Pristomerus sara, Rousse & Noort, 2015

Rousse, Pascal & Noort, Simon van, 2015, Revision of the Afrotropical species of Pristomerus (Ichneumonidae: Cremastinae), with descriptions of 31 new species, European Journal of Taxonomy 124, pp. 1-129 : 93-95

Pristomerus sara sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:E44A1907-1177-4176-8613-65A640BBDD52

Fig. 34

Diagnosis

Small; yellow to yellowish-orange with dorsal dark markings; trochanters and apices of femora pale dotted; face and frons densely and superficially punctate; clypeus strongly transverse, almost smooth; malar line moderately short; occipital carina joining hypostomal carina shortly above mandible base; antenna with 29 flagellomeres, penultimate flagellomere distinctly elongate; mesosoma moderately and rather shallowly punctate, except most of pronotum coriaceous, and speculum ventrally smooth; area superomedia elongate; female femoral tooth absent; ovipositor moderately long, apically strongly sinuous. Male unknown.

Differential diagnosis

Small and mostly yellowish-orange species, differentiated from most other Afrotropical species by the combination of the strongly transverse clypeus, the rather short malar line, the shallow sculpture of face and pronotum, the absence of a femoral tooth in females and the rather long ovipositor. Morphologically, it is therefore very close to P. kelikely , from which it differs only by having the apices of the femora and the anterior half of the pterostigma strikingly white (see general discussion). Pristomerus sara sp. nov. seems also closely related to P. wolof sp. nov. (see differential diagnosis of P. wolof sp. nov.).

Type material

Holotype

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: ♀, “ Central African Republic, Préfecture Sangha-Mbaéré, Parc National de Dzanga-Ndoki, Mabéa Bai , 21.4 Km 53°NE Bayanga, 3°02.01’N 16°24.57’E, 510m, 6–7.v.2001, S van Noort, Malaise Trap, CAR01–M58, Lowland Rainforest, marsh clearing, SAM– HYM–P047409” ( SAMC).

Paratype

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: ♀, same label data.

Description

Female (2 specimens)

B 5.2–5.6; A 3.5–3.7; F 3.2–3.4; CT 2.1; ML 0.5; POL 0.5; OOL 1.1; Fl n-1 1.3; ASM 2.5; OT 1.5–1.7; FFT 0.

COLOUR. Yellowish-orange overall, with mandible, clypeus and frontal orbit pale yellow, notaulus and scutellum slightly lighter than remainder of mesonotum, tergites 1–2 antero-medially black, and

following tergites variably centrally infuscate; flagellum testaceous; all trochanters and femora apically white-dotted; wings hyaline, venation brown, pterostigma anteriorly white.

HEAD. Face densely and superficially punctate; inner margins of eyes parallel; clypeus strongly transverse, smooth; malar line rather short; frons and vertex sparsely superficially punctate, temple

coriaceous; antenna with 28–29 flagellomeres, penultimate flagellomere elongate; occipital carina joining hypostomal carina above mandible base.

MESOSOMA. Mesosoma moderately elongate; pronotum weakly sculptured, mostly alutaceous and anteroventrally weakly crenulate; mesopleuron and metapleuron densely and rather shallowly punctate with an oblique shallowly striate furrow below speculum, speculum ventrally smoother; mesonotum densely and shallowly punctate-granulate, punctures somewhat confluent along notaulus line; scutellum densely punctate; propodeum densely punctate-granulate, area petiolaris transversely strigose, area superomedia elongate. Legs. Femoral tooth absent.

METASOMA. Tergite 2 and apical half of tergite 1 longitudinally aciculate, following tergites coriaceous; thyridium elliptic and wide, its main axis longitudinal; ovipositor moderately long, basal half straight, apically strongly sinuous.

Male

Unknown.

Distribution

Central African Republic.

Comments

This species is mostly differentiated from P. kelikely by the colour pattern, the femora being apically white-dotted and the anterior half of the pterostigma being white. We consider this pattern to be a significant ecological indicator (see general discussion).

Figures

Fig. 34. Pristomerus sara sp. nov. Holotype, ♀. A. Habitus, lateral view (inset: data labels). B. Head, mesosoma, dorsal view. C. Head, anterior view. D. Propodeum, dorsal view. E. Mesosoma, lateral view. F. Hind tibia, lateral view.