Hedychridium varvarae Rosa, Proshchalykin & Halada, 2021

Rosa, Paolo, Proshchalykin, Maxim Yu. & Halada, Marek, 2021, Additions to the cuckoo wasps (Hymenoptera, Chrysididae) of Mongolia, with description of eleven new species, ZooKeys 1068, pp. 149-187 : 149

Hedychridium varvarae Rosa, Proshchalykin & Halada sp. nov.

Figure 15A-F

Material examined.

Holotype: ♀, Mongolia, Dornogovi, 28 km SE of Chatan-Bulag , 3.VIII.2007, leg. MH (MSNM).

Diagnosis.

Hedychridium varvarae sp. nov. is characterised by yellowish F1; uniform fore body green colouration, including propodeum and face; metasoma green to reddish once dehydrated (in nature, presumably red); brow with wide, polished interspaces; pronotum narrowed anteriorly and with sharp edge on anterior margin.

Description.

Female. Body length 4.4 mm. Head. Face flat, brow slightly convex above scapal basin (Fig. 15A, and B ); brow with large, subcontiguous punctures, with wide, polished interspaces; scapal basin finely transversely microridged; face micropunctate laterally and covered by short, appressed, whitish setae; longitudinal mid-line incomplete, distinctly visible from brow to mid-scapal basin only; area in front of anterior ocellus and lateral to posterior ocelli depressed; ocellar triangle isosceles, without ocellar line; malar spaces micropunctate; clypeus apically bordered by semi-circular, brown thickening; mandibles bidentate; mouthparts slightly elongate. Relative length of P:F1:F2:F3 = 1.0:1.3:1.0:0.8; OOL = 1.6 × MOD; POL = 2.0 × MOD; MS = 0.8 × MOD. Mesosoma. Pronotum narrowed anteriorly and with sharp edge on anterior margin; coarsely, irregular and uneven-sized punctures, somewhere contiguous to confluent, with polished to corrugated interspaces; mesonotum with wide interspaces, somewhere corrugated; punctures larger at base of mesoscutum and on mesoscutellum, with scattered small punctures; mesopleuron with dense punctures, with small punctures on interspaces; posterior propodeal projections acute, divergent; metatibia flat, with black spot covering large part of its length; metatarsomere 2 as long as metatarsomere 3; pro-, mesopleuron and femora with long whitish setae. Metasoma. T1-T3 with minute, dense punctures; punctures denser antero-dorsally on T1-T2; large punctures mixed to minute punctures laterally; S2 with sparse, minute punctures bearing long setae; with violet spot antero-medially, covering less than half segment (Fig. 15F ); apical margin of T3 bordered by thin brownish rim. Colouration. Head and mesosoma entirely metallic green; metasoma with rosy to bronze reflections (possibly metallic red in nature and when rehydrated in alcohol); scape and pedicel bronze, F1 yellowish; F2 brownish; rest of flagellum brown; tegulae non-metallic brown; femora and tibiae green on outer side, tibial joints largely yellowish; tarsi 1-2 yellowish, tarsi 3-5 brownish; wing membrane clear, nervures light brown.

Male. Unknown.

Etymology.

The specific epithet varvara (feminine, noun in apposition) is dedicated to Varvara M. Proshchalykina (Vladivostok, Russia), for daily support to her father’s research study.

Comparative diagnosis.

We describe Hedychridium varvarae sp. nov. in the Hedychridium ardens species group. It is easily separable from all other members of this group by yellowish F1 (black or brown, concolorous with following flagellomeres in the other species) (Fig. 15D ); uniform fore body green colouration, including face and propodeum (with contrasting colours at least on face and/or propodeum in other Mongolian species); brow with wide, polished interspaces (usually with dense punctures in other species) (Fig. 15B ).

Distribution.

Mongolia (Dornogovi).

Figures

Figure 15. Hedychridium varvarae sp. nov., female, holotype A habitus, dorsal view B head, frontal view C habitus, lateral view D right antenna, lateral view E metaleg, right tibia and tarsi, part of metasoma in postero-lateral view F metasoma, ventral view. Scale bars: 1 mm.