Palpostilpnus palpator ( Aubert, 1961 )

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 : 45-48

Palpostilpnus palpator ( Aubert, 1961)

Fig. 23

Townostilpnus (Palpostilpnus) palpator Aubert, 1961: 56 .

Palpostilpnus palpator – Townes 1970: 16 .

Diagnosis

Clypeal suture indistinct. Notaulus indistinct. Fore wing with M absent. Propodeal carinae partly present. Ovipositor 2.1 times as long as hind basitarsus. Body mostly black with scape, pedicel and legs reddishyellow, and palpi white ( Fig. 23 A–B). Wings hyaline.

Material examined

Holotype PHILIPPINES • ♀; Negros , Mt Canlaon; 5–8 May 1953; J. Aubert and H. Townes leg.; USUC.

Redescription

Female (holotype)

SIZE. Fore wing length 4.1 mm. Body short and stout, 1.35 times as long as high ( Fig. 23 ). HEAD. Face 1.61 times as broad as high, centrally slightly convex, finely granulose ( Fig. 23D ). Clypeal suture indistinct. Clypeus slightly convex, shiny, sparsely punctate, apical margin moderately thick and truncate. Basal portion of mandible with weak and fine punctures; upper and lower margins almost parallel; teeth sharp, upper tooth approximately as long as lower tooth. Malar space with fine leathery granulose texture. Malar sulcus indistinct. Malar space approximately 0.67 times as long as basal width of mandible. Gena glossy, smooth and shiny, with no distinct carina dorsally between vertex and eye. Vertex ( Fig. 23E ) smooth, polished; posterior portion from behind ocelli to occipital carina slanted almost vertically, slightly concave. Postero-ocellar distance 2.45 times ocular-ocellar distance. Frons smooth and polished, lower portion slightly concave. Antenna slightly shorter than body, with 21 flagellomeres, median portion moderately thickened.

MESOSOMA. Pronotum mostly sparsely punctate, with longitudinal rugae near posterior margin. Epomia indistinct. Mesoscutum ( Fig. 23F ) wide and short, convex, with dense fine punctures. Notaulus distinct, reaching past half length of mesoscutum. Scutellum convex, densely pilose, anteriorly with fine, longitudinal striae ( Fig. 23F ). Postscutellum transverse, smooth. Mesopleuron centrally smooth, near margins densely punctate, densely pilose. Epicnemial carina short, extending through ventral 0.4 of mesopleuron ( Fig. 23C ). Sternaulus distinct, extending over entire mesopleuron. Juxtacoxal carina vestigial. Submetapleural carina complete. Fore wing with 1cu-a slightly distad of M becoming Rs, 3rs-m absent, distal abscissa of M spectral; ramulus absent; length of vein Cu slightly longer than 2cu-a ( Fig. 23A ). Hind wing with cu-a strongly inclivous and interrupted at lower 0.2. Distal abscissa of 1Cu spectral. Distal abscissa of M spectral. Inner profile of fore basitarsus with basal half distinctly bent. Hind coxa sparsely punctate on anterior face, elsewhere smooth. Hind femur stout, length 4.67 times its maximum width, with distinct ridge-like swelling on basal 0.3 of posterior face. Basal portion of hind tibia slender, gradually thick toward apex. Longer spur of hind tibia 0.40 times as long as length of hind basitarsus. Propodeum steeply sloping in lateral view, centrally smooth, anterior and lateral portions rugulose. Propodeum entirely carinated.

METASOMA ( Fig. 23F ). T1 approximately 2.5 times as long as apically broad; portion just before posterior apex bulging and distinctly broader than posterior margin; petiole flat, laterally smooth, dorsally with fine longitudinal striae extending into postpetiole; median dorsal carina absent; dorsolateral and ventrolateral carinae weak to almost indistinct, fading towards posterior apex; spiracle small, round, not prominent. T2 and T3 covered with fine, but distinct longitudinal striae. T2 long and widened posteriorly, approximately 1.4 times as long as apically broad. T3 approximately 1.0 times as long as apically broad, parallel-sided. Ovipositor 2.1 times as long as hind basitarsus ( Fig. 23B ).

COLOUR. Body almost entirely blackish, with legs mostly brownish to orange. Head black; scape and pedicel ferruginous-brown; flagellum brown, flagellomeres 6–10 dorsally white. Apex of mandible reddish. Palpi whitish. Mesosoma black. Fore leg ferruginous except trochanter whitish; mid and hind coxae brown, trochanters whitish; remainder of mid leg fuscous, except basal 0.6 of dorsal face of tibia whitish. Hind leg apicad of trochanter dark brown, except basal 0.25 of tibia whitish. Fore wing with distinct median and subapical infuscate bands. T4–T7 brownish, T5–T7 with posterior whitish band, second sternite whitish.

Male

Unknown.

Remarks

Palpostilpnus palpator is similar to P. brevis Sheng & Broad, 2011 , but can be distinguished from the latter by the following combination of characters: notaulus indistinct, antenna and metasoma black, frons smooth, ovipositor 2.1 times as long as hind basitarsus (vs 0.4 times in P. brevis ).

Distribution

Philippines (Negros).

Figures

Fig. 23. Palpostilpnus palpator (Aubert, 1961), holotype, ♀ (USUC). A. Lateral habitus. B. Lateral habitus. C. Mesopleuron. D. Head, anterior view. E. Scutum and vertex, dorsal view. F. Part of metasoma (T2).