Nhanduara Festa, Faria & Waichert, 2025

Nhanduara Festa, Faria & Waichert , gen. nov.

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( Figs 1–4 View FIGURE 1 View FIGURE 2 View FIGURE 3 View FIGURE 4 )

Type-species. Nhanduara pytun Festa, Faria & Waichert , sp. nov., here designated, by monotypy.

Diagnosis. This genus is distinguished from other genera of Ageniellini by the unique combination of characters: the tegument is black and the wings are yellow ( Fig. 1 View FIGURE 1 ); the clypeus is large and covered with dense long setae ( Figs 2A View FIGURE 2 ; 4A View FIGURE 4 ); the metanotum has a medial conical projection ( Figs 2D View FIGURE 2 ; 4E View FIGURE 4 ); and the wing venation almost reaches the apex ( Figs 2E View FIGURE 2 ; 4G View FIGURE 4 ). Additionally, the female has the mesosoma stout and somewhat rounded; the propodeum is large and rounded posteriorly, without a distinct posterior face, whereas the male has the propodeum flat. The male genitalia have the paramere with two distinct somewhat squared projections, being one medial and the second apical to its length ( Fig. 3 A, B View FIGURE 3 ). Finally, the fore tibia lacks a long apical spine ( Fig. 3D View FIGURE 3 ) in both sexes, as found in the species of Priocnemella .

Description. Male. Color. Dark bodied wasps ( Fig. 1A View FIGURE 1 ); antennal segments dark castaneous, flagellomeres 6 and 7 yellow; fore wing yellowish with darkened band after stigma. Pubescence. Long, light-goldish on mesoepisternum, propodeum and coxae; long-appressed, abundant, golden pilosity from clypeus to antennal insertion; pubescence simple in terga and sterna. Head. Nearly rounded in frontal view ( Fig. 2A View FIGURE 2 ). Compound eyes large, inner margin almost straight; eye setae absent. Ocelli in compact, slightly acute triangle; in lateral view, on a flattened plane. Vertex, in lateral view, rounded posteriorly. Mandible with one tooth. Clypeus wider than long, trapezoidal; apical median margin concave, with small rounded projection downward; dorsally lateral projection with small distinct depression, resembling dimples ( Figs 2B, C View FIGURE 2 ). Supra-antennal area of frons convex, produced medially, with median sulcus as long as half of the distance from the antennal socket to the inferior ocellus. Occipital carina complete. Antennae elongate. Mesosoma. Pronotal dorsum short, gently sloping anteriorly. Posterior margin of pronotum slightly arcuate. Scutellum large, distinctly swollen medially. Metanotum with a medial conical projection ( Fig. 2D View FIGURE 2 ). Propodeum elongate and flat without striae; metapleural-propodeal sulcus indistinct as in Priocnemella . Forewing with marginal cell lanceolate, about 2 × as long as its distance from wing tip. Fore wing with 3 SMCs. Discal 2 without pocket at its inner base. Cluster of hamuli situated at the branching of vein C from vein C + Sc+R+Rs. Venation long, almost reaching wing apex ( Fig. 2E View FIGURE 2 ). Tibiae smooth with reduced, almost inconspicuous spines; brush on inner side of hind tibia narrow, but continuous to apex. Pulvillar pad very small. Mid and hind tarsal claws dentate. Fore claws bifid and asymmetrical; outer tooth strongly curved basally, inner tooth triangular but apically truncated. Metasoma. External morphology as in other genera of Ageniellini . Genitalia ( Figs 3A, B View FIGURE 3 ). Paramere slightly extending beyond aedeagus; apex bilobed, outermost lobe small, glabrous, and angulate, innermost lobe large and angulate with long, thick setae. Apical half of parapenial lobe with two distinct projections. Apex of aedeagus distinctly bilobed with lateral projections basad to the apex. Subgenital plate broad basally, slightly convergent towards apex, angulate apically with few long hair ( Fig. 3C View FIGURE 3 ).

Female. Color. Similar to the male ( Fig. 1B View FIGURE 1 ), flagellomeres 4–6 yellow and fore wing with a darkened spot.

Pubescence. Similar to the male, but more abundant on the head, mesosoma and metasoma. Pubescence simple in terga and abundant on some of the sterna. Head. Round face ( Fig. 4A View FIGURE 4 ). Compound eyes slightly convergent at the top. Ocelli and vertex, in lateral view, similar to the male. Mandible bidentate. Clypeus wider than long; with distinct defined margins, slightly swollen in the center. Frons and median sulcus similar to the male. Occipital carina complete. Antennae elongate. Mesosoma. Pronotum similar to the male, except for arcuate dorso-posterior margin. Scutellum and metanotum described as for the male. Propodeum, in profile, with smooth declivity, without striae. Forewing similar to the male ( Fig. 4G View FIGURE 4 ). Tibiae and tarsi similar to the male. Claws dentate, inner tooth narrower than and about twice its own height from apical tooth. Metasoma. Transverse sulcus of the second sternum conspicuous; disc of T6 slightly differentiated with a distinguished median line (not always visible on female with metasoma fixed aligned and not projected forward).

Host. Unknown.

Distribution. Brazil: Paraná State, Foz do Iguaçu.

Etymology. The name of the newly proposed genus is derived from the Guarani words “ Ñandu ”, meaning “spider”, and “ wara ”, meaning “one who eats”. The compound “ Ñandu’wara ”, here considered “ Nhanduara ”, translates to “spider eater”. In accordance with the Article 11.2 of the Code ( ICZN 1999), the initial “Ñ” in “ Ñandu ” becomes “Nh”, respecting the 26-letter Latin alphabet and preserving the phonetic of the original name. The gender is feminine.

Remarks. Nhanduara gen. nov. is morphologically related to Priocnemella . Species of both taxa have large body size, black integument, and yellow wings with dark spots. Based on the diagnostic characters of Priocnemella sensu Banks (1925) , Nhanduara gen. nov. could be interpreted as a species within that genus by sharing all the features described by Banks (1925). However, considering the subsequent interpretation of the genus by Banks (1946), the apomorphies presented by Shimizu et al. (2010), and the diagnostic characters provided in the revision of Priocnemella by Ferreira et al. (in press), it is clear that Nhanduara gen. nov. represents a distinct lineage. Nhanduara gen. nov. differs from Priocnemella mostly because the species lacks a curved spine at the apex of the fore tibia; besides, the head is wider than long, with apical convergent eyes in Nhanduara gen. nov., and longer than wide with parallel eyes in Priocnemella ; and the clypeus is large and concave in Nhanduara gen. nov., whereas it is flat and trapezoidal in females of Priocnemella . In addition, considering the diagnostic characters provided by Ferreira et al. (in press), Nhanduara gen. nov. lacks an aedeagus laterally flattened and digits apically truncated.