New enigmatic species of the genus Pediobius (Hymenoptera, Eulophidae) from Afrotropics, with notes on related genera
Author
Gumovsky, Alex
text
Zootaxa
2018
2018-06-21
4438
2
201
236
journal article
29842
10.11646/zootaxa.4438.2.1
bef88811-0d50-4fd7-90c3-153cfaa6f0e8
1175-5326
1294718
688C9DA1-BE32-4FC6-B726-65CA36358473
Pediobius marjoriae
Kerrich, 1973
(
Fig. 5
)
Pediobius marjoriae
Kerrich, 1973: 131
–132.
Diagnosis
(female). Head in dorsal view about 3.0× as broad as long (
Fig. 5C, F
), face smooth, frons medially flat, with distinct frontal and scrobal sutures, lower face slightly narrowed (
Fig. 5B
): malar space about 0.5× as long as eye height; mouth opening slightly wider than malar space; antennal toruli situated at about level of lower eye margins, mandible with two teeth; occipital margin sharp and weakly curved; antennal scape pale, legs pale brown; mesoscutum and mesoscutellum with light sculpture (
Fig. 5C, F
), notauli indistinct, present as shallow depressions; mesoscutellum with one pair of setae; propodeum with distinct nucha bearing two shallow foveae, its submedian areas almost about 1.5× as broad as long, submedian carinae diverge posteriorly; propodeal callus with 3 setae; metatibial spur about 0.8× as long as metabasitarsus, about 2.0× as long as breadth of metatibia; subcosta of submarginal vein with 2 bristles; forewing speculum closed (
Fig. 5D
); fore wing transparent; WIP with narrow violet field along apical margin and wide blue field behind it (
Fig. 5E
); metasomal petiole transverse, about 1/2–1/3 as long as propodeum; gaster lanceolate (
Fig. 5A
), 1.8–2.4× as long as broad, Gt1 occupying approximately 1/2 of length of gaster.
Type
material.
Holotype
♀
,
Uganda
,
Moniko, T.
754,
vii.1941
,
T.H.C. Taylor
,
BMNH
.
HYM 5.2236
(deposited in:
BMNH
)
.
Paratypes
10 ♀
, ibid. (
BMNH
).
Other material studied.
♀
,
DRC
, “
Congo
Belge
: P.N.A.
7–15-VII-1955
, P. Vanschuytbroeck, 13274-309, Mont Hoyo,
1.280 m
, sur plantes basses” (
RMCA
).
Distribution.
Uganda
(Kerrich 1973),
DRC
(new record).
Host.
Kerrich (1973) mentioned that the
type
series of this species was reared from pupae of a
Lepisiota
ant: “ex cocoon of ant (?
Acantholepis
sp.)”. However, there are no host records on any of the labels of the
type
specimens. It is likely that the information about the host association derived from T. H. C. Taylor's record coded as "T.754", which was not mentioned in the original description, but is present on a separate label of each specimen of the
type
series.
Comparative remarks.
The species was described by Kerrich (1973) from a series of females reared from ant cocoons in
Uganda
. The original description mentions the
holotype
and
11 paratypes
, whereas the BMNH collection houses the
holotype
and
10 paratypes
. The species resembles
P. rohombaya
(see below), but differs by the flat frons (
Fig. 5A, B, F
) (convex in
P. rohombaya
,
Figs 6A
,
17H
), closed forewing speculum (
Fig. 5D
) (open in
P. rohombaya
,
Fig. 6F
) and inconspicuous notauli (
Fig. 5F
) (distinct in
P. rohombaya
,
Fig. 6A
).