Cryptopimpla neili Reynolds Berry & van Noort

Berry, Terry Reynolds & van Noort, Simon, 2016, Review of Afrotropical Cryptopimpla Taschenberg (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae, Banchinae), with description of nine new species, ZooKeys 640, pp. 103-137 : 122-123

Cryptopimpla neili Reynolds Berry & van Noort sp. n. Fig. 6

Material examined.

HOLOTYPE ♂: South Africa, Western Cape, Kogelberg Nature Reserve, 34°16.481'S, 19°01.033'E, 118m, 16 March 1999 - 16 April 1999, S. van Noort, KO98-M18, Malaise trap, Mesic Mountain Fynbos, last burnt c. 1988, SAM-HYM-P047436 (SAMC).

Description.

Body subpolished. Colour. Head black, clypeus and mandibles white to brown; white markings on either side of toruli. Body mostly fulvous with dark markings on metanotum and metasomal terga 5-8, pronotal collar white.

Head. Densely punctate. Frons unarmed. Setae on head and clypeus short and sparse. Eye in lateral view 0.74 times as wide as long. Shortest inter-ocular distance 1.94 times maximum eye width in anterior view. Flagellum tapered to a slender apex. Clypeus profile weakly convex with a curved lip on the ventral margin. Clypeus edge convex. Upper tooth of mandible longer than the lower tooth. Tentorial pits small or indistinct.

Mesosoma. Mesosocutum moderately punctate. Shallow excavation separates mesoscutum from scutellum. Epicnemial carinae present ventrally and dorsally, dorsally converging toward anterior edge of mesopleuron. Anterior propodeal margin with a blunt median projection; carination absent. Wings hyaline. Fore wing with two bullae closely situated appearing as one; vein 2m-cu sinuate; areolet anteriorly truncate-shaped. Hind wing with two basal hamuli and six distal hamuli.

Metasoma. Tergum 1 densely punctate, lacking dorsolateral carinae, posterior margin medially tapered to a point; second tergum 1.07 times longer than broad, spiracle situated at basal 0.28 of tergum (measured in lateral view), gastrocoeli small and elliptic; terga 4-8 strongly compressed.

CT 2.0; ML 1.0; IO 2.3; OO 1.6; Fl1 5.0; body length 7.5 mm; antenna length 8.5 mm; fore wing 6.9 mm.

Differential diagnosis.

Cryptopimpla neili is closely-related to Cryptopimpla hantami because both species exclusively possess a shallow excavation separating the mesosocutum from the scutellum and the presence of small elliptic gastrocoeli on the second tergum, whereas a groove is present and the shape of the gastrocoeli is large or elongate in the other species in the rubrithorax species-group. Cryptopimpla neili is immediately distinguishable from all other Afrotropical Cryptopimpla species, including Cryptopimpla hantami , by having a unique colour combination of a fulvous body, white pronotal collar and a clypeus distinguished by two colours; and the metasomal tergum 1 lacking dorsolateral carinae with the posterior margin medially tapered to a point.

Etymology.

Named after the first author's father. Noun in the genitive case.

Distribution.

South Africa (Western Cape).

Comments.

A rare species known only from one specimen. Intensive sampling in other areas of the Cape Floral Kingdom produced no further specimens. The metaso mal terga 4-8 of the male are strongly compressed and this separates the species from the closely-related species Cryptopimpla fernkloofensis , Cryptopimpla hantami , Cryptopimpla parslactis , Cryptopimpla rubrithorax , and Cryptopimpla onyxi . However, no male specimens are available for the remaining species Cryptopimpla elongatus and Cryptopimpla zwarti within the rubrithorax species-group. Thus, no comparisons could be made with those species.