Xenapates Kirby, 1882

Liston, Andrew D., Goergen, Georg & Koch, Frank, 2015, The immature stages and biology of two Xenapates species in West Africa (Hymenoptera, Tenthredinidae), Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift 62 (1), pp. 9-17 : 10

Taxon classification Animalia Hymenoptera Tenthredinidae

Xenapates Kirby, 1882 Figs 3-10, 11-12

Xenapates [based on the larvae of Xenapates braunsi and Xenapates gaullei ]

Description.

Head. Slightly wider than high (to epistomal suture). Without surface sculpture. Antenna with 5 antennomeres on large subconic antacorium. 4 basal antennomeres ring-like, apical antennomere peg-like. Clypeus with 4 setae. Postclypeus about half as long as preclypeus. Preclypeus with medial, laterally sclerotised (brown), transverse division (ca. medial third unsclerotised). Labrum slightly asymmetric (right lobe larger than left), undivided by longitudinal or transverse depressions, with 6 setae. Stipes and palpifer of maxilla each with a prominent lobe directed towards mandibles. Left mandible (Figs 3, 4) with straight-edged blade on outer (dorsal) surface, ending with a tooth on left side; a long tooth medially, contiguous with a well-developed mesal ridge, its edge produced in two rounded lobes, separated by a wide, rounded emargination (Fig. 3); inner surface with three well-defined teeth. Right mandible (Fig. 5) outer surface similar to left mandible, but straight-edged blade not ending in tooth; medial tooth very broad; inner surface with one wide, asymmetrical tooth closely adjoined by a pair of short, narrow teeth on a shared, rectangular flange; to left of this a straight, unsclerotised edge, about as long as three adjacent teeth together, and much lower than these; no mesal ridge present.

Cuticle of thorax and abdomen. Without dorsal macrostructures such as tubercles, spines, or longer setae, but with reticulate-spiculate surface structure on dorsum reaching to just above spiracles (Fig. 7), sometimes also on subspiracular and surpedal lobes (Fig. 8). To the naked eye, these parts appear “velvety”, but at magnifications of 40 –90× under a stereo microscope they might almost be described as “scaly”. The cuticle thus strongly resembles that of the easy bleeder species Rhadinoceraea micans (Klug, 1816) ( Blennocampinae) as described by Boevé (2009).

Thorax. Meso- and metathoracic substigmal lobes strongly protruding laterally. Prothorax with more or less strongly developed dorso-lateral lobes. Legs with 5 articles, bearing numerous long setae. Coxa longer than basal width. Trochanter wider than long; about half as long as coxa. Femur apically expanded on inner surface (Fig. 6); femur thus much wider apically than apical width of trochanter, and about twice as wide as base of tibia.

Abdomen. Segments 1-8 with 6 dorsal annulets. Prolegs on segments 2-8 and 10; 1.5 –1.7× as long as basal width, with 16-20 setae on outer surface (Fig. 8) and 12-20 on inner surface. Apex of suranal lobe and antero-dorsal surface of subanal lobe with numerous short setae.