart, with smooth interspaces, lateral slope densely punctate: punctures 0.5–2.0 puncture diameters apart, lower surface longitudinally striated; mesepisternum convex, weakly depressed medially, punctate by sparse small punctures, punctures 2.0–5.0 puncture diameters apart, with smooth interspaces, episternal sulcus deep, precoxal sulcus obscure; metanotum elevated, smooth, laterally striated, anterior margin with deep crescentic depression; metapleural region smooth around anterior half, transversely striated around posterior half; propodeum ( Fig 82 ) anteriorly granulate, dorsally transversely striated, other part irregularly transversely carinate, laterally punctate-striate, sometimes striae absent, posteriorly granulate, surface around anterior half transversely carinate, posterior half longitudinally rugose.

Legs. Hind coxa dorsally carinate and parabolically elevated in lateral view; all tarsal claws ( Fig 83 ) strongly curved in apical half, tridentate, apical tooth sharp, subapical one developed, truncate, basal one minute, shorter than half subapical one.

Metasoma. Metasomal terga smooth with sparse punctures, setose, AMW:MTL:PMW = 1.0:4.0:3.5; T1 ( Fig 84 ) with pair of strong carina before spiracles, surface on anterior third longitudinally rugose, with coriaceous or smooth interspaces, median furrow deep and wide, reaching posterior third; anterior transverse depression of T2 costate, T3–T7 without carina, smooth; posterior margins of S2–S6 with row of stout setae; S7 more or less densely punctate, with coriaceous interspaces, distal margin roundly cleft; hypopygium longitudinally rugose, setose; paramere ( Fig 85 ) narrow, hairy around apical two-third, dorsal margin substraight, ventral margin strongly narrowed around basal third, without projection; aedeagus ( Figs 86, 87 ) with apical membranous lobe, apical hook shorter than maximum width of aedeagus, strongly curved ventrally, aedeagal apodeme strongly curved around apical half except for distal apex laterally.

Color. Black, except distal margin of clypeus translucent yellow, apical fifth of mandible dark reddish brown, maxillary palpus brown, tegula brown, wings faintly infuscate, legs brown.

Measurement. BL 6.5–7.0 mm, HL 1.1–1.2 mm, HW 1.5 mm, WF 0.7–0.8 mm, EL 0.9 mm, ML 2.0– 2.5 mm, MW 1.1 mm, FWL 5.2–5.3 mm.

Redescription. Female.

Head ( Figs 92, 93 ). Head 0.8–0.9 times as long as wide in frontal view; temple weakly rounded in dorsal view; ocelli forming regular triangle, POL:AOL:DAO = 1.0:1.0:0.4; vertex sparsely punctate; frons punctate: punctures larger and smaller, 1.0–8.0 puncture diameters apart, pair of frontal tubercles developed, lateral slope rugulose, frontal line present; gena sparsely punctate, narrowed ventrally; clypeus coriaceous, moderately convex, anterior third rugulose, clypeal apex truncate; mandible not distally narrowed, lower tooth longer than upper one; maxillary palpus slightly shorter than pronotum, ratio of length to width of palpomeres III–VI: 4:5–9:8–9:10, ratio of length to width of flagellomeres I–III: 1.7:1.1:1.1.

Mesosoma ( Figs. 90, 91 ). Collar of pronotum costate dorsally; pronotal disc smooth, lower part rugose; mesoscutum smooth, lateral surface striated; mesoscutellum smooth, elevated, rounded in profile, postero-lateral corner with deep notch; suture between mesoscutum and mesoscutellum or mesepisternum absent, completely fused; tegula present; mesepisternum convex, smooth, lower part rugose; metanotum with anterior crescentic depression; propodeum trapezoidal, smooth.

Legs. All tarsal claws ( Fig 94 ) strongly curved in apical third, tridentate, apical tooth sharp, subapical one developed, truncate, basal one minute, shorter than half subapical one.

Metasoma. Metasoma oval, polished, sparsely punctate by minute punctures; petiole rugose, with coriaceous dorsally and ventrally interspaces.

Color. Black, expect apical third of clypeus pale brown or brown, apical third of mandible dark reddish brown, other part brown, maxillary palpus pale yellow, scape, pedicel, and flagellomeres I–IV testaceous, mid coxae and hind coxae dark brown, trochanters testaceous, femora and tibiae dark brown, tarsi testaceous.

Measurements. BL 4.7–4.8 mm, HL 1.0– 1.1 mm, HW 1.2 mm, WF 0.5 mm, EL 0.5–0.7 mm, ML 1.9–2.2 mm, MW 0.6–0.7 mm.

Distribution. Southern Taiwan.

Remarks. The hitherto unknown male was recognized using DNA barcoding.

Figures

FIGURES 77–79. Methocha maai Lin, 1966, individual, male. 77 Dorsal habitus, 78 lateral habitus, 79 mesosoma, lateral view.

FIGURES 80–87. Methocha maai Lin, 1966, individual, male. 80 Head, frontal view, 81 head, lateral view, 82 propodeum, 83 hind tarsal claw, 84 T1, dorsal view, 85 right paramere, lateral view (right side is dorsal), 86 aedeagus, dorsal view, arrow indicating median membranous lobe, 87 aedeagus, lateral view. Scale bars are given in mm.

FIGURES 88–91. Methocha maai Lin, 1966, individual, female. 88 Dorsal habitus, 89 lateral habitus, 90 mesosoma, dorsal view, 91 mesosoma, lateral view.

FIGURES 92–94. Methocha maai Lin, 1966, individual, female. 92 Head, frontal view, 93 head, lateral view, 94 hind tarsal claw. Scale bars are given in mm.

FIGURES 1–3. Methocha alutacea Lin, 1966, individual, male. 1 Dorsal habitus, 2 lateral habitus, 3 mesosoma, lateral view.