Afrocampsis austroafricanus, Belokobylskij, 2025

Afrocampsis austroafricanus sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:

Figs 1 View FIGURE 1 , 2 View FIGURE 2

Type material. Holotype: female, “ S. Africa: Kwazulu-Natal, Ramsgate Butterfly Sanct.[uary], 30°53′S, 30°20′E, MT, 1.11– 2.12.2004, [M.] Mostovski [leg.]” ( ZISP). GoogleMaps

Paratypes: 2 females with the same label as holotype ( ZISP) .

Description. Female. Body length 3.4–5.1 mm; fore wing length 2.9–3.9 mm.

Head. Width of head (dorsal view) 1.8–2.0 × its median length, 1.3–1.4 × width of mesoscutum. Vertex distinctly convex. Occiput concave. Occipital carina interrupted dorsally at short distance. Temples behind eyes (dorsal view) convex in anterior half, then weakly and roundly narrowed; transverse diameter of eye 1.4–1.5 × longer than temple. Frons concave, with distinctly protruding median lamella, which is most high and narrow in anterior half and thickened dorsally (not bifurcate), with pair of weakly convergent posteriorly crests running from antennal sockets to anterior ocelli. Ocelli medium-sized, with anterior ocellus slightly smaller than lateral ocelli or almost same size, arranged in obtuse triangle with base 1.3–1.4 × its lateral sides. POL 1.5–1.6 × Od of lateral ocelli, 0.7–0.8 × OOL. Eye with distinct and rather sparse setae, 1.4–1.5 × as high as broad. Malar suture present, but fine. Malar space 0.25–0.30 × height of eye, 0.6–0.9 × basal width of mandible. Face 1.6–1.7 × wider than its medial height. Clypeus almost straight ventrally; clypeal suture distinct, but shallow and rather wide. Mandible wide, strongly twisted in distal half. Maxillary palpus long and slender.

Antenna.Antenna rather slender, but weakly thickened in apical half, subfiliform, with 31–34 antennomeres; 5– 8 flagellomeres starting from flagellomeres 11–14 short and weakly transverse, 0.8–0.9 × as long as wide; following apical flagellomeres subsquare or weakly elongate. Scapus wide, subcylindrical, 1.3–1.5 × longer than its maximum width (lateral view), 1.5–2.0 × longer than pedicel. First flagellomere 4.0–4.5 × longer than its apical width, 1.1 × longer than second flagellomere. Length of penultimate flagellomere 1.2–1.5 × its width, 0.6–0.7 × as long as apical flagellomere; the latter weakly acuminate or obtuse.

Mesosoma. Length of mesosoma 1.8–1.9 × its maximum height. Notauli complete, but rather shallow and narrow, densely crenulate. Prescutellar depression relatively short, with three–five carinae, almost smooth or finely reticulate between carinae, 0.2–0.3 × as long as scutellum. Scutellum without lateral carinae and posterior transverse depression. Precoxal sulcus shallow, rather wide, straight, strongly oblique, rugulose-punctate or areolate, running along anterior 0.7 of lower part of mesopleuron.

Wings. Length of fore wing 3.2–3.3 × its width. Radial (marginal) cell weakly shortened; anterior margin of radial (marginal) cell 1.0–1.1 × as long as pterostigma and 3.3–4.0 × longer than distance from apex of radial (marginal) cell to apex of wing. Radial vein (r) arising almost from or weakly before middle of pterostigma, its first abscissa (r) 0.5–0.7 × as long as maximum width of pterostigma. Second abscissa of radial vein (3-SR) 2.0–2.6 × longer than first abscissa (r), about 0.3 × as long as the straight third abscissa (SR1), 0.9–1.0 × as long as first radiomedial vein (2-SR). First abscissa of medial vein (1-SR+M) weakly sinuate. Second radiomedial (submarginal) cell short, not or weakly widened distally, 1.4–2.0 × longer than its maximum width. Discoidal (discal) cell relatively short and wide, 1.7–1.8 × longer than its maximum width. Nervulus (cu-a) weakly postfurcal or subinterstitial, inclivous. Hind wing 4.6–4.7 × longer than wide. Radial (marginal) cell distally subparallel or weakly narrowed. Second abscissa of mediocubital vein (1-M) 0.4–0.5 × as long as first abscissa (M+CU), 1.2–1.3 × longer than basal vein (1r-m). Second abscissa (2-CU) of cubital vein distinct, but mainly desclerotised, relatively short.

Legs. Hind femur 2.6–2.9 × longer than wide. Hind tibia strongly thickened, 5.3–6.2 × longer than maximum width in distal quarter. Hind tarsus 0.9 × as long as hind tibia; its basitarsus 0.5–0.6 × as long as other segments combined; second segment 0.35–0.40 × as long as first segment, about 0.5 × as long as fifth segment (without pretarsus).

Metasoma. First tergite of metasoma long, rather wide, basally curvedly and then almost linearly widened to subapex, narrowed apically at short distance, spiracular tubercles absent, dorsope very small; tergite without crenulate postero-lateral depressions. Length of first tergite 1.8–2.0 × its posterior width and 2.0–2.5 × length of propodeum; posterior width of tergite 2.0–2.2 × its minimum width. Suture between second and third tergites distinct, shallow and narrow. Length of second tergite 0.9–1.0 × its basal width, 1.0–1.2 × length of third tergite. Third tergite posteriorly with narrow flange and distinctly curved down. Hypopygium rather short and truncate apically. Ovipositor weakly widened basally, distinctly narrowed apically (needle-like), weakly curved ventrad. Ovipositor sheath about 0.7 × as long as first metasomal tergite, 0.7–0.8 × as long as hind femur, about 0.2 × as long as fore wing.

Sculpture and pubescence.Vertex and temple mostly smooth, but sometimes partly with sparse punctation. Frons smooth medially, densely reticulate laterally at least in anterior half; face densely and coarsely reticulate-areolate. Mesoscutum and scutellum sparsely and finely but visible punctate, smooth between punctures. Mesopleuron mostly relatively densely or sparsely and distinctly reticulate-punctate, almost smooth in narrow posterior line and sometimes in medial area. Propodeum entirely coarsely reticulate-areolate, with long and rather wide longitudinal areola, without medial carina. Coxa and femur of hind leg mostly smooth, with sparse and fine punctation. First metasomal tergite entirely densely and coarsely reticulate-punctate, with complete and curved longitudinal sublateral carinae delineated long suboval medial area. Second and third tergites entirely densely reticulate-punctate, third tergite additionally with sparse striation.

Colour. Body mostly black, rarely dark reddish brown at least partly, metasoma ventrally pale brown to partly whitish. Antennae mostly brown or light brown, several basal segments pale. Palpi pale yellow to white. Fore and middle legs mostly yellow or yellowish brown, femora partly infuscate; hind leg mostly black or partly dark brown, coxa posteriorly, trochanter, trochantellus, basal parts of femur and tibia pale brown or pale yellow. Ovipositor sheath dark brown. Wings faintly evenly infuscate. Pterostigma entirely dark brown. Tegula light brown, reddish brown or dark reddish brown.

Male. Unknown.

Etymology. Named from a combination of the “austro” (Latin for south) and “africanus” (for Africa), because this new species was collected in South Africa.

Comparative diagnosis. The new species differs from the type species of the genus, Afrocampsis griseosetosus by the following features: the scapus of female distinctly, 1.5–2.0 × longer than pedicel (as long as pedicel in A. griseosetosus ), medial frontal lamella not bifurcate dorsally, only thickened (bifurcate dorsally in A. griseosetosus ), medial flagellomeres of antenna weakly transverse and subsquare in its apical third (all flagellomeres in posterior half of antenna elongate in A. griseosetosus ), mesopleuron mostly reticulate-punctate (widely smooth in A. griseosetosus ), hind femur wide, 2.6–2.7 × longer than maximum width (narrow, (2.8) 3.0–3.4 × in A. griseosetosus ), hind tibia 5.7–6.2 × longer than its maximum width (4.6 × in A. griseosetosus ), claw of hind leg with distinct obtuse basal lobe (without distinct lobe in A. griseosetosus ), ovipositor long, its sheath almost as long as second metasomal tergite (short, about half as long as second tergite in A. griseosetosus ), and hind leg mostly black (mostly pale yellow with infuscation in A. griseosetosus ).

Remarks. In the description of A. griseosetosus, van Achterberg & Quicke (1990) noted that they had examined (besides the type material from Republic of Cameroon) an additional five specimens ( two females and three males) from South Africa (Katberg and Port St. John localities), which differed from the types in the colouration of antenna and hind legs, shapes of the third tergite and size of hind femur. Provisionally they considered these specimens to conspecific to the type material from Cameroon having only clinal variation.

I have also studied the single female collected in the same locality as the new species ( Kwazulu-Natal), which belong to A. griseosetosus and having the hind femur mostly yellowish brown, and hind tibia and tarsus reddish brown to dark reddish brown partly. I also examined seven males collected at the same time and from the same province, but their morphological features do not allow their allocation to a particular species as they have intermediate sexual states.

However, the three females collected in Kwazulu-Natal have a number of distinct differences (see Comparative diagnosis, above) and belong to the new species .