Duckeia dudui Lucena, 2021

Lucena, Daercio A. A., Almeida, Eduardo A. B. & Zanella, Fernando C. V., 2021, Amiseginae and Cleptinae from northeastern Brazil, with the description of four new species (Hymenoptera, Chrysididae), Journal of Hymenoptera Research 81, pp. 57-85 : 57

Duckeia dudui Lucena sp. nov.

Fig. 6

Diagnosis.

Body short, stocky build, not compressed laterally; posterior margin of eye lacking carina; upper gena slightly produced; malar space about half eye height; antennae brown, lighter on distal flagellomeres; legs light brown, becoming yellow in tarsomeres; metasoma with dense appressed punctation on marginal borders; dorsum of metasoma with distinct blue highlights. Duckeia dudui sp. nov. closely resembles D. gracile Kimsey, 1987. The new species differs from D. gracile by the following combination of characters: elongated head, 1.3 × higher than broad (0.9 × higher than broad in D. gracile ); long malar space, about half of eye height (one third eye height in D. gracile ); light brown legs (darker in D. gracile ); short, sparse pale setation on dorsum of meso- and metasoma (relatively longer and denser setation on dorsum of meso- and metasoma in D. gracile ); marginal borders of T1-T2 with contiguous punctures (punctation on marginal borders of T1-T2 more than 0.5-1.0 PD in D. gracile ); dorsum of metasoma with distinct bluish highlights marginally on terga (only T2 with faint bluish tint in D. gracile ). Furthermore, D. dudui sp. nov. has a stocky built and relatively short body, contrasting with the laterally compressed and relatively elongated body of D. gracile .

Description.

Holotype, female. Body length: 3.4 mm (Fig. 6A ).

Head: pyriform, 1.3 × higher than broad (Fig. 6B ); inner margins of toruli produced, touching medially, forming a short lamellar projection; scape long, cylindrical, slightly wider basally, 4.7 × longer than its maximum width; F1 length 2.7 × breadth, 2.2 × longer than F2, F2 1.6 × longer than F3; F4 as long as F2; F3 as long as F5, F5-F10 sub-equal in size, F11 acute apically, slightly longer than F10, F4-F10 slightly flattened ventrally; lower margin of clypeus nearly straight; subantennal distance about 0.5 × MOD; malar space 0.4 × eye height; OL 1.7 × POL, 4 × OOL; inner ocular margin distinctly convergent above, LID 0.9 × shorter than F1; eye height 1.3 × breadth; posterior border of eye slightly elevated, lacking carina or crest; upper gena slightly produced; occiput with pair of shallow foveae (e.g., Fig. 6D ).

Mesosoma: pronotum with discrete medial longitudinal sulcus, posterior margin not elevated upon scutum, lateral and posterior pronotal pits well-marked, lobe separated from tegula by about 0.7 × tegular diameter (Fig. 6E ); scutum with notaulus deeply impressed, strongly convergent posteriorly (Fig. 6C ); parapsidal line stronger posteriorly, faintly marked anteriorly; M with first abscissa slightly curved submedially, diverging at 1cu-a (e.g., Fig. 6J ); stigma somewhat round, longer than first abscissa of M; Rs short, fading gradually, spectral trace curved towards costal wing margin; outer posterior margin of procoxa carinate; lateral margin of propodeum carinate.

Metasoma: lateral margins of T1-T2 carinate (Fig. 6I ), T3 with faintly produced anterolateral carina; S1 with ventral keel; posterior margin concave, posterior margins of S2-S4 slightly convex.

Coloration: head dark brown green, with green highlights on frons, vertex and gena, darker basally at malar area; mouthparts light brown; antenna brown, lighter on pedicel and distal flagellomeres; mesosoma dark green brownish, with bluish purple tints dorsally on propodeum; mesopleuron with ventral and posterior light brown stripe; tegula light brown; wing membrane slightly pale to subhyaline, veins brown; legs light brown, becoming yellowish on tibiae and tarsomeres; metasoma dark brown, metallic blue highlights on dorsum, becoming greenish marginally on T3-T4; disc of T1 and T2 brownish; sterna mostly dark brown, except for marginal bluish highlights on S2.

Sculpturing: head contiguously punctate (Fig. 6B, F ); clypeus impunctate; scapal basin densely cross-ridged; scape punctulate dorsally, venter slightly excavated and polished; pronotum, scutum, and scutellum densely punctate (Fig. 6C ), punctures comparatively deeper and larger on metanotum; anterior border of pronotum with distinct medial pit, lateral margins with shallower pits, latero-posterior border with hyaline impunctate stripe; propleuron widely impunctate on disc, lateral margins densely punctate; mesopleuron contiguously punctate, with narrow impunctate stripe along posterior margin; outer surface of coxae and femora with shallow and sparse punctation; propodeum densely punctate, except by lateral polished areas beside to the metapostnotal median carina; metasoma densely punctate (Fig. 6G-I ), with narrow posterior impunctate stripes on T1-T3; medial line of S2-S3 finely punctulate.

Vestiture: sparse long golden pale setation on vertex, gena and clypeus, frons and face with relatively shorter and sparser setation; flagellomeres with decumbent dense pale setation, sparser and longer on scape and pedicel; eye with sparse microtrichia on upper border; mesosoma setose, except glabrous disc of metapleuron-propodeum; mesosomal dorsum with sparse, pale setation, longer on metanotum; mesopleuron with long dense pale setation, becoming longer ventrally; wing membrane entirely setose (e.g., Fig. 6J ); legs with pale setation, comparatively longer on pro- and metafemora, and meso- and metatibiae; tarsomeres with short, condensed, spine-like, yellow setation; disc of T1 and T2 glabrous, sparse setation marginally, and on laterotergites; T3 and T4 comparatively with longer setation, denser posteriorly, and on laterotergites; S2-S4 entirely setose.

Male. Unknown.

Material examined.

Holotype: Brazil • ♀; Rio Grande do Norte, Patu , "caatinga-arm. Malaise" [Malaise trap in caatinga]; 06°06'S, 37°37'W; ix.2008; DRR Fernandes & colls; RPSP • 4 paratypes, same data as holotype (1♀ MZSP, 1♀ DZUP 1 specimen RPSP, 1 specimen UNILA-the latter two could not have their gender determined as detailed in the Comments below).

Distribution.

Brazil, RN: Patu.

Comments.

The holotype is missing part of left metaleg. Two paratypes are poorly conserved, lacking antennae, legs and metasoma, thus, preventing gender determination. This species is only known from Patu county. Specimens were collected in the base of "Serra do Lima" (inselberg), 248 m above sea level ( Fernandes et al. 2020), in the core zone of the Caatinga dry region. Interestingly, the specimens were collected in November, which is characterized as part of the dry season in the region.

Etymology.

The species is named after Sebastião Antônio de Araújo, Dudu (in memoriam), grandfather of the first author.

Host.

Unknown.

Figures

Figure 6. Duckeia dudui Lucena, sp. nov., holotype, female A lateral habitus B head, frontal view C head and mesosoma, dorsal view D occiput (female paratype) E head and mesosoma, lateral view F head, dorsal view G metasoma, dorsal view H amplified view of T 1 - T 2, dorsal view I metasoma, lateral view J wings (female paratype). Scale bars: 0.5 mm (A, C, E, G, I), 0.2 mm (B, D, F, H, J).