Tiphia (Punctotiphia) chareshi Hanima & Girish Kumar, 2022

Hanima, Raveendran K. P., Kumar, Girish & Hegde, Vishwanath D., 2022, Additions to the knowledge on the genus Tiphia Fabricius (Hymenoptera: Tiphiidae: Tiphiinae) from India with the description of ten new species, Zootaxa 5204 (1), pp. 1-106 : 21-24

6. Tiphia (Punctotiphia) chareshi Hanima & Girish Kumar sp. nov.

( Figs 62–74)

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:2F4E36FC-5EAB-4AD2-81ED-D376CFA5C9E0

Type material. Holotype, ♂, INDIA: Tamil Nadu, Coimbatore district, Anaikatti (11°06′16″N & 76°46′25″E, 621 m), 4.i.2019, Coll. P. Girish Kumar, ( ZSIK) Regd. No. ZSI / WGRC /IR/INV.12649 . Paratypes: 1♂, collection locality as same as holotype, ( ZSIK) Regd. No. ZSI / WGRC /IR/INV.18174 ; 1♂, Coimbatore district , Govanur, (11°10′12″N & 76°50′51″E, 589 m) 6.i.2019, Coll. P. Girish Kumar, ( ZSIK) Regd. No. ZSI / WGRC /IR/INV.12650 .

Diagnosis. Body length 5.9 mm. Median extension of clypeus deeply emarginated; mandible without preapical denticle; lateral side of pronotum with crenulated transdiscal groove; fore wing with marginal cell of fore wing equaling second cubital cell in apical extension; Gt 1 anteriorly with a strong transverse ridge; Gs 3, Gs 4 and Gs 5 with lateral denticles; Gs 6 without tuft of setae.

Description. Holotype, ♂. Body length 5.9 mm. Paratypes, ♂. Body length 5.93–6 mm.

Colour. Black with other areas as follows: Antennae beneath reddish brown ( Fig. 68); inner side of fore tibia and fore and mid tarsi yellowish orange ( Fig. 62); middle part of mandible and its extreme apex reddish brown ( Fig. 64); fore wing hyaline ( Fig. 69).

Head. HW 2.3 × least distance between eyes; lower front with adjacent punctures and upper front with sparse punctures ( Fig. 63); mandible without preapical denticle ( Fig. 64); median extension of clypeus deeply emarginated ( Fig. 64); POD 2.5 × LOD and 0.84 × OOD; length of scape: pedicel: Fu 1: Fu 2: Fu 3: Fu 4: Fu 5: Fu 6: Fu 7: Fu 8: Fu 9: Fu 10: Fu 11 = 0.203: 0.099: 0.099: 0.101: 0.102: 0.102: 0.104: 0.089: 0.094: 0.105: 0.105: 0.101: 0.169 ( Fig. 68).

Mesosoma . Dorsal side of pronotum anteriorly with strong transverse carina with buttressing ridges ( Fig. 65); lateral side of pronotum with crenulated transdiscal groove, smooth on upper part above the groove and ridges below the groove ( Fig. 66); metanotum with few deep punctures ( Fig. 65); tegula 1.43 × its middle width ( Fig. 65); fore wing with marginal cell equaling second cubital cell in apical extension ( Fig. 69); mesopleuron with deep large punctures mixed with few minute punctures ( Fig. 66); dorsal side of propodeum with keystone shaped areola with its basal side bulged, length of areola 1.07 × its basal width and 1.96 × its apical width ( Fig. 65); upper part of lateral side of propodeum with widely spaced rugulae and lower part with irregular sculpturing ( Fig. 66). Length of mesosoma: 1.34 mm.

Metasoma. Gt 1 with distinct anterior transverse carina with longitudinal ridges ( Fig. 67); sterna 3, 4, and 5 with lateral denticles ( Fig. 71); Gs 6 without tuft of setae ( Fig. 71). Length of metasoma: 2.56 mm.

Genitalia. Paramere spatula-shaped and covered with setae; digitus most apically pointed, basally rounded; cuspis slender; aedeagus with a stalk like basal part and lobed apical part ( Figs 72–74).

Discussion. As per the key of Allen (1975), this new species comes close to Tiphia (Punctotiphia) coimbatorea Allen in having Gt 1 with sharp crested anterior transverse carina; dorsal side of pronotum with strong carina buttressed with ridges; mandible without preapical denticle; fore wing hyaline; marginal cell of fore wing equalling second cubital cell in apical extension, but this new species differs from T. (P.) coimbatorea in the following features: sterna 3, 4, and 5 with lateral denticles (in T. (P.) coimbatorea , only Gs 5 with lateral denticle); Gs 6 without tuft of dense setae apically (in T. (P.) coimbatorea, Gs 6 with tuft of dense setae apically); lateral side of pronotum with crenulated transdiscal groove (in T. (P.) coimbatorea , lateral side of pronotum without transdiscal groove); metanotum with few coarse punctures (in T. (P.) coimbatorea , metanotum with numerous coarse punctures).

Distribution. India: Tamil Nadu.

Etymology. The species is named in honor of Mr. C. Charesh (former GSDP student and Laboratory Assistant of WGRC, ZSI, Kozhikode), who collected several Tiphia specimens for the present study.