Protoleptops nyeupe Dal Pos & Di Giovanni, 2024

Dal Pos, Davide, De Ketelaere, Augustijn & Di Giovanni, Filippo, 2024, Revision of the Afrotropical genus Protoleptops Heinrich, 1967 (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae, Ichneumoninae), with description of a new species from Burundi, ZooKeys 1214, pp. 197-216 : 197-216

Protoleptops nyeupe Dal Pos & Di Giovanni sp. nov.

Fig. 7 A – E

Type material.

Holotype • ♀, “ [White label] BURUNDI. Rwegura, Kibira / Nat. Park, 2 53 25.9 S 29 27 25.4 E, / 2226 m, 28-30. I. 2011, M. Mei, / P. Cerretti, D. Withmore [Whitmore] leg. // [Red label] HOLOTYPE / Protoleptops / nyeupe / Dal Pos & Di Giovanni, des. 2024 // FSCA 00051872 ” ( FSCA). The specimen is in perfect condition . Paratype • ♀, same data as the holotype. The specimen is in perfect condition ( MZUR) .

Differential diagnosis.

Protoleptops nyeupe sp. nov. can be easily distinguished from all the other known species of the genus by the following combination of characters: (1) incomplete carination of the propodeum, with costulae lacking and area dentipara confluent with area externa and area spiracularis (almost complete in P. heinrichi ); (2) temples straight and converging (bulging and not converging in P. farquharsoni , P. heinrichi and P. magnificus ); (3) white hind tarsus (infuscate in P. farquharsoni , P. heinrichi , and P. magnificus ); (4) presence of a scopa taking up 1 / 3 of the ventral part of the coxa (absent in P. heinrichi , reduced in P. angolae and P. farquharsoni , and taking up 2 / 3 of the ventral side of the coxa in P. magnificus ); (5) mesocutellum entirely white (reddish-orange in P. farquharsoni and P. angolae ; with lateral white marks in P. heinrichi and P. magnificus ); (6) T 2 medially longitudinally striate (densely punctate in P. angolae and P. farquharsoni ); (7) area petiolaris well delimited (not well delimited in P. angolae sp. nov.); and (8) mesopleuron superficially and sparsely punctate (densely and strongly punctate in P. angolae ).

Etymology.

The specific epithet nyeupe is a noun in apposition, derived from the Swahili word “ nyeupe ” for white. This name refers to the extensive white coloration of the mesoscutum and mesoscutellum, which stands in stark contrast to the dark coloration of the rest of the body.

Description.

Holotype female. Body length: 17.8 mm; fore wing length: 14.2 mm. Head. Overall shining; face subquadrate, as wide as medially high, smooth, with very sparse and superficial punctures, medio-apically protruding in a very distinct blunt tubercle right below antennal sockets, clear delimitation between clypeus and face present; frons concave, smooth and shining; vertex matt and impunctate; ocellar triangle equilateral, elevated and proximally delimited by a shallow sulcus; ocular-ocellar distance about 1.3 × ocellus diameter, inter-ocellar distance 1.0 × ocellus diameter; occipital carina distinct and complete, meeting hypostomal carina at base of mandible; temples straight and converging in dorsal view; gena, in lateral view, not strongly inflated, matt; clypeus medially slightly convex in lateral view, shining with straight apical margin and almost completely impunctate; malar space about 0.7 × basal width of mandible; malar sulcus present and shagreened; mandible robust, with sparse setiferous punctures centrally, teeth rather stout and widely separated with ventral tooth shorter (about 0.5 ×) than upper tooth; maxillary palp long, reaching fore coxa, 5 th segment about 1.5 × as long as 4 th; antenna with 45 flagellomeres, slightly enlarged, with flagellomeres 20–38 ventrally flattened and 1.4 × as wide as long, 1 st flagellomere about 1.3 × as long as 2 nd, apical flagellomere distinctly longer than wide. Mesosoma. Overall shining; pronotum with shallow punctures; epomia present and strong; propleuron smooth, with dense, shallow punctures and covered with setae, projected into a blunt, rounded flange ventro-apically; mesoscutum subquadrate, smooth, impunctate, notauli absent; mesoscutellum not elevated over metascutellum, impunctate and not carinated; mesopleuron shining on upper 1 / 3, with shallow and sparse punctures, more densely and finely punctate ventrally, on upper-posterior section with a deep sulcus right below subtegular ridge; epicnemial carina continuous with subtegular ridge; subtegular ridge strongly projecting outwardly anteriorly; sternaulus absent; posterior transverse carina of mesosternum completely absent; metapleuron with dense, shallow punctures, juxtacoxal carina absent; propodeum short in lateral view, sloping gently with almost no horizontal portion, overall irregularly sculptured throughout except for anterior margin and for area basalis and area petiolaris, which are completely smooth and almost shining; lateral longitudinal carina present throughout length of propodeum; lateromedian longitudinal carina present; anterior transverse carina absent so that area basalis and area superomedia are continuous; posterior transverse carina present only medially, delimiting a small area petiolaris. Legs. All coxae setose; fore and middle coxae ventrally impunctate; hind coxa with dense punctures throughout; scopa present, occupying 1 / 3 of apico-ventral region of hind coxa. Hind femur about 5.3 × as long as medially high. Tarsal claws without pecten. Wings. Fore wing with 3 rs-m present, areolet rhomboidal, with 3 rs-m and 2 rs-m converging; 1 cu-a opposite M & RS, CU between 1 m-cu & M and 2 cu-a about 1.5 × as long as 2 cu-a. Hind wing with distal abscissa of CU present, pigmented, CU about 3.5 × as long as cu-a. Metasoma. T 1 shining throughout, with postpetiole longitudinally striate except shagreened posterior portion with sparse punctures; T 2 with gastrocoeli deep and subquadrate; thyridia present, space between gastroceoli narrower than one gastrocoelus; T 3 superficially and densely punctate, impunctate posteriorly; remaining tergites shagreened; terebra (i. e., external visible portion of the ovipositor) short, with densely setose ovipositor sheaths. Coloration. Head black with central area of face, clypeus and mandible (except black apical teeth) reddish-brown; two white comma-shaped patches on frons running from frontal orbit towards ocellar triangle. Scape and pedicel black with only a reddish-brown patch; flagellum black with white annulus present only on dorsal side, from 10 th to 15 th flagellomeres. Mesosoma reddish-brown, with dorso-lateral portion of propleuron, entire mesoscutum, and mesoscutellum white; dorsal portion of mesopleuron, metanotal trough and anterior portion of propodeum infuscate. Legs overall reddish-brown, with dorsal sides of all femora and fore and mid tibiae infuscate; hind tibia, fore and mid tarsi, black; hind tarsus white with only proximal part of basitarsus, distal portion of telotarsus and claws black. Wing entirely hyaline with pterostigma centrally light brown. Metasoma with T 1 – T 3 reddish-brown with only an infuscate patch on postero-median portion of T 2 and T 3; T 4 infuscate; T 4 – T 8 black.

Male. Unknown.

Host.

Unknown.

Distribution.

Burundi: Cibitoke Province (Fig. 8 ).

Figures

Figure 7. Protoleptops nyeupe Dal Pos & Di Giovanni, sp. nov., female, holotype A habitus, dorsal view B propodeum and T 1 - T 2, dorsal view C head, dorsal view D face, frontal view E hind coxa, ventral view. Scale bar: 1 cm.

Figure 8. Distribution map of the known species of the genus Protoleptops Heinrich, 1967.