Pseudogaurax vasconcellosi Riccadi, 2025

Pseudogaurax vasconcellosi Riccadi sp. nov.

( Figs. 5A–E View Fig and 6A–E View Fig )

Specimens examined. Holotype male ( MZUSP) BRAZIL, SP, Jundiaí, Serra do Japi (23° 11′ S, 46° 52′ W), 17 March 2021, manual collection, egg sacs of Elder sp. , G.A. V. Bonilla leg. GoogleMaps Paratypes: 11 male and 1 female ( MZUSP) same data; GoogleMaps 1 male and 1 female ( MZUSP) same data, except 26 January 2021; GoogleMaps 1 female ( ZUEC-DIP 3682 ) same data, except 15 February 2015, field course, manual collection, egg sacs of Elder, G. Villanueva leg.; GoogleMaps 2 females ( ZUEC-DIP 3683 ) same data, except 15 February 2015, manual collection, egg sacs of Elder, T.M. Alvarenga leg. GoogleMaps

Diagnosis. Ocellar triangle black; scutum and scutellum entirely black dorsally and lateral margins pale yellow; scutellum as long as wide, with posterior edge round and apical scutellar setae not approximated; anepisternum with a black rounded spot; legs completely yellow; tibial organ orange; male surstylus with straight lateral edges in ventral view and a fringe of setae along the lower edge.

Description. Body length, 1.46–3 mm. Wing length, 1.4–3 mm. Head ( Fig. 5A–C View Fig ). Wider than long dorsally and higher than long in profile, entirely yellow except for the dark postgena, black ocellar tubercle, and black ocellar triangle. Frons longer than wide, lateral margins subparallel, front margin straight, not projected anteriorly to the eye margin. Ocellar triangle polished black, extending to two-thirds length of frons, posterior margin same width of frons, lateral margins straight, apex acute. Eye oval, with whitish dense pilosity, long axis slightly oblique. Face higher than wide; facial carina absent; antenna mostly yellow, postpedicel round, as high as long, blackened apically; arista entirely dark, with short sparse pubescence, about two times as long as postpedicel; gena linear, covered with brownish setulae; one pale vibrissa; upper half of postgena darkened, whitish pilosity; occiput dark yellow; proboscis short, pale yellow; palpus pale yellow, equal in length to postpedicel, with whitish setulae; clypeus pale yellow. Pilosity: ocellars short, black, upright and slightly inclinate; postocellars three times as long as the ocellars, black, cruciate; outer vertical seta and inner vertical setae developed; eight upright black fronto-orbital setae, as long as the ocellars.

Thorax ( Fig. 5A–B View Fig ). Scutum quadrate, pale yellow on the lateral edges and black dorsally, covered with whitish setulae; one postpronotal seta; 1 + 2 notopleurals; one posterior dorsocentral seta developed, slightly shorter than outer vertical seta; postpronotal lobe yellow with or without a black spot, with long seta equal to notopleurals; postalar seta developed, about as long as dorsocentral seta. Pleuron bare, yellow, a dark round spot on the anterior edge of anepisternum. Scutellum black with the lateral margins pale yellow, flat on the disc, with black setulae, as long as wide, round apically; apical scutellar setae with separation equal to that of posterior ocelli and as long as scutellum length; lateral setae as long as the pilosity. Wing ( Fig. 5C View Fig ). Hyaline with brown veins covered in sparse brown microtrichia; costal sections 1–4: 6: 6: 4: 3; veins R4 + 5 and M1 almost parallel; distance between r-m and dm-m about four times length of r-m. Halter pale yellow. Legs ( Fig. 5A View Fig ). Pale yellow; posterior tibial organ short and oval, occupying less than half of tibia length, orange. Abdomen ( Fig. 5A–B View Fig ). Tergite 1 + 2 and mesal part of the tergite 3 pale yellow, remaining tergites black. Male terminalia ( Fig. 6A–C View Fig ). Remnant of the 6 th sternite with the apex arched, with a pair of small setae. Epandrium wider than long in terminal view; surstylus long and flat, with straight lateral edges in ventral view and a fringe of setae along the lower edge; cerci not fused mesally, cercus slightly long than wide, with one rounded lobe, with a very long seta. Hypandrium weakly sclerotized; basiphallus large; distiphallus short, and membranous, striate; pre- and postgonite fused (gonite), rounded apically, with four pairs sensory pores and one pair of small setae; phallapodemic sclerite rounded; phallapodeme short, with a pair of thin lateral extensions apically; sperm pump present. Female terminalia ( Fig. 6D–E View Fig ). Segments 6–8 narrow, whitish; epiproct bare, with a pair of setae; hypoproct pilose; cerci yellow, long and narrow, with short setae.

Etymology. The specific epithet “vasconcellosi ” is selected by the species author to honor the Brazilian researcher João Vasconcellos Neto, for his contributions to the understanding of the interaction between egg-predator insects and spiders.

Remarks. Three other Neotropical species of Pseudogaurax morphologically resemble P. vasconcellosi sp. nov. While, P. trabeatus (Duda) occurs only in the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil ( Marques et al. 2022), has a completely yellow scutellum, the remaining species have both scutum and scutellum darkened dorsally. The species P. tectus (Becker) is distinctive by having scutellum longer than wide, dark fore tibia and tarsi, pleuron unspotted and occurrence restricted to Peru ( Sabrosky and Paganelli 1984; Becker 1916). The recently described P. alvinae Carvalho-Filho, Monteiro and Kloss (2024) is distinctive from P. vasconcellosi sp.nov. by having a silvery tibial organ, faded dark coloration on the scutum, scutellum, ocellar triangle and anepisternum, and occurrence restricted to the state of Espirito Santo, Brazil ( Carvalho-Filho et al. 2024). Moreover, the male surstylus of P. alvinae has slightly curved lateral edges in ventral view and no fringe of setae along its lower edge.

Biological notes. Egg sac predator of the ghost spider Eldar galadrielae sp. nov. There may be 1– 3 larvae inside a single egg sac of the spider. Pupa is brown to dark orange in color. The larvae recorded in the field and taken to the laboratory began to make the cocoon 4 days after being collected. However, the nests of the spiders recorded were exposed to predation for a few days, so the exact time of the larval period may be more than 4 days. The cocoon lasted between 11 and 14 days before the adult individual emerged.