Dirhinus maasaii Delvare, 2018

Delvare, Gérard & Copeland, Robert S., 2018, Four-horned wasps, description of some remarkable Dirhinus (Hymenoptera, Chalcididae) from Kenya, with a discussion of their taxonomic placement, Zootaxa 4374 (3), pp. 301-349 : 335-337

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.4374.3.1
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5970488
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03C97E04-EA3B-FF89-CA86-4201FF49ADEE
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Dirhinus maasaii Delvare
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

Dirhinus maasaii Delvare sp. nov.

( Figs 15 View FIGURES 9–16 , 49 View FIGURES 43–52 , 76 View FIGURES 76–84 , 141–147 View FIGURES 141–147 ) ( Tables 3 and 4)

Registered in ZooBank, http://zoobank.org/Nomenclatural acts/FED1D22E-A401-4AFD-9A6E-AA06718DCBFF

Material examined. Holotype ♀. KENYA: Rift Valley Province, Olorgesailie National Monument, 1.57930°S 36.44566°E, 982 m, 11-25.XII.2011, Malaise trap, Acacia-Commiphora savannah, R. Copeland leg. [F05] [ NMK]. GoogleMaps

Condition of holotype. Specimen complete, glued on rectangular card. Left wings, mid and hind leg glued separately.

Etymology. The name is in honour of the people, the Maasai, who live in the region where the holotype was collected.

Description of female holotype. Body length 4.2 mm ( Fig. 141 View FIGURES 141–147 ). Identical with D. quadrhinus except as follows.

Head 1.04× as wide as long and 0.84× as wide as high, eye 1.25× as long as high; temple 0.50× as long as eye. In dorsal view, apex of inner horn not exceeding that of outer horn. Frons with preorbital ridges. IHL 2.29× as long as distance from end of scrobal depression to median ocellus and 1.54× as long as ocular-ocellar distance; inner edges of inner horns diverging at an angle of approximately 30° ( Fig. 142 View FIGURES 141–147 ). Frontovertex 2.38× as wide as IHL. Distance between lateral ocelli 1.57× as long as that of inter-ocellar distance.

Antenna. Combined length of pedicel plus flagellum 0.84× as long as head width. Pedicel 2.16× as long as wide. Second flagellomere 0.8× as long as wide, 8th segment 0.6× as long as wide and 1.5× as wide as 2nd segment.

Mesosoma 1.52× as long as wide with mesoscutellum 0.77× as long as wide ( Fig. 141 View FIGURES 141–147 ). Propodeum with median areola as long as wide, followed by a median carina ( Fig. 144 View FIGURES 141–147 ); walls of areolae thick and irregularly punctulate on top. Upper crests on femoral depression of mesepisternum raised all over. Metacoxa and metafemur respectively 1.48× and 1.56× as long as wide. Metatibia with 15 short and adpressed setae distributed in 2 rows along outer edge of tarsal sulcus ( Fig. 145 View FIGURES 141–147 ). Fore wing 2.73× as long as wide; marginal vein 0.86× as long as costal cell; costal cell on the underside with 11 aligned setae on apical half and 8 shorter, irregularly distributed ones near base.

Metasoma. Petiole with dorsal surface transverse, 2.24× as wide as long, its sides diverging markedly posteriorly, hardly sloping backwards and emarginate anteriorly, with vestigial submedian carinae and median sulcus absent ( Fig. 146 View FIGURES 141–147 ). Gaster 2.61× as long as wide with first gastral tergite 0.67× as long as gaster ( Fig. 141 View FIGURES 141–147 ), with 6 primary and 13 secondary longitudinal ridges; strigose surface of tergite reticulate anterolaterally between the ridges ( Fig. 147 View FIGURES 141–147 ). Posterior margin of tergites 1–4 virtually straight.

Male. Unknown.

Diagnosis. Inner edges of inner horns diverging at an angle of approximately 30°. Inner horns long. Preorbital ridge present. Pedicel relatively long, more than 2× as long as wide. Petiole short, hardly sloping backwards and without submedian carinae and median sulcus.

Recognition. This species can be recognized by the absence of the extremely long setae found in D. gigasetosus ; preorbital ridge present (absent in D. leakeyorum ); inner horns long, their inner edges diverging at an angle of approximately 30° (horns shorter in D. quadrhinus ); petiole sloping weakly backwards, without submedian carinae and median sulcus (submedian carinae and median sulcus present in D. kambae ).

Distribution. The species is known only from its type locality, in Kenya.

Host (s). Unknown but probably Diptera , based on the behaviour of other species in the subfamily to which it belongs.