Malgachemenes albellus, Selis, 2025

Malgachemenes albellus sp. nov.

( Figs 47 View FIGURE 47 , 65J View FIGURE 65 )

Diagnosis. Belonging to the group of mostly black Malgachemenes with short mesosoma, wide T1 and short propodeum, in which it is recognized by a bent outer margin of the tegula ( Fig. 47D View FIGURE 47 ), a short apical lamella of T1 ( Fig. 47C View FIGURE 47 ), the lamella of T2 reduced to lateral lobes ( Fig. 47E View FIGURE 47 ), and a densely punctate metasoma ( Fig. 47C View FIGURE 47 ).

Type material examined. HOLOTYPE: ♀ labelled “ CASENT / 2174988 // MADAGASCAR: Tulear / Androimpano Forest / 3 km E of Itampolo / 26 March–12 April 2009 / 24°39.47'S 43°57.37'E // California Acad. of Sciences /coll: M.Irwin, R.Harin’Hala/ malaise, path in dry forest/elev 45m /MG-54B-21 // Malgachemenes albellus / HOLOTYPUS ♀ / Det. Marco Selis 2024 [red label]” ( CAS, code CASTYPE21761) GoogleMaps . PARATYPES: same data as holotype, 1♂ ( CAS, code CASENT2174987 ); Toliara, Ambohimahavelona village 33 km NE of Tulear, 23.440833S 43.899667E, 45 m, 16–22.XII.2008, leg. M. Irwin & R. Harin’Hala, 1♀ ( CAS, code CASENT2174899 ); Toliara, Ambohimahavelona village 33 km NE of Tulear, 23.440833S 43.899667E, 45 m, 28.I–6.II.2009, leg. M. Irwin & R. Harin’Hala, 1♂ 1♀ ( MSVI, codes CASENT2174894 , CASENT2174895 ); Toliara, PN de Tsimanampetsotsa, Mitoho Cave , 6.4 km 77°ENE of Efoetsy, 17.4 km 170°S of Beheloka , 24.047222S 43.753056E, 40 m, 18–22.III.2002, leg. Fisher, Griswold et al., 1♀ ( CAS, code CASENT2081121 ) GoogleMaps .

Description. Female holotype ( Fig. 47B View FIGURE 47 ). Body length 6.0 mm; fore wing length 5.5 mm.

Head 1.2× as wide as high. Clypeus in frontal view 1.1× as long as wide, apical margin emarginate and 0.35× as wide as clypeus, apical teeth acute and projecting but apically rounded, surface with a pair of blunt longitudinal carinae originating from the apical teeth and delimiting a median depressed area; clypeus in lateral view barely convex in upper third, then straight to apex. Vertex 1.85× as long as ocellocular distance, weakly sloping posteriorly; cephalic foveae very fine and close to each other, housed in a small and barely differentiated area with ridged posterior margin, placed much closer to ocelli than to occipital carina. Gena 0.7× as wide as eye at bottom of ocular sinus; occipital carina complete and of even height for whole length, barely angled in lower half of gena. Flagellum distinctly thickened towards apex, F1 1.3× as long as wide and 1.3× as long as F2, F2 subquadrate, F3–F9 becoming progressively shorter and wider. Mesosoma 1.3× as long as wide, in lateral view forming a more or less even curve from pronotum to propodeum. Pronotum with weakly convex and converging sides; pronotal carina complete and shortly lamellate on dorsal portion, distinctly bent but not angled on humeri; pretegular carina strong but dull. Mesoscutum with extremely shallow indications of notauli at anterior and posterior extremities. Scutellum wider than long, weakly and evenly convex, anterior margin finely crenulate; axillary fossa small and elliptical, about half as large as ocellus. Metanotum strongly sloping, evenly convex with somewhat bulging anterior margin. Tegula short and weakly longer than wide, outer margin straight in anterior third and therefore bulging in front of the middle, posterior lobe almost right-angled with pointed apex and not equaling parategula; parategula digitiform and curved in a quarter of circle. Mesepisternum smoothly passing into pronotum above; epicnemial carina absent. Propodeum short, in dorsal view much shorter than metanotum and with evenly curved sides, in lateral view barely convex and almost vertical, with dorsal faces place below level of scutellum and metanotum; dorsal faces of propodeum strongly sloping mediolaterally, meeting behind metanotum only with their medial corner; lateral faces of propodeum flattened, dorsally margined by a weak and blunt hint of lateral carina; posterior face of propodeum shallowly depressed, flattened on disc and forming two shallow pits above propodeal orifice, mid-line with very fine and irregular longitudinal fovea on dorsal half; submarginal carina of propodeum not projecting, completely fused with propodeal valvula. T 1 in dorsal view shortly bell-shaped, wider than long, anterior margin evenly rounded; T 1 in lateral view evenly convex basally, then almost flattened to apex but not divided in two distinct parts; apical margin of T1 with a short hyaline lamella, about as long as one ocellar diameter. T 2 in dorsal view about as long as wide and with weakly convex sides, not much wider than T1; apical margin of T2 somewhat translucent but not lamellate, except for subtriangular hyaline lobes at extreme sides. T3–T5 with lamellar lobes similar to T2 but becoming progressively smaller and more rounded. S 2 in lateral view evenly and distinctly convex; S2–S5 with irregular translucent margin, more evident than on tergites.

Head and mesosoma with deep and dense punctures, interspaces mostly narrower than puncture diameter but becoming wider on gena, metanotum, propodeum and sides of mesosoma; clypeus irregularly and sparsely striate on apical half, with scattered punctures in basal half; tegula sparsely micropunctate with scattered fine punctures; posterior face of propodeum with scattered deep punctures, mid-line with very short transverse striae. T1 with deep oblique punctures, interspaces variable but mostly as wide as puncture diameter; T2–T5 with fine deep punctures, interspaces shorter than puncture diameter on T2 and becoming progressively wider on following tergites; S1 with sparse deep punctures; S2–S5 with scattered punctures, becoming progressively finer. Covered in short pale-brownish pubescence, dust-like on metasoma; some longer pale setae on propodeum and sternites.

Black; following parts ivory-white: clypeus, mandible except inner margin, subquadrate spot above interantennal space, inner eye margin from clypeus to whole ocular sinus, elongate marking covering most of gena, anterior band on pronotum shortly continuing on lateral faces, narrow and slightly converging longitudinal lines on median third of mesoscutum, tegula except reddish-hyaline central spot, parategula, lamella bordering axillary fossa, anterior two-thirds of metanotum, upper plate of mesepisternum, small posterior spot on lower plate of mesepisternum, elongate markings running from anterolateral corners of propodeum to propodeal valvulae, apical band on T1 connected to subtriangular lateral spots, sinuate and laterally expanded apical band on T2–T5, rounded spots on sides of T2, lateral margins of S1, most of S2 except black triangle with base on the basal margin and apex in the middle of the apical margin, sinuate and bilobate bands on S3–S5, ventral face of coxae, outer face of legs from trochanter to basitarsus except hind femur. Some of the markings on meso- and metasoma are narrowly margined with a red suffusion. Lower face of antenna and most of T6 and S6 ferruginous-red. Wings hyaline with brownish tinge becoming stronger apically.

Male. Differing from female as follows: clypeus as long as wide and with apical emargination mostly filled by a translucent lamella, shiny with scattered punctures; F11 narrow and digitiform with tapering apex, reaching base of F9; S7 with apical dense brush of golden-red setae; punctures on head and mesosoma slightly larger and sparser; mesoscutum without lines, scutellum with lateral ivory-white spots, T2 without lateral spots.

Variability. The female paratype from Mitoho Cave differs from the holotype by absence of pale markings on mesoscutum and lower plate of mesepisternum. The paratypes from Ambohimahavelona differ from the holotype and paratype from Androimpano by the following characters: male clypeus with emargination not filled by lamella, female clypeus with dark brown spots on disc, more rounded spot above interantennal space, mesoscutum and lower plate of mesepisternum entirely black, apical band of T1 less expanded laterally, T2 without lateral spots, dark red largely replacing black ground color on propodeum and metasoma, T3 – T6 and S3–S6 with reduced pale markings .

Distribution. Madagascar: Toliara ( Fig. 65J View FIGURE 65 ).

Etymology. The species epithet derives from the Latin adjective “ albus, - a, - um ” (= white), in reference to the whitish markings of this species. It is an adjective.