Meria lasiotera, Boni, 2009

Boni, M., 2009, Afrotropical species of the ancient genus Meria ILLIGER 1807 (Hymenoptera, Tiphiidae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 41 (2), pp. 1817-1861 : 1831-1832

Meria lasiotera nov.sp.

Holotype Ƌ - Namibia = / NAMIBIA Bogenfels Oct 93/ / NNIC /, NNMW

Paratype ♀ - Namibia = /Bogenfels DIAMOND AREA 27°27’S 15°23’E 14-25.XI.1993 E. Marais Pres. Pitf. traps/ / NNIC /, NMW

Female. Paratype. Figs 23-28 . Measurements: body length = 9 mm; forewing length = 6.5 mm.

Black, brown, light reddish-brown, whitish. Wings hyaline. Brown: mandibles; antennae; forefemurs; mid and hindcoxae (forecoxae are black). Light reddish-brown: ventral lamella of clypeus; remainder of legs; LaSt 2; metasoma. Whitish: roughly defined lateral spots on 1 st to4th terga. Base of hypostoma swollen, semitransparent, breaking ventrally cOc. No median furrow on P disk. Ventral surface of the lobes of St 3 neither flattened neither contiguous medially but severed by a distinct groove and with a distinct lateral blunt apex. Pterostigma without inner differentiated area. Apical veins of CPM and CDII vein tubular, not nebulous like in the other taxa. Numerous bristles along basal half of coastal vein of both fore and hind wings. Hindtibial spurs strongly enlarged apically, almost spoon like. Disposition of pits and bristles on the basal hindtarsomerus is as the same as in Macromeria. mR well detectable at ✕ 50 on the head, mesosoma (but posterior mesopleurae, LaSt 2, vertical and lateral P, legs), terga (but apical areas), 2 nd and 3 rd sterna. Apical area of 6 th tergum with a reticulated sculpture well detectable at ✕10 magnification too. Clypeus densely p throughout (but a small lateral area) with dense hispidous hair. Dense p (distance among them less than thier diameter), bearing long white hair, also on vertical (pronotal plate) and lateral areas of N 1 disk, postscutellar area, Es 1 and Es 2 horizontal disk of P, ventral edge of hind tibia, apical fore surface of hind femur, 1 st t0 4 th lateroterga. Weaker and a bit more sparse p, bearing shorter white hair, on LaSt 2, 1st tergal disk and lateral areas before preapical row of p on 2 nd to 5 th terga and apical half of 2 nd and 3 rd sterna (mostly smooth areas in other Meria).

Male. Holotype. Figs 29-36 . Measurements: body length = 15 mm.

Black, brown and yellow. Wings hyaline. Brown: tip of mandibles; mouthparts; dark portions of the legs but black X 1. Yellow: most of mandibles; almost the whole of clypeus but a mid spot; two lateral spots along foreborder and one subapical stripe on N 1 disk; tegulae; apical femurs, most of tibiae and the whole of tarsi; narrow apical stripe on 1 st and three spots along apical borders of 2 nd to 6 th terga and 2 nd to 5 th sterna; two lateral spots on 7 th tergum. Hypostoma semitransparent reddish and swollen; PoG short but distinct. Secu stripe ½ flagellar thickness. Ventral apophysis of metasternum blunt and only sligthly protruding. 3 rd to 6 th sterna with a strong basal gradulus also extending laterally parallel to the laterotergal border. 7 th sternum with only lateral graduli. Very densely packed p without any space among them and bearing long white hair covering the underlying integument on clypeus, frons, Tsa, temples, fore half and posteroventral corner of N 1 disk, Es 1, Es 2, back and lateral areas of P.

Discussion. The male well belong to the group of limata because of genitalia. Well known from the other taxa of the group because of the dense long hair on the body, the graduli on the sterna and the gradulus on 7 th tergum extended laterally to get the spiracular groove.

The female is distinct because of almost completely p clypeus, dense p bearing long bristles on hind legs and metameri, disposition of p on basal hind tarsomerus, tubular apical veins on the forewing, bristles on the coastal vein of the hind wing.

Ecology: unknown.

Derivatio nominis: from the Greek λασιώτεροσ = more woolly than.

Figures

Figs 23-28A: Meria lasiotera ♀. 23: head, frontal aspect; 24: head, ventral aspect; 25: LaSt2, ventral aspect; 26: fore wing, apical half;. 27: hind wing, coastal vein; 28: fore tibial spur; 28A: ind tibial spurs (26: scale bar = 2 mm) (23, 24, 25, 27: scale bar = 1 mm) (28 & 28A: scale bar = 0.5 mm).

Figs 29-36: Meria lasiotera Ƌ. 29: head, dorsal aspect; 30: head, frontal aspect; 31: vertex, lateral aspect; 32: pronotal disk, dorsal aspect 33: side of 4th metamerus (particular), lateral aspect; 34: 7th tergum, dorsal aspect; 35: gonostylus and volsella; 36: aedeagus, lateral and ventral aspect (29, 30, 32: scale bar = 2 mm) (31, 34: scale bar = 1 mm) (33, 35, 36: scale bar = 0.5 mm).