Palpostilpnus maculatus Sheng & Sun, 2013

Reshchikov, Alexey, Santos, Bernardo F., Liu, Jing-Xian & Barthélémy, Christophe, 2019, Review of Palpostilpnus Aubert (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae, Phygadeuontinae), with the description of ten new species, European Journal of Taxonomy 582, pp. 1-63 : 44-45

Palpostilpnus maculatus Sheng & Sun, 2013

Palpostilpnus maculatus Sheng & Sun in Sheng, Sun, Ding & Luo, 2013: 235 .

Diagnosis

Body short and stout. Postero-ocellar distance 2.3 times ocular-ocellar distance. Epomia distinct. Epicnemial carina distinct, reaching upper 0.8 of mesopleuron. Propodeal carinae absent except for vestiges of posterior transverse carina and posterior portion of median longitudinal carina. T1 1.7 times as long as apically broad. Wings hyaline.

Material examined

Holotype CHINA • ♀; Jiangxi, Guangshan National Natural Reserve ; 400–500 m a.s.l.; 15 Jun. 2009; SIT leg.; photographs examined; GSFPM.

Other material

BRUNEI • 2 ♀♀; Labi ; 200 m a.s.l.; mixed dipterocarp forest; Aug.–Sep.1979; I. Gauld leg.; NHMUK .

MALAYSIA • 2 ♀♀; Sarawak, 4 th division, Gunung Mulu National Park ; May–Jun.1978; N.M. Collins, RGS Expedition leg.; NHMUK • 2 ♀♀, 2 ♂♂; same collection data as for preceding; Jun.–Jul. 1978; NHMUK .

Redescription

Female

SIZE. Fore wing length 3.3 mm. Body short and stout, 1.45 times as long as high.

HEAD. Face 1.8 times as broad as high, centrally slightly convex, coriaceous-punctate (punctures best observed in oblique view). Clypeal suture absent. Clypeus slightly convex, shiny, distinctly striated, with sharp, slightly convex apical margin. Basal portion of mandible smooth; dorsal tooth lanceolate, broader than ventral tooth. Malar space coriarious, 1.4 times as long as basal width of mandible. Gena glossy, mostly smooth with sparse shallow punctures, dorsally forming two weak carinae, posterior to dorsal corner of eye and lateral ocellus. Vertex sparsely punctate, posterior portion from behind ocelli to occipital carina slanted almost vertically, slightly concave. Postero-ocellar distance 2.3 times ocularocellar distance. Frons coriaceous-punctate, lower portion not distinctly concave. Antenna slightly shorter than body, with 27 flagellomeres, first flagellomere 1.1 times as long as second flagellomere, median portion of antenna moderately thickened. Occipital carina complete.

MESOSOMA. Pronotum punctate-areolate. Epomia distinct. Mesoscutum short, 0.75 times as long as broad, almost flat, with granulated texture and large, shallow punctures. Notaulus indistinct. Scutellum flat, elongate, with fine sparse punctures. Postscutellum smooth. Mesopleuron centrally smooth, shiny, distinctly punctate on speculum, ventrad of sternaulus and anteriorly to epicnemial carina. Epicnemial carina reaching dorsal 0.8 of mesopleuron. Sternaulus distinct on anterior 0.6 of mesopleuron. Metapleuron long and narrow, shallowly punctate-areolate.Juxtacoxal carina short but distinct.Submetapleural carina complete. Fore wing with 1cu-a distinctly distad of M becoming Rs, 3rs-m absent, distal abscissa of M spectral; ramulus present; vein Cu slightly longer than 2cu-a. Hind wing with cu-a strongly inclivous and interrupted at lower 0.3. Distal abscissa of Cu spectral. Distal abscissa of M spectral. Inner profile of basal portion of fore basitarsus distinctly bent. Hind coxa anteriorly shallowly punctate, posteriorly smooth. Propodeum mostly covered by dense shallow punctures, posterocentrally smoother, steeply sloping from near anterior margin to posterior end; propodeal carina absent, lateral longitudinal and posterior transverse carinae only represented by vestigial traces on posterior end of propodeum.

METASOMA. T1 1.9 times as long as apically broad, smooth, petiole dorsally flat; postpetiole slightly convex, broad, apex of T1 3.2 times as long as base; with sparse, distinct punctures, dorsolateral carina complete and strong until spiracle; ventrolateral carina complete but anteriorly weak; spiracle small, round, not prominent. T2–T5 coarsely and sparsely punctate; T2 broad posteriorly, 0.62 times as long as apically broad. T3 0.45 times as long as apically broad, parallel-sided. Ovipositor 1.42 times as long as hind basitarsus.

COLOUR. Mostly yellowish and black. Head black; basal 0.8 of mandible, scape and ventral face of pedicel pale yellow; mandible apex, dorsal face of pedicel and basal flagellomeres ferruginous, flagellum gradually changing to dark brown by fifth flagellomere. Mesosoma mostly pale yellow; pronotum except collar, propleuron, small spot on anterior margin of mesoscutum, posterior 0.7 of mesoscutum, axillary trough, most of mesopleuron, mesosternum and sublateral spots on propodeum black. Fore and mid legs gradually darker towards apex. Hind coxa with small black marks on mesal face; hind trochanter and femur ferruginous, trochanter with lateral black spots; hind tibia basally pale yellow, gradually changing to ferruginous and black towards apex; hind tarsus pale yellow except for black T5. Wings hyaline. Pterostigma and veins yellowish brown. Metasoma mostly pale yellow or light ferruginous; T1 dorsally with transverse black stripe opposite spiracle, area immediately adjacent to stripe ferruginous; T2 with distinct sub-apical transverse black stripe; T3 and T4 with small (almost indistinct on T4) sublateral black marks. Ovipositor sheath basally pale yellow, apically brown.

Male

Unknown.

Variation

Fore wing 3.0– 3.5 mm long. Antenna with 26–27 flagellomeres. Mesopleuron sometimes with yellow spot on posteroventral corner. Black areas in propodeum covering 0.05–0.5 of its area (specimens from Brunei with less extensive black marks). Black stripe on T2 sometimes incomplete; marks on T3 and T4 variable in size, sometimes distinct as clear circular spots, sometimes almost indistinct.

Remarks

This species is similar to P. angkor sp. nov., from which it can be differentiated mainly by the following characters: mesoscutum very short, 0.75 times as long as broad, and flat, not projecting over pronotum (vs as long as broad and distinctly convex, anterior margin projecting over pronotum in P. angkor sp. nov.); black stripes on metasoma restricted to T1 and T2, with small sublateral marks on T3 and T4 (vs distinct stripes only on T1–T5); antenna longer and more slender; postero-ocellar distance distinctly much shorter (2.3 times vs 3.4 times ocular-ocellar distance); and T1 more distinctly widened apically (apical width 3.2 times vs 2.5 times as wide as basal width).

Distribution

Brunei, China (Jiangxi), Malaysia ( Sarawak).