Orientilla tamaderai, Okayasu, 2023

Okayasu, Juriya, 2023, Discovery of the velvet ant genus Orientilla Lelej from Laos (Hymenoptera, Mutillidae, Dasylabrinae), with description of a related new species from India, Journal of Hymenoptera Research 96, pp. 817-834 : 817

Orientilla tamaderai sp. nov.

Figs 1 , 2 , 7 , 10

Diagnosis.

Female. Head mostly red; clypeal medial elevation forming subtriangular area; clypeal subtriangular area dorso-medially delimited by carina (Fig. 7 ); hypostomal carina sharp; antenna dark; humeral carina sharp; mesopleuron evenly convex, not spinose (Fig. 1 ); legs largely red; T1 and T2 posterior margins with complete pale setal bands; T1 long and slender, with dorsal T1 length 0.97 × T1 width and 0.46 × T2 length (Fig. 10 ); T2 broad, 2.26 × wider than T1, with lateral margins strongly convex (Fig. 10 ); T2 with medial pale setal spot, distance between medial spot and posterior band subequal to spot diameter; T3 with pale setal band; S1 carina short, reaching anterior 1/4 of S1; S2 felt line short. Male. Unknown.

Description.

Female. Body length. 7.09 mm.

Color and setae. Frons, vertex, dorsal half of gena, and mesosoma dark red; antennal rim, meso- and metafemora, and meso- and metatibiae except apices yellowish red; clypeus, mandible apex, T1-3, and S2-S3 black; ventral half of gena including malar space, postgenal bridge, scape except apex, pedicel, mandible except apex, coxae, trochanters, profemur, protarsus, and meso- and metatibial apices dark brown; prementum, stipes, F1, F2-10 dorsally, meso- and metatarsi, S1, T4-6, and S4-6 brownish black; scape apex, F2-10 ventrally, maxillary and labial palpi, and protibia brown; tibial spurs yellow.

Frons, vertex, gena, scape, and mesosomal dorsum with sparse short recumbent pale golden and sparse erect to suberect brownish black setae; clypeus, postgenal bridge, mandible, pronotal neck, propleuron, lateral mesosomal face, dorsal propodeal face, T1 anterior and lateral faces, T1 posterior margin, S1, T2 lateral and posterior margins, T3, and S2-4 with sparse long erect pale golden setae; pedicel and F1 with sparse short recumbent pale golden setae; F2-10 with sparse very short appressed pale golden setae; prementum, stipes, and maxillary and labial palpi with sparse short erect pale golden setae; coxae, trochanters, and tibiae with sparse long recumbent and sparse long erect pale golden setae; tarsi with sparse long appressed pale golden setae; T1 dorsal face, T2 disc, T4-6, and S5-6 with sparse short recumbent and sparse long erect brownish black setae; posterior 2/5 of T1 dorsal face covered with band of dense appressed pale golden setae; T2 with medial circular (0.92 × longer than wide) spot of dense appressed pale golden setae and with posterior narrow band of dense appressed pale golden setae; distance between T2 spot and band 0.82 × spot length; T2 lacking lateral felt line; S2 with short lateral felt line of pale golden setae; distance between S2 felt line and posterior fringe 0.55 × felt line length; T3 with wide uniform band of dense appressed pale golden setae; S2-S3 with posterior fringe of dense appressed pale golden setae.

Structure. Head 1.35 × wider than long with lateral margins strongly convergent behind eye; gena narrow, 0.78 × eye breadth in lateral view; eye height:eye breadth = 58:50; distance between eyes 1.72 × eye height; eye height 1.23 × malar distance; frons and vertex without medial carina or groove; occipital carina complete, dorsally strongly protruding from posterior margin of vertex; antennal scrobe lacking dorsal carina; genal carina wavy, ventrally separated from hypostomal carina and lacking hypostomal tooth; postgenal bridge laterally delimited by sharp carina extending from occiput; hypostomal carina sharp; eye semicircular, convex, distinctly protruding from head capsule; clypeus dorso-medially strongly elevated nearly to level of antennal rim; clypeus with subventral transverse ridge extending along entire width of clypeus, with anterior margin crenulate; medial elevation limited on dorsal half of clypeus and forming medial subtriangular area; medial subtriangular area dorso-medially delimited by carina; mandible worn out, apically rounded and lacking preapical tooth; mandible dorsal face with sharp ridge basally, ventral margin straight; prementum flattened; scape bending medially; length and width of pedicel:F1:F2 = 10:15:18:18:20:20; F2-9 almost same in length and width; F10 slightly longer than F1 and F9, conical; F3-10 depressed.

Mesosoma broadest at mesothorax; lateral margins of mesosoma weakly crenulate, lacking carina; head width:humeral width:mesonotal width:T2 width = 83:63:87:100; mesosomal length 1.20 × mesothoracic width; anterior margin of pronotal dorsum nearly straight; pronotal and propodeal spiracles without distinct tubercle; humeral carina sharp, reaching pronotal dorsum, rounded at dorsal end; scutellar scale obliterated; scutellar area without scales; metanotal-propodeal suture obliterated; mesopleuron evenly convex; propodeum lacking distinct dorsal and posterior faces; dorsal propodeal face vertical, without medial carina; mesopleural lamella absent; mesopleural ventral face with sharp precoxal transverse carina.

Protarsus lacking outer spines; protarsomere 1 apically truncate, not protruding outward; tibiae lacking outer spines; metacoxa armed with weak inner carina along its entire length.

Metasomal segment 1 petiolate; T1 with distinct dorsal and anterior faces; T1 dorsal length:T1 width:T2 dorsal length:T2 width = 38:39:82:88; T2 weakly convex, dorsally flattened; T2 lateral margin strongly convex; S1 medial carina present only on anterior 1/4 of sternum, anteriorly tuberculate; S2 with distinct anterior face, without medial carina; S6 posterior margin bidentate; pygidial plate obscurely defined, convex, lacking lateral carina.

Frons, vertex, mesosomal dorsum, T1 dorsal face, T2 lateral margin, and S1 with large dense punctures, with intervals distinct and smooth; gena with large confluent punctures, punctures larger and coarser ventrally; postgenal bridge densely transversely striate; antennal rim, clypeus lateral portion, pedicel, flagellum, and prementum with minute dense punctures; clypeal subtriangular area with large dense shallow punctures; scape, legs, T4-6, and S4-6 with small sparse punctures; stipes with small dense punctures; pronotal collar anteriorly with minute sparse punctures; pronotal collar posteriorly smooth; mesosomal lateral face and dorsal propodeal face with large confluent punctures; T1 anterior face, T3, and S2-3 with large sparse punctures; T2 disc longitudinally coarsely puncto-striate.

Male. Unknown.

Type material.

Holotype: Laos • ♀; Xieng Khouang Prov., Ban Vang, Ban Tha; 19°44'15.2"N, 103°35'16.6"E; 1239 m alt.; 30 Apr. 2018; Yutaka Tamadera leg. [SEHU].

Distribution.

Laos: Xieng Khouang.

Etymology.

The specific name is dedicated to the type collector, Yutaka Tamadera, an expert in the systematics of jewel beetles ( Coleoptera : Buprestidae ).

Remarks.

The area of the type locality (Figs 13-15 ) is composed of two low mountains densely covered with forests and a trail between them, and surrounded by a village and a swidden (Y. Tamadera, pers. comm. 2023). The collector is not sure about the habitat (forest or swidden) where the holotype female was collected.

Orientilla tamaderai sp. nov. can be easily confused with O. vietnamica Lelej, 1979 by sharing the following combination of character states: head and mesosoma red, clypeus with a medial subtriangular area, mesopleuron evenly convex, T1 and T2 posterior margins with complete pale setal bands, and T2 with a medial pale setal spot. However, this new species is distinguished from the latter by the clypeal subtriangular area delimited by carinae only dorso-medially (subtriangular area delimited by carinae along its entire width in O. vietnamica ; Figs 7 , 8 ), T1 as long as wide (T1 wider than long in O. vietnamica ; Figs 10 , 11 ), and T2 lateral margins strongly convex (T2 lateral margins weakly convex in O. vietnamica ; Figs 10 , 11 ). Also, the female of O. tamaderai sp. nov. is smaller than that of O. vietnamica (8.0-14.9 mm; Lelej 1996a; Williams et al. 2019; supplemented by the specimens examined in this study).

Figures

Figures 1 - 6. Orientilla spp., ♀, habitus 1, 2 O. tamaderai sp. nov., holotype 3, 4 O. vietnamica Lelej, Laos 5, 6 O. nitens sp. nov., holotype 1, 3, 5 dorsal view 2, 4, 6 lateral view.

Figures 7 - 12. Orientilla spp., ♀ 7, 10 O. tamaderai sp. nov., holotype 8, 11 O. vietnamica Lelej, Laos 9, 12 O. nitens sp. nov., holotype 7 - 9 face 10 - 12 metasoma, dorsal view. White arrows indicate the subtriangular area on the clypeus.

Figures 13 - 15. The type locality of Orientilla tamaderai sp. nov. 13 type locality seen from the south 14 type locality and a swidden seen from the north 15 the access to the forest trail. Photo by Y. Tamadera.