Epirhyssa shaka, Rousse & Noort, 2014

Rousse, Pascal & Noort, Simon Van, 2014, A review of the Afrotropical Rhyssinae (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) with the descriptions of five new species, European Journal of Taxonomy 91, pp. 1-42 : 28-30

Epirhyssa shaka sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:CF997FDF-A6A7-49A1-9DCA-C5F781CACEE1

Fig. 8

Diagnosis

Pale yellow overall with isolated dorsal black markings; wings hyaline, slightly infuscate apically; face rugulose-punctate, weakly bulging; clypeus shallowly longitudinally strigose with a strong subapical median tubercle, ventral margin produced laterally; frons smooth, with a weak mid-longitudinal carina ; antenna with 32 flagellomeres; mesopleuron with epicnemial carina reaching level of mesopleural pit; subtegular ridge convex; fore wing with 2m–cu slightly apical to rs–m; tergite 1 slender; tergite 1 smooth, following tergites densely punctate; apical margins of all tergites straight. CT 3.8; ML 0.7; POL 1.3; OOL 1.2; Fl 1 4.5; Fl 15 1.8; Fl 31 1.0; T1 1.7; OT 3.9.

Differential diagnosis

Pale yellow species of relatively small size, otherwise characterized by the combination of the weak mid-longitudinal carina on the frons, the entirely punctate tergite 2 and the slender tergite 1.

Etymology

Refers to King Shaka Zulu, another kind of population regulator of the Zululand region. He would certainly have been proud of giving his name to an ichneumon.

Type material

Holotype

SOUTH AFRICA: ♀, Natal. 1.5 km E of Mtunzini , 28°57’S 31°45’E, 2831 Dd Umlalazi Nat. Res., Nov. 1978, R. M. Miller, indigenous forest, Malaise tr. ( NMSA).

Description

Female (holotype)

B 11.9; A 9.6; F 8.7.

COLOR. Pale dull yellow overall with black parts: mandible, ocellar area ( macula isolated from eye margin), a median spot on each mesoscutal lobe, scuto-scutellar groove, a mid-longitudinal triangle at base of tergites 4–6; flagellum dark brown; hind tarsus and ovipositor sheath reddish-brown; wings hyaline, barely infuscate apically, venation yellowish.

HEAD. Face subquadrate, weakly bulging mid-dorsally, rugulose punctate and laterally smoother; clypeus shallowly longitudinally strigose, with a strong and acute subapical median tubercle, ventral margin laterally produced; mandible stout; frons smooth; inner margins of toruli expanded backwards into two

converging carinae, carinae then fused into a weak mid-longitudinal carina reaching median ocellus; vertex and temple moderately punctate; occipital carina complete; antenna with 32 flagellomeres.

MESOSOMA. Mesosoma shallowly and moderately densely punctate, but mesonotum deeply transversely striate and anterior half of pronotum smooth; epomia moderate; dorsal faint apex of epicnemial carina reaching level of mesopleural pit; apex of subtegular ridge convex, not flanged laterally; submetapleural carina slightly and evenly narrowed toward apex.

WINGS. Fore wing with 2m–cu slightly apical to rs–m, cu–a slightly apical to Rs+M, Rs moderately bowed forwards; hind wing with distal abscissa of Cu joining Cu&cu–a close to junction with M.

METASOMA. Tergite 1 moderately slender, sparsely and shallowly punctate; tergite 2 and following densely punctate; apical margins of all tergites straight. Some other yellow species also sometimes have some punctures on tergite 2 ( E. tombeaodiba ), but the first tergite of the female is then distinctively stouter.

Male

Unknown.

Distribution

South Africa (KwaZulu-Natal).

Figures

Fig. 8. Epirhyssa shaka sp. nov., holotype, ♀. A. Habitus, lateral view (inset: data labels). B. Mesosoma, lateral view. C. Metasoma, dorsal view. D. Head, anterior view. E. Mandibles, anterior view.