Sussaba flavipes

Klopfstein, Seraina, 2014, Revision of the Western Palaearctic Diplazontinae (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae), Zootaxa 3801 (1), pp. 1-143 : 89

Sussaba flavipes ( Lucas 1849, Bassus)

Sussaba coriacea neopulchella Diller 1980

Diagnosis. Fore wing length 3.5–4.3 mm. Antenna in females with 19–21 flagellomeres, with ventral area of median to apical flagellomeres with conspicuous areas bearing a short velvety pile and lacking multiporous plate sensilla; in males with 20–22 flagellomeres, with uni-coloured tyloids on flagellomeres 5/6 to 8/9. Face mainly smooth and shining, impunctate, with some irregular sculpture centrally and along inner orbits. Mesoscutum with central area coriaceous, weakly punctate. Mesopleuron entirely smooth and shining, impunctate. Hind coxa with outer surface coriaceous. Propodeum with a full set of carinae enclosing basal, lateral and petiolar areas, the areas with rugose to coriaceous sculpture. Metasoma evenly tapered towards apex, first tergite 1.2–1.5 times longer than wide in females, 1.4–1.9 in males.

Colouration of females. Antenna dark brown, sometimes paler below. Head and mesosoma black, face often with a yellow central face patch, clypeus black, yellow on mouthparts, hind corner of pronotum, tegula, usually subtegular ridge, upper mesepimeron; usually without shoulder mark, scutellum black. Legs orange, coxae black with apex yellow at least in fore and mid coxae, trochanters entirely yellow, at most with hind trochanter marked with black; femora orange, sometimes marked with black below basally; hind tibia and tarsus orange to brown. Metasoma variously marked with orange, usually at least on hind margin of tergite 2 and entire tergites 3 and sometimes 4.

Colouration of males. As in females but with yellow ventrally on antenna, entire face, small to large yellow shoulder mark; epicnemium black. Fore and mid coxae entirely yellow or only black at extreme base, hind coxa with a yellow apex, all trochanters yellow. Metasoma usually as in female; if with third tergite black centrally and light basally and apically, then the two spots on anterolateral corners orange rather than yellow.

Material examined. Holotype of Sussaba coriacea neopulchella Diller : Germany, Bayern, München, Aubinger-Lohe, leg. E.Diller, 25.Vi.1977. 1♀, at ZSM.

New for Norway: Halden, Vesttorp, EIS 20, leg. T.J.Olsen, 7.VII.2001. 1♂, at MR.

Finland (2), Germany (6), Italy (3), Norway (1), Sweden (>100), Switzerland (>100), United Kingdom (40).

Distribution. Holarctic.

Figures. Face ♀ ( Fig. 7 E)

Notes. An additional species-level name is in close association with Sussaba flavipes and should be discussed here: Sussaba coriacea Dasch (1964a) . Diller (1980) realised that Sussaba pulchella auct . is not the same taxon as the type of Bassus pulchellus ; the next available name came from a taxon originally described as a subspecies, Sussaba pulchella coriacea Dasch. Diller raised S. coriacea to species rank and provided a new name for the taxon that Dasch referred to as S. pulchella pulchella , S. coriacea neopulchella Diller. Later on, Horstmann (1983) studied the type of S. flavipes Lucas and found it to be conspecific with S. coriacea neopulchella . Constantineanu & Constantineanu (1971) had previously reported S. coriacea from Romania, but I am not certain whether they really found a specimen that corresponds to the subspecies that has been described from North America. Until the types of S. coriacea can be studied and a decision made about the status of the taxon, this name thus remains a valid subspecies of S. flavipes , potentially with its distribution restricted to North America.

Figures

FIGURE 7. Macro- and microsculpture of diplazontine metasomas and faces. A – D: tergites 1 – 3 of the metasoma. A. Diplazon scutatorius, smooth and shining between the strong and dense punctures. B. Diplazon tetragonus, with partly rugulous sculputure basally on tergite 2, and coriaceous sculpture on tergite 3, both tergites bearing weak punctures on a smooth background behind the strong transverse impressions. C. Tymmophorus obscuripes, with rugose sculpture on tergites 1 and 2, becoming more coriaceous on tergite 3. D. Woldstedtius holarcticus, with coriaceous tergites and striae basally on tergite 2. E – H: faces showing sculpture and shape of clypeus. E. Sussaba flavipes, with a face that is coriaceous only on the middle elevation. F. Woldstedtius holarcticus. G. Diplazon scutatorius. H. Homotropus signatus. F. – H. all with strongly coriaceous and matt sculpture. Scale bars represent 500 µm.