Oberthuerella longispinosa Benoit

Buffington, Matthew L. & Noort, Simon van, 2012, Revision of the Afrotropical Oberthuerellinae (Cynipoidea, Liopteridae), ZooKeys 202, pp. 1-154 : 44-48

Oberthuerella longispinosa Benoit Figures 21-22

Oberthuerella longispinosa Benoit, 1955: 290.

Description.

Coloration of head and mesosoma black to dark brown; metasoma yellow-orange; legs reddish brown. Sculpture on vertex, lateral surface of pronotum and mesoscutum present, deeply foveate laterally on head, pronotum; deeply horizontally striate on mesoscutum.

Head. Broadly triangular, in anterior view. Pubescence on head present, sparse setae scattered over head. Sculpture along lateral margin of occiput absent. Gena (measured from compound eye to posterolateral margin of head) short, ratio of length of gena to length of compound eye in dorsal view <0.3, in dorsal view. Sculpture of gena deeply striate with remnants of fovea. Lateral margin of occiput defined by distinctly angled, raised, sharp carina. Occiput (except extreme lateral margin) smooth. Ocelli small, ratio of maximum diameter of a lateral ocellus to shortest distance between lateral ocelli 0.2-0.4. Anterior ocellus close to posterior ocelli, posterior margin of anterior ocellus behind or subcontiguous with a transverse line running through anterior margins of posterior ocelli. Relative position of toruli close to ocelli, ratio of vertical distance between inner margin of torulus and ventral margin of clypeus to vertical distance between anterior ocellus and torulus <2.0. Median keel of face present, extending to middle of face, not reaching clypeus. Vertical carina adjacent to ventral margin of torulus absent. Facial sculpture almost entirely foveate, slightly horizontally striate along median keel. Facial impression absent, face flat. Antennal scrobe absent. Anterior tentorial pits large. Vertical delineations on lower face absent. Ventral clypeal margin laterally, close to anterior mandibular articulation, distinctly angled. Ventral clypeal margin medially emarginate. Clypeus foveate-punctate; horizontally striate. Malar space adjacent to anterior articulation of mandible evenly rounded, foveate. Malar sulcus absent. Compound eye close to posterior ocellus, ratio of distance between compound eye and posterior mandibular articulation to distance between posterior ocellus and compound eye> 1.2. Compound eye, in dorsal view, distinctly protruding from the surface of the head, particularly laterally. Pubescence on compound eye absent. Orbital furrows absent. Lateral frontal carina of face absent. Dorsal aspect of vertex deeply foveate. Posterior aspect of vertex foveate. Hair punctures on lateral aspect of vertex absent. Posterior surface of head almost flat, not deeply impressed.

Labial-maxillary complex. Apical segment of maxillary palp with pubescence, consisting only of erect setae. Apical seta on apical segment of maxillary palp shorter than twice length of second longest apical seta. Erect setae medially on apical segment of maxillary palp present.

Antenna. Articulation between flagellomeres in antenna connate with articles broadly joined. Male antenna composed of 12 flagellomeres. Placoidal sensilla absent. Second flagellomere of male antenna cylindrical. Length of second flagellomere of male antenna longer than first flagellomere.

Pronotum. Macrosculpture on lateral surface of pronotum present, dorsomedially foveate, laterally foveate-costate. Pubescence on lateral surface of pronotum present, sparse, composed of few short hairs. Carinae extending posteriorly from lateral margin of pronotal plate absent. Lateral pronotal carina present. Pronotal crest absent. Dorsal margin of pronotal plate (in anterior view) rounded. Lateral margin of pronotal plate defined all the way to the dorsal margin of the pronotum. Pronotal plate wide, almost as wide as head.

Mesoscutum. Mesoscutal surface convex, evenly curved. Sculpture on mesoscutum present, foveate-punctate, with remnants of transverse costae. Notaulus pre sent, marked by deep furrows, slightly increasing in width posteriorly. Median mesoscutal carina absent. Anterior admedial lines present, flat, indistinct, with adjacent cuticular surface foveate. Parascutal carina distinctly sinuate, posteriorly ending in posteroventrally directed projection.

Mesopleuron. Horizontally strigulate, with striae converging on remnant fovea along posterior margin of sclerite. Subpleuron anteriorly smooth, polished, posteriorly with remnants of fovea. Lower mesopleuron medially smooth, glabrous; costate laterally, ventrally. Epicnemial carina present on ventral half of mesopleuron; shagreened, of even width throughout. Lateroventral mesopleural carina present, marking abrupt change of slope of mesopectus. Mesopleural triangle absent. Subalar pit large and well defined, lying in posterior end of subalar groove. Speculum present, smooth. Mesopleural carina absent.

Scutellum. Dorsal surface of scutellum foveate-areolate. Circumscutellar carina absent. Posterior margin of axillula marked by distinct ledge, axillula distinctly impressed adjacent to ledge. Lateroventral margin of scutellum posterior to auricula smooth, becoming dorsoventrally striate posteriorly. Dorsoposterior part of scutellum produced posteriorly into sharp spine, greater than 1.0 × length of petiole. Dorsal part of scutellum entirely foveate. Scutellar plate absent. Scutellar foveae present, three, with lateral foveal bissected by longitudinal carina, resulting in five longitudinally elongate subfovea. Longitudinal scutellar carinae absent. Single longitudinal carina separating scutellar foveae absent. Posterolateral margin of scutellum drawn out into distinct protuberance. Lateral bar with strong strigate sculpture, narrow.

Metapectal-propodeal complex. Metapectal cavity anterodorsal to metacoxal base present, ill-defined. Anterior margin of metapectal-propodeal complex separated from mesopleuron by deep, broad, uninterrupted marginal impression. Posteroventral corner of metapleuron (in lateral view) rounded, not drawn out posteriorly. Anterior impression of metepimeron present, narrow, linear impression, not broadened ventrally. Posterior margin of metepimeron distinct, separating metepimeron from propodeum. Subalar area abruptly broadened anteriorly, with an indicated longitudinal division. Calyptra present, blunt, lobe-like, polished posteriorly with setiferous punctures anteriorly. Dorsellum present, two strong medial fovea, laterally strongly excavated with fine pubescence in lateral depressions. Anterior impression of metepisternum, immediately beneath anterior end of metapleural carina, present, small and narrow. Pubescence consisting of few scattered hairs on posterior part of metapleuron and lateral part of propodeum. Propodeal spurs present, foveate. Lateral propodeal carinae present, not reaching scutellum. Ventral end of lateral propodeal carina reaching nucha, carinae separated from each other. Inter propodeal carinae space lightly setose, foveate. Petiolar foramen removed from metacoxae, directed posteriorly. Horizontal carina running anteriorly from lateral propodeal carina present. Lateral propodeal carina straight, sub-parallel. Calyptra, in lateral view, elongate. Propodeum relatively short, not drawn out posteriorly. Calyptra, in posterior view, dorsoventrally elongate.

Legs. Pubescence posterolaterally on metacoxa sparse to moderately dense, confined dense hair patch absent. Microsculpture on hind coxa absent. Longitudinal carina on the posterior surface of metatibia absent. Metafemoral spine present, elongate, extending distally as low keel along ventral femoral margin. Ratio of first metatibial segment to remaining 4 segments equal to 1.0.

Forewings. Pubescence of forewing present, long, dense on most of surface. Apical margin of female forewing rounded. Rs+M of forewing tubular. Mesal end of Rs+M vein situated closer to posterior margin of Forewing, directed towards posterior end of basalis. Vein R1 tubular along at least basal part of anterior margin of marginal cell. Basal abscissa of R1 (the abscissa between 2r and the Forewing margin) of forewing as broad as adjacent wing veins. Forewing entirely infuscate. Marginal cell of forewing membranous, similar to other wing cells. Areolet absent. Hair fringe along apical margin of forewing absent.

Petiole. Slightly elongate, 1.5 –2× longer than wide. Surface of petiole longitudinally costate, ventral keel absent.

Metasoma. Setal band (hairy ring) at base of tergum 3 absent, base of metasoma glabrous. Tergum 3 distinctly smaller than tergum 4. Posterior margin of tergum 3 smoothly rounded. Posterior margin of tergum 4 evenly rounded. In lateral view, sternum 3 exposed, ventral border of T2-T7 visible. Sculpture on metasomal terga present, finely punctate laterally, dorsally; posteriorly with large setal pits. Syntergum absent, all postpetiolar terga free. Annulus absent. Peg-like setae on T6-T7 absent. Posteroventral cavities of female metasoma T7 absent.

Diagnosis.

This species has the most complete and consistently narrow median keel of the face; in other species, either the keel is distinctly broadened into a raised triangular area ( Oberthuerella longicaudata ) or the keel becomes indistinct before meeting the clypeal margin ( Oberthuerella crassicornis ). This species resembles Oberthuerella abscinda and Oberthuerella crassicornis , and can be separated from the former by having yellow/orange legs ( Oberthuerella abscinda with dark brown/black legs), and the latter by the morphology of the median keel of the face mentioned above.

Distribution.

Democratic Republic of Congo; Gabon; Ivory Coast; Malawi. Link to Distribution Map. [http://hol.osu.edu/map-full.html?id=181558]

Material examined.

Holotype, male: DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Pool Dépt., Éléphants Island, 30.IX.1929, H. J. Bredo, Mus. Cong. Cyn1-5 (deposited in MRAC). (Further material listed in Quinlan, 1979)