Malgachemenes divinus, Selis, 2025

Malgachemenes divinus sp. nov.

( Figs 49 View FIGURE 49 , 65L View FIGURE 65 )

Diagnosis. Malgachemenes divinus is readily differentiated from the other species of Malgachemenes by its yellow and green pattern, together with the following morphological characters: tricarinate clypeus with convex apical margin ( Fig. 49C View FIGURE 49 ), lamellae of tergites barely developed ( Fig. 49E View FIGURE 49 ), and cephalic foveae widely separated and placed in a wide micropunctate area ( Fig. 49D View FIGURE 49 ).

Type material examined. HOLOTYPE: ♀ labelled “ CASENT / 2118465 // MADAGASCAR: Antsiranana / Province SAVA Region / Vohemar Dist. , Antsahabelela / rain forest, 9 km SW Daraina / Binara 11–19 Jan 2011 / 13°15.03'S 49°37.00'E // California Acad. Of Sciences / coll: M.Irwin, R.Harin’Hala / malaise, in humid forest / elev 182 m / MG-58-15 // Malgachemenes divinus / HOLOTYPUS ♀ / Det. Marco Selis 2024 [red label]” ( CAS, code CASTYPE21762). GoogleMaps

Description. Female holotype ( Fig. 49B View FIGURE 49 ). Body length 7.5 mm; fore wing length 7.0 mm.

Head 1.05× as wide as high and with vertex visible in frontal view. Clypeus in frontal view as wide as long, apical margin weakly convex and 0.35× as wide as clypeus, apical teeth obtuse and blunt with longitudinal carinae running up to basal third of clypeus, basal third of clypeus with median longitudinal carina continuing into interantennal carina; clypeus in lateral view weakly and evenly convex. Vertex 3× as long as ocellocular distance, weakly swollen in lateral view; cephalic foveae very fine and separated by about four times their diameter, placed in a slightly raised modified area which is slightly longer than one ocellar diameters and wider than ocellar triangle, surface of modified area densely micropunctate and bearing a pair of wide tufts of setae. Gena 0.7× as wide as eye at bottom of ocular sinus; occipital carina complete, shortly lamellate on upper part of gena and fine on vertex, curved in lower half of gena; area below occipital carina on vertex forming a long vertical face, almost as long as two ocellar diameters. Flagellum short and apically thickened, F1 1.4× as long as wide and 1.7× as long as F2, following flagellomeres shorter than wide and becoming progressively wider. Mesosoma 1.6× as long as wide and almost parallel-sided in dorsal view, subcylindrical, in lateral view forming an evenly and weakly curved surface from pronotum to propodeum. Pronotum with weakly converging sides; pronotal carina complete and shortly lamellate on dorsal portion, fine and almost straight on lateral portions; pretegular carina absent. Scutellum almost twice as wide as long, weakly and evenly convex laterolaterally, anterior margin furrowed in the median third and finely crenulate laterally; axillary fossa small and elliptical, about half as large as anterior ocellus. Metanotum weakly sloping. Tegula short with weakly rounded outer margin, posterior lobe slightly acute but apically blunt, not equaling parategula; parategula digitiform and oblique with slightly bent apex. Mesepisternum forming an evenly curved surface in continuity with pronotum and mesosternum, bluntly and shortly carinate along median third of posterior margin; epicnemial carina replaced by a very shallow fold of the surface, visible only under incident light. Propodeum elongate, slightly longer than metanotum in dorsal view, sides slightly angled in the middle; dorsal faces of propodeum sloping mediolaterally and partly developed behind metanotum, but not meeting in the middle and not forming a propodeal shelf; lateral faces of propodeum barely concave, dorsally margined by a blunt hint of lateral carinae; posterior face of propodeum weakly sloping and barely concave, except for pair of deep pits above propodeal orifice, mid line with shallow and narrow fovea on dorsal half, replaced by sharp and high carina ventrally; submarginal carina of propodeum fused with valvula but forming a short translucent rounded lobe. T 1 in dorsal view trapezoidal and slightly wider than long, anterior margin weakly rounded; T 1 in lateral view clearly forming an oblique anterior face and a shallowly depressed horizontal face; apical margin of T1 with a very short translucent margin, which becomes longer on lateral margins. T2 elongate with weakly convex sides, apically slightly wider than T1; apical margin of T2 with a very short translucent margin, basally margined by a series of very fine punctures. T3–T5 apically similar to T2; T3–T4 on sides with very short and blunt oblique carinae. S2 evenly and weakly convex in lateral view, somewhat flattened in middle of basal third; apical margins of S2–S5 with slightly longer lamellae than respective tergites.

Head and dorsal side of mesosoma with deep and dense punctures, interspaces mostly reduced to ridges but reaching one puncture diameter in width on scutellum and dorsal faces of propodeum, and several puncture diameters on gena; clypeus densely micropunctate with scattered punctures on disc; mesepisternum and lateral faces of propodeum with smaller and sparser punctures than dorsal side of mesosoma; metaepisternum entirely impunctate; posterior face of propodeum with scattered deep punctures and some oblique striae. Metasoma densely and very finely shagreened, almost velvety; T1 with deep oblique punctures similar in size to those of propodeum anteriorly, becoming much finer and sparser posteriorly and disappearing before reaching apex; T2 with oblique punctures, larger and deeper on sides, becoming progressively finer medially and posteriorly, almost disappearing on posterior part of disc; T3–T5 with fine punctures, becoming markedly coarser on sides; S1 irregularly ridged and punctured; S2–S5 shinier than respective tergites, punctures sparser and slightly more marked. Covered in pale dust-like pubescence, some scattered short setae on whole body, longer fine setae on propodeum, sides of mesosoma, mesosternum and sternites.

Almost entirely green, with reduced black areas and extensive yellow markings. Head pale yellowish-green except as follows: green-brown longitudinal band on clypeus, darker green markings on frons and vertex, red modified area of vertex, pale yellow gena, hypostoma and mandible; scape green-brown above and yellow-green below. Mesosoma pale green with the following pale yellow with greenish tinge markings: broad anterior band and narrow posterior margin on pronotum, spots on tegula, apex of parategula, most of scutellum and metanotum, posterior half of mesepisternum and corners of propodeum; mesonotum black with extensive irregular dark green markings. T1–T2 dark green with brighter base and sides, apically with broad yellowish-green bands that partly extend on sides; T3–T6 becoming progressively more yellow; sternite more or less uniformly pale yellow, with weak greenish tinge on S1 and basal third of S2. Legs yellowish-green on outer face, brownish-green on inner face. Wings brownish hyaline, with barely darker anterior margin.

Male. Unknown.

Distribution. Madagascar: Antsiranana ( Fig. 65L View FIGURE 65 ).

Etymology. The species epithet is the Latin adjective “ divinus , - a, - um ” (= divine), in reference to the beauty of this species, which has a unique color pattern in the whole subfamily.