Liphanthus discolor Mir Sharifi & Packer, 2019

Sharifi, Negar Mir, Graham, Liam & Packer, Laurence, 2019, Fifteen new species of Liphanthus Reed (Hymenoptera: Andrenidae) with two submarginal cells, Zootaxa 4645 (1), pp. 1-80 : 19-21

Liphanthus discolor Mir Sharifi & Packer , sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:3A8F19FE-3712-4AA1-877A-0029282A9FD1

Figs. 34–40 , 129 , 137 .

Diagnosis: Males of this species can be differentiated from most others of the genus by the combination of two submarginal cells, metatibial spurs straight, S2 and S3 with straight posterior margins ( Fig. 37 ) and ventral surface of the mandibles bearing a tuft of branched hairs at midlength (as in Fig. 3 ). It differs from other species with two submarginal cells and a tufted mandible in lacking a facial fovea ( Fig. 36 ) and lacking yellow markings to the side of T2 ( Fig. 37 ).

Description. Holotype Male: Dimensions: Approximate body length: 3.29mm; head width: 1.08mm, wing length: 2.33mm, intertegular width: 0.6mm.

Coloration: Black to dark brown with following parts orange (certainly yellow in non-discoloured individuals): labrum, mandible (except apex red), clypeus, lower paraocular area below from upper 1/5 of outer subantennal suture, subantennal sclerite except basal 1/5, pronotal lobe, anterior spot on tegula, apical mark on all coxae, ventral surface of metatrochanter, apical ring on all femora, all tibiae except for brown mark on ventral surface at midlength and metatibia with anterior and posterior brown marks, all basitarsi; marks on ventrally recurved portions of T3–T5; all sterna yellowish-brown suffused with brown. Flagellum and all 2 nd– 4 th tarsomeres dark orange-brown. Apical impressed area of terga pale amber.

Sculpture: Pale part of face weakly imbricate, shiny, apical 1/5 th of clypeus lacking microsculpture; black portion of face densely, minutely tuberculate, dull. Clypeus punctures large, shallow, i>d; lower paraocular area moderately densely punctate, i=1–2d; upper paraocular, frontal and vertexal areas punctures difficult to detect among coarse imbrication; genal and hypostomal areas moderately imbricate, somewhat shiny; punctures small, sparse, i>2d. Mesosomal dorsum strongly imbricate and dull; mesoscutum and scutellum punctures shallow, irregularly spaced, i=1–5d; metanotum obscurely punctate, i=1–3d; lateral surface of mesosoma imbricate, somewhat shiny, hypoepimeral area and metepisternum impunctate, rest of mesopleuron punctures shallow, sparse, i>2d. Metapostnotum dorsal surface rugulose; propodeum imbricate somewhat shiny and impunctate except dorsolateral area coarsely imbricate and obscurely punctate. T1–T3 coarsely imbricate, dull; T4–T5 moderately imbricate somewhat shiny; T1–T5 punctures small, shallow and sparse, i>2d; apical impressed areas imbricate, impunctate; metasomal sterna weakly imbricate, somewhat shiny; punctures sparse anteriorly, i≥2d posteriorly.

Pubescence: Generally white, sparse with short branches; ~1 MOD on face, mesoscutum, disc of scutellum, sides of mesosoma and towards apex of metasoma; longer, 1.5–2 MOD posteriorly on scutellum and metanotum; shorter, ~0.5 MOD and plumose on sides of dorsal surface of metapostnotum.

Structure: Head: ~1.1 X as wide as long (67:59). Mandible ~2.6 X as long as basal depth (36:14); gradually narrowing towards acute apex; lower margin at midlength with small erect pencil of branched hairs, branches long and only on one side of rachis. outer ridge lamellate. Labrum rectangular, ~1.8 X as wide as long (25:14). Clypeus ~1.75 X as wide as long (49:28); apicolateral and apicomedial margins weakly convex in frontal view. Outer subantennal suture almost straight, inner suture strongly curved near base, subantennal sclerite broadest near base; epistomal suture straight between inner subantennal sutures. Anterior tentorial pit below junction of outer subantennal and epistomal sutures by approximately minimum diameter of F1. Frontal line imperceptible except briefly below. IAD> AOD (15:10). Inner margin of compound eyes convergent below, UOD:LOD 63:51. Facial fovea absent/undetectable. IOC: OOC 17:15. Scape ~1.5 X as long as greatest width (18:12), subequal to pedicel and F1 combined (17); pedicel length subequal to its width (8:9). F1 slightly longer than wide (9:8), F2 shorter than wide (6:7), remaining flagellomeres slightly longer than wide except F11 1.8 X as long as wide (18:10).

Mesosoma: Mesoscutum ~1.1 X as wide as long (60:55), length of scutellum: metanotum: metapostnotum: 25:13:13. Marginal cell ~1.1 X as long as distance between its apex to wing tip (55:50). Metatibial spurs straight, posterior spur longer than anterior. Pro- and mesotarsal claws cleft. [Apical metatarsomeres missing on one leg and claws absent from remaining hind leg in sole specimen.]

Metasoma: Broadest at junction of T2 and T3; terga not strongly ventromedially reflexed at sides, but T2 with weak lateral ridge; pygidial plate absent. S1–S5 unmodified. S7 Apodeme long, narrow, parallel-sided, anterior margin transverse, straight; apical lobe short, length and width subequal, broadly rounded, with sparse long posteriorly oriented hairs, hairs shorter than width of lobe. S8 Apodeme anterior margin sinuate and moderately broad (~ 1.5 X wider than long), lateral margins strongly diverging anteriorly; lateral lobe small, apex acute; apical lobe truncate, lateral margins straight, converging posteriorly, short spicules on apical half of dorsal surface. Gonocoxa anterodorsal margin transverse, lateral margins diverging posteriorly, medial margin almost straight; gonostylus distinctly separated from gonocoxa by weakly sclerotized band, narrow, gradually narrowing to apex, posteromedially curved, short hairs on medial and ventral surfaces; penis valve broad, lateral margin broadly biconvex. Endophallus basal fluted portion elongate somewhat broad, apical membranous portion broad, almost attaining apex of penis valve.

Female: Unknown.

Material studied. Region IV: Holotype male as follows: CHILE, Region IV, 2–4 km S. of Vicuña , 9.x.2001, L. Packer & G. Fraser. The sole specimen is currently at PCYU but will eventually be sent to MNHN.

Etymology. The specific epithet refers to the fact that the sole specimen known has the pale markings mostly orange, presumably as a result of prolonged exposure to cyanide. This should be born in mind when considering the colour in the images.

Comments. Using the key in Ruz and Toro (1983), if treated as having three submarginal cells, this species fails at couplet 8 in that it has the short F1 of the second lead but the flat clypeal profile of the first.

The area just south of Vicuña is quite famous due to the extensive collecting that has been performed in the area, resulting in studies of a number of rare bees, including Euherbstia excellens Friese 1925 ( Rozen 1993) , Neffapis longilingua Ruz 1995 in Rozen & Ruz (1995) , and Chilimalopsis parvula Toro (1976) . Thus, the fact that only a single male is known suggests that this may be a rare or highly habitat restricted species. Considerable additional collecting has been performed in the area since 2001, but the species has not been rediscovered. Since 2001 the north end of the original locality has been more extensively developed for grape growing and there is also a large garbage dump closer to the type locality (Packer, personal observations), neither of these developments likely conducive to the sustainability of bee populations.

Along with the three species described above and a number of undescribed species with three submarginal cells, this species forms a species group characterized, in males, by the presence of a hair tuft on the ventral margin of the mandible at the end of a strongly lamellate outer ridge and a minutely tuberculate frontal area.

Figures

FIGURES 34–40. Liphanthus discolor sp. nov., holotype, 34: lateral habitus, 35: face frontal view, 36: upper paraocular area to show absence of facial fovea (arrow to area where this occurs in related species, compare to Figs. 22 & 43), 37: metasomal venter to show brownish colouration and reduced yellow on reflexed portions of terga, 38: S7, 39: S8, 40: genital capsule. Scale bars Figs. 34–35 & 37 1mm, Fig. 36 0.25mm, Figs. 38–40 0.125mm.

FIGURES 128–132. 128: L. sapos metasoma oblique ventral view to show yellow sterna and ventrally reflexed portions of terga, 129: L. discolor metasoma in ventral view to show sterna suffused with brown and pale marks on reflexed portions only on more apical terga (arrows), 130: L. molavi—metasoma in lateral view to show dark metasomal sterna and lateral margins of terga, 131: L. jenamro mandible to show tuft of specialized hairs where lamellate outer ridge (red arrow) meets ventral margin, 132: L. molavi mandible to show unmodified outer ridge (red arrow) and absence of tuft of specialized hairs. Scale bars Figs.128–130 0.5mm, Figs. 131–132 0.25mm.

FIGURES 137–138. Liphanthus sp. ventral view of metasoma: 137: L. discolor holotype to show brown suffused sterna and lack of pale marking laterally on T2 (arrow); 138: L. sapos to show lack of brown suffusion on metasomal sterna and yellow lateral tergal markings that extend also to T2 (arrow). Scale bars 0.5mm.

FIGURES 1–3. Unusual morphological features of some Liphanthus species. 1: L. jenamro sp. nov. ESEM of frontal area of holotype male to show minutely and densely tuberculate microsculpture, 2: L. jenamro ESEM of frontal area of allotype female to show acinose (bracket) to minutely and densely tuberculate microsculpture, 3: L. jenamro mandibles of a paratype male to show tuft of specialized hairs at the junction of the outer ridge and ventral margin, note the long branches on one side of the rachis only. Scale bars Figs. 1–2 100μm, Fig. 3 0.25mm.