Megastigmus laventhali Roques & Copeland

Roques, Alain, Copeland, Robert S., Soldati, Laurent, Denux, Olivier & Auger-Rozenberg, Marie-Anne, 2016, Megastigmus seed chalcids (Hymenoptera, Torymidae) radiated much more on Angiosperms than previously considered. I- Description of 8 new species from Kenya, with a key to the females of Eastern and Southern Africa, ZooKeys 585, pp. 51-124 : 84-85

Taxon classification Animalia Hymenoptera Torymidae

Megastigmus laventhali Roques & Copeland sp. n.

Type material.

Holotype ♀, Kenya, Coast Province, Base of Kasigau Mountain, 3.81301°S, 38.64050°E, 619m, 5 Mar 2012, ex. Lannea schweinfurthii fruits, CHIESA coll. N°141, R. Copeland leg. (NMKE);

Paratype 1♀ Kenya, Coast Province, Funzi island, 4.57776°S, 39.44127°E, near sea level, Malaise trap in mixed grass and woodland, 24 to 28 Jul 2012, R. Copeland leg. (ICIPE).

Description.

Holotype ♀. Medium-sized species with body length (without ovipositor) 4.0 mm; length of ovipositor sheaths 3.4 mm. Body colour predominantly orange (Figures 75-77). Head entirely orange (Figure 78); pilosity on lower face pale; upper face and dorsum of head with conspicuous black hairs. Antenna light brown except scape entirely orange (Figure 79). Thorax entirely light orange except a small black spot at wing insertion (Figure 77). Pilosity on thorax black; a row of 6 black hairs along each lateral suture of mid lobe of mesoscutum; 3 pairs of black hairs on scutellum (Figure 77). Legs entirely pale yellow except claws brown. Forewing stigma brown without infuscation; basal cell indistinct, with two small setae on disc; basal setal line with 1 seta; costal setal line without setae; costal cell without setae (Figure 80). Propodeum light orange with a darker longitudinal line medially (Figure 75); propodeal spiracle very conspicuous; propodeum hairs entirely pale. Gaster dark orange, darker than propodeum; pilosity on gaster black. Ovipositor sheaths black, long, 1.9 × as long as gaster, 0.8 × as long as body, 0.9 × as long as thorax plus gaster (Figure 76).

Head rounded, width: height ratio: 1.0 (Figure 78); POL:OOL: 1.1. Scape 1.1 × as long as combined length of pedicel, anellus and F1 (Figure 79); scape 0.8 × as long as combined length of pedicel, anellus, F1 and F2; anellus subquadrate; F1 1.1 × as long as pedicel, twice as long as wide; F2 1.1 × as long as 1st funicular segment; following funicular segments longer than wide, with F7 1.4 × longer than wide. Pronotum, mid- and lateral lobes of mesoscutum with coarse transverse carinae; axilla with finer striae; mid-lobe of mesoscutum elongate, 1.3 × as long as scutellum; scutellum 1.2 × as long as wide, reticulate; frenum 0.4 × as long as scutellum length, reticulate. Forewing stigma oblique, nearly rectangular, 1.5 × as long as wide (Figure 80); upper part of stigmal vein 0.4 × as long as stigma length; uncus relatively elongate, 0.8 × as long as upper part of stigmal vein; marginal vein 0.9 × as long as postmarginal vein. Propodeum with coarse longitudinal carinae and conspicuous spiracles.

Variation. In the paratype, the basal cell presents two long setae on disc, and the basal setal line has 1 seta.

No males reared.

Host plants.

Lannea schweinfurthii ( Anacardiaceae ). Probably a seed feeder but it could not be integrated in the molecular analysis because too few specimens were available.

Distribution.

Known from the base of Kasigau Mountain, a Taita Hills outlier. Only 1 of 168 fruits (0.6%) was infested (Table 3). Also collected in a Malaise trap sample from Funzi Island, just off the southeast coast of Kenya (Figure 2).

Etymology.

Named in honour of Leo Laventhal, historian, Yiddish scholar and union man.

Diagnosis.

Females can be separated easily from those of other species associated with fruits of Anacardiaceae by the combination of a predominantly orange body and a relatively long ovipositor, at least 1.8 × as long as the gaster. In most of the other species, body colour combines dark and yellow patterns ( Megastigmus hypogeus , Megastigmus ozoroae , Megastigmus lanneae , Megastigmus smithi ). For the remaining species that have a predominantly orange body colour, the ovipositor length is at most 1.4 × gaster length ( Megastigmus pistaciae , Megastigmus thomseni and Megastigmus transvaalensis ).