Pristomerus moramora, Rousse & Villemant & Seyrig, 2013

Rousse, Pascal, Villemant, Claire & Seyrig, André, 2013, Ichneumonid wasps from Madagascar. VI. The genus Pristomerus (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Cremastinae), European Journal of Taxonomy 49, pp. 1-38 : 23-25

Pristomerus moramora sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:B28A821C-3528-49BE-A496-46814BE45360

Fig. 11

Diagnosis

Small species; face yellow; general coloration yellow-orange with large more or less dark brown markings of variable extension; face sparsely punctate, clypeus transverse and smooth; mesoscutum moderately to densely punctate-granulate, scutellum sparsely punctate; area superomedia about 2.5 x longer than wide; female femoral tooth absent; ovipositor moderately long, its apex sinuate; POL 0.9; OOL 1.2; CT 2.2; ML 0.5; OT 1.6–1.8; FFT 0.

Differential diagnosis

cf. P. kelikely and P. albescens .

Etymology

“Mora mora” is an indispensable expression in Madagascar meaning “take it easy”.

Type material

Holotype

MADAGASCAR: ♀ ( MNHN EY2495 ), Ampandradava, 23°50’ S, 44°52’ E, verbatim label data: “Madagascar, Bekily [Ampandrandava], reg. sud de l’île, IX 1938 ”, complete.

Paraptypes

MADAGASCAR: 1 ♀, 2 ♂♂ ( MNHN EY 2496–2498), same locality, same date; 7 ♀♀, 3 ♂♂ ( MNHN EY8704–8713), same locality, Jul., Sep.-Oct. 1936,Apr., Aug.-Sep. 1938; 1 ♀ ( MNHN EY8714), Tulear [Toliara], no sampling date (Cathala coll.); 4 ♀♀, 4 ♂♂, Bekily, Oct. 1936 (one specimen to each of the above mentioned institutions).

Other material examined

MADAGASCAR: 2 ♂♂ ( MNHN), Bekily, Oct. 1936, Mar. 1937; 3 ♀♀, Antanimora, Jan. 1937; 1 ♀, Behora, Mar. 1938.

Description

Female

LENGTH. 3.5, 3.2 (2.8–3.5) (10 specimens).

HEAD. Strongly constricted behind eyes. Temple short and rounded. Ocellar triangle anteriorly acute. Face slightly narrowed ventrally. Frons and vertex shallowly punctate-granulate, face shining, sparsely punctate. Clypeus transverse, almost smooth. Mandible short and stout, teeth subequal, malar line short. Antenna with 27–29 flagellomeres.

MESOSOMA. Slightly elongate, about 1.7 x longer than high. Pronotum almost smooth. Remaining of mesonotum covered with short white adpressed hairs. Mesoscutum shining, densely to moderately punctate-granulate, smoother posteriorly. Scuto-scutellar groove with longitudinal striation. Scutellum shining, sparsely punctate, its vertical posterior margin longitudinally striate. Mesopleuron and metapleuron shining and moderately punctate, speculum smooth. Propodeum shining, sparsely punctate, area petiolaris transversally wrinkled posteriorly. Area basalis opposite, sometimes petiolate or shortly truncate, area superomedia 2.5 x longer than wide, distinctly narrower and about as long as area petiolaris. Legs: femoral tooth absent.

METASOMA. Post-petiole and tergite 2 finely aciculate, the following tergites alutaceous. Tergite 2 a little shorter than tergite 1, about 2.5 x longer than apically wide. Thyridia narrow, elongate oval. Ovipositor rather long and slightly sinuate at apex.

COLOR. Antenna brown, scape and pedicel orange ventrally. Head and mesosoma yellowish-orange with more or less extended brown markings. Face, inner orbits and gena yellow. Brown: frons, ocellar triangle, lobes of mesonotum, a large macula on mesopleuron and metapleuron, scuto-scutellar groove, dorsal face (and sometimes lateral margins) of scutellum, basal part of propodeum, including entire area superomedia and areae dentiparae. In some individuals, the median lobe of mesoscutum, and the scutellum are light brown. Legs yellowish-orange, front and mid trochanters white. Hind leg with coxa, femur, basal and apical margins of tibia, and tarsus infuscate, hind tibia mid-dorsally white. Wings hyaline, pterostigma brown. Metasoma brown, base of tergite 1 orange, post-petiole and other tergites dorsally dark brown and more or less marked with orange posteriorly. Thyridia yellow. Ovipositor sheath brown.

Male

Length: 3.1 (2.6–3.5) (6 specimens). Posterior ocelli equally distant from each other as from eye (POL = OOL = 1.0). Face not narrowed ventrally. Hind femur swollen, femoral tooth long, followed by a row of denticles. Otherwise similar to female.

Remarks

Five specimens (4 ♀♀, 1 ♂) with a larger (L: 3.7–3.9) and lighter body have been related to P. moramora but not included in the type series: they have identical ocellar indices, the same number of flagellomeres and a similar microsculpture; however, the base of petiole is yellow, the mesosoma and metasoma from the fourth tergite are entirely orange, and the ovipositor is longer (OT = 1.9–2), perhaps due to allometry.

Distribution

Madagascar (Toliara province).

Figures

Fig. 11. Pristomerus moramora sp. nov. A. ♀, habitus, profile. B. ♀, habitus, dorsal. C. ♀, head, facial. D. ♀, hind femur, profile.