Porizon dahaka Vas

Vas, Zoltán, Feizi, Ali, Talebi, Ali Asghar & Heydari, Maryam Zardouei, 2024, Contributions to the taxonomy, identification, and biogeography of Palaearctic Campopleginae (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae), with the description of a new Porizon Fallén species from Iran, Zootaxa 5418 (2), pp. 183-192 : 184-187

Porizon dahaka Vas , sp. nov.

Figs 1–3

Type material. Holotype: female, “ Iran, Hormozgan province, Bandar Abbas, 23.VIII.2012, leg. A. Ameri ”; specimen card-mounted, Id. No. HNHM-HYM 155108 . The holotype is deposited in the HNHM.

Diagnosis. The new species can be reliably distinguished from all known species of the genus by the following character states in combination: gena in dorsal view 0.3× as long as eye width, very strongly narrowed behind eyes; occipital carina reaching hypostomal carina before base of mandible; malar space 0.8× as long as basal width of mandible; speculum large, smooth; propodeal carinae complete, except median section of posterior transverse carina absent; area superomedia elongate and narrow (ca. 2.2× as long as wide), its lateral sides behind costulae subparallel, posteriorly opened, granulate with distinct transverse rugosity and wrinkles; area petiolaris with strong, dense, transverse wrinkles; fore wing without areolet, intercubitus (2 rs-m) ca. 2.0× as long as abscissa of M between 2 rs-m and 2 m-cu; second tergite 1.7× as long as its apical width; ovipositor sheath slightly shorter than first tergite; ovipositor evenly upcurved, subapical dorsal notch weak, subapical dorsal nodus absent; antenna yellowish; tegula pale yellow; first tergite of metasoma blackish, second tergite predominantly dark brownish, posterior margin of second tergite and almost entire third tergite orange-brown, following tergites brownish; hind coxa and femur orange, rest of hind leg yellowish.

Description. Female ( Figs 1–3 ). Body length 3.8 mm, fore wing length 2.5 mm.

Head: Antenna slightly thickened toward apex, with 23 flagellomeres; first flagellomere slender, ca. 5.0× as long as its apical width; preapical flagellomeres quadrate. Head transverse, matt, granulate, and with short, dense hairs. Ocular-ocellar distance 0.9× as long as ocellus diameter, distance between lateral ocelli 1.2× as long as ocellus diameter. Inner eye orbits barely indented, almost parallel. Gena very short, in dorsal view 0.3× as long as eye width, very strongly narrowed behind eyes. Occipital carina complete, reaching hypostomal carina distinctly before base of mandible; hypostomal carina slightly elevated. Frons almost flat in profile, slightly impressed above toruli, without median longitudinal carina. Face and clypeus very weakly convex in profile. Clypeus very weakly separated from face, its apical margin subtruncate. Anterior tentorial pits strong. Malar space 0.8× as long as basal width of mandible. Mandible elongate and narrow, lower margin of basal third with narrow carina; upper mandibular tooth slightly longer than lower tooth.

Mesosoma: Mesosoma matt, granulate, with weak, indistinct punctures, and with short, dense hairs. Pronotum with relatively weak, transverse and diagonal wrinkles on ventral half, epomia discernible. Mesoscutum as long as wide, convex in profile; notauli not developed. Scuto-scutellar groove wide and deep. Scutellum convex in profile, without lateral carinae. Mesopleuron granulate, with weak, indistinct punctures, and with short wrinkles anterior to speculum; speculum large, smooth, polished. Epicnemial carina strong, pleural part bent to anterior margin of mesopleuron reaching it below its middle height, transversal part (i.e., the part at the level of sternaulus running through the epicnemium to the ventral edge of pronotum) not developed, ventral part (i.e., behind fore coxae) slightly elevated. Sternaulus indistinct. Posterior transverse carina of mesosternum complete, slightly elevated, medially not excised. Metanotum 0.4× as long as scutellum. Metapleuron without juxtacoxal carina; submetapleural carina complete, elevated. Pleural carina of propodeum complete; propodeal spiracle conspicuously small, circular, separated from pleural carina by ca. 2.0× its length, connected to pleural carina by a distinct, smooth ridge. Propodeum convex in profile, granulate, with strong transverse wrinkles on posterior half; apex of propodeum slightly elongate, but not reaching middle length of hind coxae in dorsal view. Propodeal carinae complete and strong, except median section of posterior transverse carina absent. Area basalis elongate trapezoid, slightly longer than its anterior width. Area superomedia hexagonal, elongate and narrow, ca. 2.2× as long as wide, its lateral sides behind costulae subparallel (very weakly convergent), posteriorly opened, granulate with distinct transverse rugosity and wrinkles. Area petiolaris confluent with area superomedia, their junction discernible, and with strong, dense, transverse wrinkles. Fore wing without areolet, 3 rs-m absent, second recurrent vein (2 m-cu) postfurcal, intercubitus (2 rs-m) ca. 2× as long as the rather short abscissa of M between 2 rs-m and 2 m-cu, their angle obtuse; distal abscissa of Rs straight, except its extreme distal part slightly curved towards anterior wing margin; nervulus (cu-a) almost interstitial, strongly inclivous; postnervulus (abscissa of Cu 1 between 1 m-cu and Cu 1a + Cu 1b) intercepted at about its middle by Cu 1a; lower external angle of second discal cell almost right-angled. Hind wing with nervellus (cu-a + abscissa of Cu 1 between M and cu-a) vertical, weakly intercepted by discoidella (Cu 1) at about its posterior third; discoidella spectral, proximally weakly connected to nervellus. Coxae granulate. Hind femur ca. 5.0× as long as high. Inner spur of hind tibia ca. 0.45× as long as first tarsomere of hind tarsus. Tarsal claws thin, slightly longer than arolium, basally weakly pectinate.

Metasoma: Metasoma compressed, finely granulate to shagreened with rather weak, dense punctures, and with moderately dense, short hairs. First tergite slender, 3.5× as long as its apical width; glymma absent; dorsomedian carinae of first tergite indistinct. First sternite with distinctly widened angulation at its extreme base in profile. Suture separating first tergite from first sternite situated at about mid-height in basal third of first metasomal segment. Second tergite 1.7× as long as its apical width; thyridium oval, its distance from basal margin of tergite almost 2× as long as its length. Posterior margins of apical tergites not excised. Ovipositor sheath slightly shorter than first tergite; ovipositor compressed, evenly upcurved, subapical dorsal notch weak, subapical dorsal nodus absent.

Colour:Antenna, including scapus and pedicellus, yellowish. Head black, except palpi ivory, mandible yellowish and mandibular teeth brownish. Mesosoma black, except tegula pale yellow. Metasoma: first tergite blackish; second tergite dark brownish (except its posterior margin); posterior margin of second tergite and almost entire third tergite orange-brown; following tergites brownish; ovipositor sheath brown. Wings hyaline, wing veins and pterostigma light brown. Fore and middle legs: coxae pale orange, rest of legs pale yellow. Hind leg: coxa orange; trochanter and trochantellus pale yellow; femur orange; tibia yellowish without darkened parts; tarsus pale yellow.

Male: Unknown.

Distribution. Iran.

Etymology. The specific epithet dahaka is derived from the name of Azhi Dahaka, a dragon-like creature of ancient Persian mythology; noun in apposition, ending not to be changed.

Remarks on identification. By using the identification key in Horstmann (1987a), the new species runs to couplet 3, and might key out with P. humuli (Horstmann) , a species known from Germany and the United Kingdom; however, given apparent differences between the two species, we provide an appendix to the key to distinguish these species.

1 Hind coxa orange, hind tibia and tarsus yellowish without darkened parts; antenna yellowish; gena very short and very strongly narrowed behind eyes ( Fig. 1 ); fore wing with intercubitus (2 rs-m) distinctly (ca. 2.0×) longer than abscissa of M between 2 rsm and 2 m-cu ( Fig. 2 ); ovipositor with subapical dorsal notch weak, subapical dorsal nodus absent.................................................................................................. Porizon dahaka Vas, sp. nov.

- Hind coxa black, hind tibia (subbasally and apically) with darkened, brownish parts; only base of antenna yellowish, otherwise brownish; gena longer and less strongly narrowed behind eyes (cf. Horstmann (1987): fig. 16); fore wing with intercubitus (2 rs-m) about as long as abscissa of M between 2 rs-m and 2 m-cu; ovipositor with subapical dorsal notch and subapical dorsal nodus strong (cf. Horstmann (1987): fig. 29)........................................ Porizon humuli (Horstmann)

The new species is similar to P. cleui (Cleu) , a species known from France and keyed out in couplet 2 in Horstmann (1987a), in having the ovipositor sheath slightly shorter than first tergite; however, these two species can be readily distinguished by the appendix couplet below.

1 Hind coxa orange, hind tibia and tarsus yellowish without darkened parts; antenna yellowish; first tergite of metasoma blackish, second tergite predominantly dark brownish, posterior margin of second tergite and almost entire third tergite orange-brown, following tergites brownish; ovipositor evenly upcurved............................... Porizon dahaka Vas, sp. nov.

- Hind coxa dark brown, hind tibia subbasally and apically and hind tarsus with distinctly darkened, brownish; antenna (except scapus and pedicellus) brownish; metasoma from second tergite on orange; ovipositor apex distinctly more upcurved than its shaft............................................................................... Porizon cleui (Cleu)

Figures

FIGURES 1–3. Porizon dahaka Vas, sp. nov. 1, holotype female, lateral habitus, scale bar = 1 mm; 2, fore wing venation (abscissa of M between 2rs-m and 2m-cu arrowed); 3, propodeum, dorsal view.