Minanga phoebea Quicke, 2008

Quicke, Donald L. J., Sharkey, Michael J., Laurenne, Nina M. & Dowling, Ashley, 2008, A preliminary molecular phylogeny of the Sigalphinae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), including Pselaphanus Szépligeti, based on 28 S rDNA, with descriptions of new Afrotropical and Madagascan Minanga and Malasigalphus species, Journal of Natural History 42 (43 - 44), pp. 2703-2719 : 2706-2709

Minanga phoebea Quicke sp. nov.

( Figures 1–11 )

Material examined

Holotype: female (Natural History Museum, London): Uganda, Kibale Forest National Park, near Makerere University Biological Field Station at Kanyawara , August 2004, malaise trap.

Description

Female: length of body 4.2mm, of fore wing 4.6mm, of antenna 5.1mm.

Head: antenna with 34 flagellomeres. Terminal flagellomere sub-conical, pointed but not acuminate. First flagellomere 1.3 and 1.4 times longer than second and third respectively, the latter 1.8 times longer than wide. First flagellomere with three ranks of placoid sensillae, remaining flagellomeres with two ranks of sensilla. Clypeus distinctly medio-ventrally emarginate. Clypeus separated from face dorsally indistinctly by a shallow broad depression. Anterior tentorial pits deep. Height of clypeus: inter-tentorial distance: tentorio-ocular distance51.0:1.25:1.1. Face with median raised area that narrows between antennal sockets to form a double ridge; area bordered laterally by irregular transverse crenulae. Height of eye: width of head: shortest distance between eyes51.0:2.9: 1.6. Frons with a submedial pair of posteriorly diverging carina and strong sublateral carinae. Horns on stemmaticum long and virtually vertical and parallel. Occipital carina strong and lamelliform laterally but absent ventrally and also broadly missing medio-dorsally.

Mesosoma shiny, 1.45 times longer than maximally deep. Notauli strong, deep and crenulate, approaching one another but remaining separate posteriorly. Scutellar sulcus with three strong carinae. Precoxal suture smooth and shallow except posteriorly more strongly impressed. Medial area of metanotum with a pair of well-developed anteriorly diverging carinae and weak midlongitudinal ridge posteriorly. Propodeum strongly sculptured with pair of submedian carinae, the area between these with ladder-like pattern of ridges that medially form a less distinct mid-longitudinal carina.

Fore wing: vein SR1 reaching wing margin 0.67 distance from apex of pterostigma to wing tip. Veins 1-M and 1-SR approximately equally long. Lengths of veins r: 3-SR51.0:5.0. Lengths of veins 2-SR:3-SR:r-m51.2: 2.5: 1.0. Lengths of veins 1-CU:2-CU:3-CU51.0: 4.4: 1.55. Vein cu-a straight and strongly inclivous. Hind wing: length of vein M+CU 1.55 times 1-M. Without distinct basal hamular bristles, with four distal hamuli.

Claws all with pointed basal lobe. Fore legs robust, the femur swollen and distinctly concave on medial face; fore tarsus wide and distinctly dorso-ventrally compressed. Length of hind femur: tibia: basitarsus51.95: 2.26:1.0. Hind femur 3.15 times longer than maximally deep. Inner hind tibial spur reaching 0.49 along length of hind basitarsus.

Metasoma strongly sculptured. Submedial carinae on second tergum distinctly curved. Second metasomal suture distinct and crenulate on lateral third, but indicated on medial third largely by change in sculpture. Posterior margin lamelliform and dentate, medially weakly emarginate. Ovipositor down-curved, sharp, 0.67 length of hind tibia.

Colour: head (except largely brown mandible) and mesosoma (except narrowly brown posterior margin of propodeum) black. Metasoma honey yellow, to yellow and white-yellow laterally and narrowly posteriorly, medially black. Wings brown with dark brown venation. Fore legs including coxae yellow, the femur somewhat darker more honey-yellow. Mid and hind legs largely yellow.

Notes

The new species differs from all other Afrotropical species in its colour having the head and mesosoma almost entirely black and the wings uniformly brown (infumate).

Etymology

Named after Miss Phoebe Purvis.

Figures

Figures 1–6. Photomicrographs of Minanga phoebea sp.n. features of the head and mesosoma.

Figures 7–11. Photomicrographs of Minanga phoebea sp.n. features of the wings, claw and metasoma.