Sclerodermus macrogaster ( Ashmead, 1887 )

Azevedo, Celso O. & Colombo, Wesley D., 2022, Synopsis of the Neotropical Sclerodermus Latreille (Hymenoptera, Bethylidae) with description of a new species attacking human beings, Zootaxa 5124 (5), pp. 501-519 : 506-507

Sclerodermus macrogaster ( Ashmead, 1887)

Fig. 1D

Diagnosis, female. Micropterous forms. Body 3.07 mm long. Castaneous, propodeum lighter. Mandible with two apical teeth. Clypeus very short and truncate, apical margin curved upward medially in frontal view. Antenna thick, pedicel long, first four Antennomeres in ratio of about 17:6:2:2, flagellomeres wider than long, except last. Eye with sparse setae. Ocelli absent. Frons weakly coriaceous, nearly polished, punctures very sparse and inconspicuous. LH 1.13 WH, WF 0.5 WH, WF 1.47 HE. Vertex nearly straight. Sides of head slightly outcurved. VOL 1.32 HE. Mesoscutum 1.1 as wide as long. Metapectal-propodeal disc nearly quadrate, side subparallel, base only slightly constricted, without metapostnotal median carina and posterior transverse carina. Micropterous forms: wing slightly longer than tegula, veins absent. Profemur 2.13 as long as wide. Metasoma stout, 0.58 as long as body, apical margin of sternites IV–VI conspicuously bi-emarginated. Macropterous forms: clypeus very short, median lobe subtrapezoidal, apical margin weakly incurved. Ocellar triangle close to vertex crest, frontal angle slightly obtuse. Vertex and sides of head slightly outcurved. Notauli poorly impressed, straight, incomplete posteriorly, parallel. Parapsidal signum short. Metapectal-propodeal disc nearly quadrate, side subparallel, without metapostnotal median carina and posterior transverse carina. Claws bifid, teeth very small. Forewing slender, with one Radial cell closed, C and 2r-rs&Rs veins absent, pterostigma small, Anal vein nebulous distally, Cu vein fully nebulous.

Diagnosis, male. Hypopygium with spiculum slighlty short than plate, lateral stalk absent, posterior margin outcurved. Genitalia: harpe divided in two arms, dorsal arm longer and much narrower than ventral arm; cuspis wide, apical margin incurved; aedeagus somewhat diamond-shaped, with of pair of rounded apical lobes.

Material examined. Holotype ♀: [ U.S.A.], Fl [orid]a, Jacks [o]nville ( USNM, #14049).

Remarks. The original description was based on one single supposedly apterous female from Florida, United States ( Ashmead 1887). After that, Wheeler (1928) reared this species in a laboratory and was able to get both apterous and, more rarely, macropterous females, and both macropterous and even more rarely apterous males. The diagnoses of the male and the macropterous female are based on figures of Evans (1964, pg. 175).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Neotropical Sclerodermus, holotype females, habitus in dorsal view. A. S. domesticus; B. S. galapagensis; C. S. iridomyrmicicola; D. S. macrogaster; E. S. spilonotum; F. S. soror; G. S. wilsoni.; H. S. chicomendesi sp. nov. Scale-bars: 100µm.