Leptomenes tricolor, Selis, 2025

Leptomenes tricolor sp. nov.

( Figs 41 View FIGURE 41 , 65C View FIGURE 65 )

Diagnosis. Leptomenes tricolor belongs to the group of Malagasy species with subtriangular and elongate T1 ( Fig. 41D View FIGURE 41 ), in which is differentiated by the weakly pubescent propodeum ( Fig. 41C View FIGURE 41 ) and the simple apical margin of T2 ( Fig. 41E View FIGURE 41 ). It is readily distinguished from the other species of Malagasy Leptomenes by its black and bright-red pattern with abundant pale-yellow markings.

Type material examined. HOLOTYPE: ♂ labelled “ CASENT / 2046376 // MADAGASCAR: Toliara / Prov., PN de Kirindy Mitea / 20.7km 29°WNW Tongobory / 23°31'27"S 44°7'17"E, 75 m / 27 Feb-3 Mar 2002, coll. / Fisher, Griswold et al. // CASLOT 011090 / malaise trap in gallery / forest BLF5849 // Leptomenes tricolor / HOLOTYPUS ♂ / Det. Marco Selis 2024 [red label]” ( CAS, code CASTYPE21757) GoogleMaps . PARATYPES: same data as holotype, 1♂ ( MSVI, code CASENT2046377 ); Antananarivo, Ankokoy Forest, 3 km E of Ibity, 20.067500S 46.999500E, 1700 m, 14–24.XI.2008, leg. M. Irwin & R. Harin’Hala, 1♂ ( CAS, code CASENT2174931 ); Toliara, Foret de Mahavelo, Isantoria River , 24.758333S 46.157222E, 110 m, 28.I–1.II.2002, leg. Fisher, Griswold et al., 1♀ ( CAS, code CASENT2146128 ); Tulear , Ambohimahavelona, 33 km NE of Tulear, 23.440833S 43.899667E, 45 m, 28.I–6.II.2009, leg. M. Irwin & R. Harin’Hala, 1♀ ( CAS, code CASENT2174896 ) GoogleMaps .

Description. Male holotype ( Fig. 41B View FIGURE 41 ). Body length 6.5 mm; fore wing length 6.0 mm.

Head 1.25× as wide as high. Clypeus in frontal view 1.05× as wide as long, free apical part about as long as interocular part, apical margin deeply emarginate and 0.25× as wide as clypeus, emargination 2.3× as wide as deep, apical teeth triangular and acute with rounded apex; clypeus in lateral view weakly and evenly convex. Vertex 1.3× as long as ocellocular distance, flattened and weakly sloping only along occipital carina. Gena 0.75× as wide as eye at bottom of ocular sinus; occipital carina complete and shortly lamellate, shorter dorsolaterally on transition from vertex to gena, weakly crenate on upper half, oblique and sinuate on gena. F1 1.65× as long as wide and 1.3× as long as F2, F2–F4 slightly longer than wide, F5–F9 subquadrate; F11 claw-shaped, in lateral view with convex dorsal margin and straight ventral margin, apex pointed and not reaching basal margin of F9, straight in dorsal view; F8 and F9 with tyloids, as longitudinal ridge covering apical two-thirds on F8 and subtriangular on F9. Mesosoma weakly elongate, in dorsal view 1.3× as long as wide and with weakly convex sides, in lateral view slightly longer than high. Pronotum with straight and anteriorly converging sides; pronotal carina complete and sharp, forming a short translucent lamella on dorsal face, obtusely angled on humeri, in the middle separated from mesoscutum by a length equal to almost two ocellar diameters; pretegular carina strong but incomplete and blunt. Mesoscutum markedly convex in lateral view, slightly longer than wide. Scutellum very weakly convex and markedly oblique, posterior margin placed much below level of anterior margin, anterior margin deeply furrowed and shallowly crenate; axillary fossa large and rounded, larger than one ocellar diameter. Metanotum nearly vertical and weakly bulging dorsally. Tegula about as long as wide, widest at its middle, outer margin more markedly curved in the middle, posterior lobe short and slightly acute with pointed apex, not equaling parategula; parategula oblique and weakly curved with rounded apex. Mesepisternum convex, with epicnemial carina low and sharp but visible only in lower half; epimeron slightly raised along ventral margin, but not clearly separated from mesepisternum. Dorsal margin of metaepisternum produced in a sharp and sinuate margin forming a subtriangular lobe directed posterolaterally. Propodeum short and weakly oblique, almost straight in lateral view; dorsal faces of propodeum convex and strongly sloping, reaching submarginal carina and widely separated below metanotum; lateral faces of propodeum barely depressed, posterodorsally separated from dorsal faces by very blunt lateral carinae; posterior face of propodeum deeply depressed, clearly but not sharply separated from dorsal faces, mid-line with fine and sharp longitudinal carina; submarginal carina of propodeum forming a subtriangular and apically blunt lobe, fused with propodeal valvula in basal two-thirds. T 1 in dorsal view subtriangular with rounded anterior margin, shorter than apically wide; T 1 in lateral view almost evenly convex except for weakly thickened apical margin. T 2 in dorsal view about as long as wide with convex sides, wider than T1 and weakly constricted basally; apical margin of T2 shallowly depressed and bearing a very short and crenate translucent margin. S 2 in lateral view oblique and weakly convex, slightly more strongly basally.

Head and mesosoma with deep punctures, generally separated by interspaces equal to one puncture diameter, denser on pronotum and mesoscutum, interspaces densely micropunctate; clypeus densely micropunctate with sparse small deep punctures; gena with interspaces reaching up to several puncture diameters in width; lateral faces of pronotum with few transverse striae and small punctures; metanotum with sparse small punctures; tegula shiny and micropunctate; mesepisternum with wider interspaces; metaepisternum and lateral faces of propodeum shagreened and with few irregular fine striae, with leathery appearance; dorsal faces of propodeum with smaller punctures, very dense and forming an irregular reticulation medially, sparser and with large flattened interspaces laterally; posterior face of propodeum with oblique irregular striation and few scattered punctures. Metasoma with oblique punctures smaller than those on mesosoma; T1 with few scattered punctures on anterior sloping part, densely punctate posteriorly except for smooth thickened apical margin; T2 punctate similar to T1 but smaller punctures, sparser basally and becoming denser apically, depressed apical margin more coarsely and densely punctate except for impunctate apex; T3–T6 with oblique punctures becoming progressively sparser and shallower; T7 finely shagreened with few shallow punctures; S1 smooth on basal stalk, shiny with deep punctures on posterior enlarged part, interspaces forming an elongate reticulation; S2 with deep and sparse punctures, much larger and sparser than on T2; S3 on median third with a patch of large and deep punctures; S4–S7 with punctures much sparser and finer and becoming progressively less evident. Covered in very short and not clearly evident pubescence, brassy on most of body, weakly silvery on clypeus, gena, propodeum and sides of mesosoma; frons and pronotum with some very short erect setae; propodeum with longer fine setae above submarginal carina; apical margin of S7 with some setae not forming a clear brush.

Black; following parts ferruginous to red: mandible, clypeus, scape, rounded spot above antennal insertions and filling interantennal space, line along eye margin filling ocular sinus and covering whole gena, posterior two-thirds of vertex, pronotum except dark dorsolateral spots, tegula, parategula, scutellum, metanotum, mesepisternum above pleural furrow, projections of submarginal carina, posterior half of T1, narrow dark border along pale apical band on T2 and S2, apical margins of T3–T6 and S3–S6, legs darker basally and paler apically; following parts pale-yellow: apical third and basal band on clypeus, basal triangle of mandible, middle of interantennal spot, suffuse spot in ocular sinus, regular anterior margin of pronotum, dorsal half of metanotum, subtriangular spot on upper part of mesepisternum, narrow apical bands on T1–T2 and S2, small apicolateral spot on fore femur, line on outer face of tibiae (irregular on hind tibia). Wings fusco-hyaline with strong brown tinge.

Female. Differing from male as follows: clypeus 1.05× as long as wide, apical margin 0.2× as wide as clypeus and shallowly emarginate with obtuse and apically rounded apical teeth, vertex with cephalic foveae close to each other and placed in a very small shiny depression, mesosoma more elongate and 1.45× as long as wide, legs with reduced pale-yellow markings.

Variability. The male paratypes differ from the holotype in having the apical margin of T2 not depressed and lacking most of the pale-yellow markings on head and mesosoma, with the paratype from Ankokoy Forest having only a small median spot on pronotum; the same paratype also shows much brighter markings, being more orange rather than red. The two female paratypes differ slightly in the depth of the clypeal emargination and in the extension of the pale-yellow pattern, with the paratype from Ambohimahavelona having narrower and more irregular markings; the female from Isantoria River has the tegula pale-yellow in the posterior half .

Distribution. Madagascar: Antananarivo, Toliara ( Fig. 65C View FIGURE 65 ).

Etymology. The specific epithet refers to the three-color pattern of this species, which is black with red and yellow markings.

Genus Malagassodynerus Gusenleitner, 1992

Malagassodynerus Gusenleitner, 1992: 91 View in CoL , 94, genus. Type species: Malagassodynerus scutellatus Gusenleitner, 1992 View in CoL , by original designation.

Giordania Gusenleitner, 1995: 203 , 208, genus. Type species: Odynerus subventricosus Giordani Soika, 1941 View in CoL , by original designation. Syn. nov.

Notes. Gusenleitner (1995: 208) described the genus Giordania Gusenleitner, 1995 to include two species, with Odynerus subventricosus Giordani Soika, 1941 View in CoL ( Fig. 45E View FIGURE 45 ) as the type species, differentiating it from the genus Malagassodynerus Gusenleitner, 1992 View in CoL based on the absence of the epicnemial carina, the not strongly rounded tegula, the sloping rather than nearly vertical metanotum, and the shape of T1. In addition to the fact that these are all widely variable characters in many genera of Eumeninae , comparison of the photos of the holotype of Malagassodynerus scutellatus View in CoL ( Figs 45A–D View FIGURE 45 ), the type species of Malagassodynerus View in CoL , with other similar species, including both species included in Giordania and other undescribed ones, has however shown that the characters reported by Gusenleitner are inconsistent: the epicnemial carina of M. scutellatus View in CoL (and of the newly described and closely related M. concolor ) is present only as a fold of the surface rather than as a true carina and its development is variable in the other species, the convexity of the outer margin of the tegula is variable and M. scutellatus View in CoL and O. subventricosus View in CoL do not show such a marked difference, the inclination of the metanotum varies between the various species and even between the sexes of the same species, showing no appreciable differences between the type species of the two genera, and finally the shape of T1 does not show any evident difference contrary to what has been reported. Given the absence of differences diagnostic enough to consider the two type species as belonging to different genera, Giordania is synonymized under Malagassodynerus View in CoL . As explained in detail in the dedicated section (see under “The hyalinelamellatus View in CoL -group”), the second species included in the genus Giordania by Gusenleitner, Giordania nigra , is not transferred to Malagassodynerus View in CoL but considered as incertae sedis.

Key to the species of Malagassodynerus View in CoL

[Characters of Malagassodynerus scutellatus View in CoL extracted from Gusenleitner (1992) and pictures of the holotype ( Figs 45A–C View FIGURE 45 )]

1. S 2 in lateral view abruptly truncate basally, conically projecting in the middle of the base. Basal fovea of propodeum V-shaped, divided in two branches by a longitudinal carina starting from its upper end and not reaching the lower end. T1 with broad impunctate area along apical margin.......................................... M. subventricosus (Giordani Soika) View in CoL

- S 2 in lateral view evenly convex, not projecting basally. Basal fovea of propodeum slit-like. T1 punctate up to apical margin even if punctures become sparse......................................................................... 2

2. Clypeus deeply incised, emargination deeper than wide and margined by robust conical teeth ( Fig. 43A View FIGURE 43 ). Mesepisternum without the slightest trace of epicnemial carina, forming an even and smooth surface with epicnemium ( Fig. 43E View FIGURE 43 ). Largely marked with yellow on mesosoma and T1 and with green on head, sides of mesosoma and T1 ( Figs 43A, B, D View FIGURE 43 ). Female: head grossly enlarged, vertex with a large matte area as wide as interocular distance ( Fig. 43F View FIGURE 43 ) and anteriorly margined by a strong crest ( Fig. 43G View FIGURE 43 ).................................................................... M. monstruosus sp. nov.

- Clypeus variably emarginate, but never as above ( Figs 42A View FIGURE 42 , 44A View FIGURE 44 , 45C View FIGURE 45 ). Mesepisternum at least bluntly angled below epipleural suture, separated from epicnemium ( Figs 42C View FIGURE 42 , 44C View FIGURE 44 ). Pattern different, if with similar yellow markings then without green tinge ( M. scutellatus View in CoL , Figs 45A–C View FIGURE 45 ). Female: head not grossly modified (female known in M. pulcher only, Figs 44A, 44D View FIGURE 44 )...... 3

3. Mesepisternum shortly angled below epipleural suture, not abruptly separated from epicnemium ( Fig. 44C View FIGURE 44 ). Whole body densely punctate, interspaces reduced to very narrow ridges on most of mesosoma ( Figs 44B, C View FIGURE 44 ). Black with irregular wine-red markings, pale-yellow marked on face, T1–T2 and S2, mesosoma without pale markings ( Figs 44A, B View FIGURE 44 ).. M. pulcher sp. nov.

- Mesepisternum with a blunt but distinct epicnemial carina, abruptly separated form epicnemium for its whole length ( Fig. 42C View FIGURE 42 ). Body more sparsely punctate, most interspaces flattened and not ridge-like ( Figs 42B, C View FIGURE 42 ; 45B View FIGURE 45 ). Entirely dark brown-red or with different bright yellow pattern........................................................................... 4

4. Mesosoma more elongate and nearly parallel-sided, sides of pronotum weakly converging and straight ( Fig. 42A View FIGURE 42 ). Anterior margin of pronotum broad V-shaped, humeri projecting anteriorly ( Fig. 42D View FIGURE 42 ). T 1 in lateral view bulging just behind middle and then shallowly depressed in apical part; apical margin duplicated and shallowly reflexed ( Fig. 42E View FIGURE 42 ). Entirely dark brown-red, only face of male with pale markings ( Figs 42A, B View FIGURE 42 ). Male: apical emargination of clypeus shallow, much wider than deep ( Fig. 42A View FIGURE 42 )............................................................................... M. concolor sp. nov.

- Mesosoma less elongate and not parallel-sided, sides of pronotum strongly converging and convex ( Fig. 45A View FIGURE 45 ). Anterior margin of pronotum straight, humeri not projecting. T 1 in lateral view more or less evenly and weakly convex, not depressed in apical half; apical margin simple with narrow translucent margin ( Fig. 45B View FIGURE 45 ). Black-brown with extensive yellow markings on face, mesosoma and T1 ( Figs 45A, B View FIGURE 45 ). Male: apical emargination of clypeus deep, about as wide as deep ( Fig. 45C View FIGURE 45 ).......................................................................................... M. scutellatus Gusenleitner View in CoL