Cosmophorus merdiculus Rousse et Braet

Cosmophorus merdiculus Rousse et Braet sp. nov.

( Fig. 5 View FIGURE 5 )

Diagnosis. Species quickly distinguishable among all Cosmophorus spp. thanks to the short antennae with 12 flagellomeres and the coarsely reticulate sternaulus (see comments for further distinctions).

Description. FEMALE (2 specimens): B: 1.4–1.5; F: 1.0–1.1; O: 0.7.

Head. Head posteriorly emarginated. Vertex weakly convex medially. Eye in dorsal view 0.7x length of temple. Occipital carina widely interrupted dorsally and remainder distinct. Antenna with 12 flagellomeres, pedicelus rather rectangular, flagellomere 1–3 with equal lengths. Flagellomere 2 about 0.2x wider than flagellomere 1. Scape hardly protruding ventrally with a pair of minute teeth. Torulus with a large acute tooth. Frons shallowly concave medially with a medium sized median carina, not reaching anterior ocellus. Face flatened medially, largely smooth. Clypeus flat and smooth, ventral rim cariniform. Malar line 0.5x as long as basal width of mandible, with weak subocular sulcus.

Mesosoma. Propleuron with transverse carina and some rugosities posteriorly. Scutellum slightly swollen in lateral view. Side of pronotum smooth, with rugosities ventrally. Mesopleuron coarsely reticulate dorsally and ventrally, the remainder smooth. Sternaulus wide, coarsely reticulate and connected to episternal scrobe, forming a reticulate curve. Metapleuron and propodeum with dense and small reticulations. Mesoscutum largely glabrous, dorsally with sparse setae. Notaulus indistinct.

Metasoma. Tergite I 1.2x longer than apically wide, widened near apex, its surface with several longitudinal parallels rugosities ending before the apex, its apex 1.8x as wide as base of tergite. Tergite II smooth with a basal semicircular area longitudinally striate. Ovipositor straight, sheath 2.3x longer than hind tibia.

Color. Blackish. Yellowish: legs, scape, pedicel, flagellomeres 1–2 (more brownish for one specimen). Brownish yellow: clypeus, mandibles (but apically brownish), prothorax. Tergite I light brownish to brownish yellow.

MALE. Unknown.

Distribution records. Reunion.

Etymology. Merdiculus is the local terminology assigned to very small insects ( Martiré & Rochat 2008).

Material examined. HOLOTYPE Ƥ ( MNHN EY 6638) Verbatim label data: Ƥ St Leu / Colimaçons, alt. 260m, bosquet d’acacias, piège Malaise, 11/2010, coll. Cirad (Deguine/Ramage). PARATYPE Ƥ ( IRSNB) 1Ƥ same data than the holotype.

Comments. The only other Cosmophorus reported in the Malagasy subregion is C. madagascarienscis Quicke, Areekul et Le Courtois, 2005 (not examined), whose mesopleuron is totally smooth. Cosmophorus merdiculus sp. nov. is close to Cosmophorus reticulatus van Achterberg, 2000, reported from Indonesia. But C. reticulatus has the diameter of flagellomere 2 0.3x wider than flagellomere 1, the pedicel rather globose, the eyes 0.6x length of temples in dorsal view, the propodeum largely and coarsely reticulate, the tergite I 2.1x its apical width, the apex of tergite I 1.8x its basal width. Moreover, the tergite I bears a coarse median carina ending before its apex, with two additional lateral carinae and some other short irregular wrinkles between them. Finally, C. reticulatus is mainly orange-yellowish with only the stematicum brownish. This morphological proximity agrees with the phylogenetic observation of Quicke et al. (2005), who noticed that Cosmophorus spp. of the Malagasy subregion are closer to species of South-East Asia than to the other Afrotropical ones.