Leptomenes multipictus, Selis, 2025

Leptomenes multipictus sp. nov.

( Figs 37 View FIGURE 37 , 64N View FIGURE 64 )

Diagnosis. Leptomenes multipictus is readily distinguished from the other Malagasy species of Leptomenes by its strongly campanulate tegula, which has the outer margin widely concave anteriorly and then abruptly bent in the middle ( Fig. 37C View FIGURE 37 ). It is the only Malagasy species of Leptomenes showing abundant pale-yellow markings on a black background ( Figs 37A, B View FIGURE 37 ).

Type material examined. HOLOTYPE: ♂ labelled “ CASENT / 2174989 // 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 45 m MG-54B-21 // Leptomenes multipictus / HOLOTYPUS ♂ / Det. Marco Selis 2024 [red label]” ( CAS, code CASTYPE21753) GoogleMaps . PARATYPES: same locality as holotype, 6–13.XI.2008, 1♂ ( CAS, code CASENT2174974 ) GoogleMaps ; same locality as holotype, 30.VII– 6.VIII.2009, 1♀ ( CAS, code CASENT2174986 ); Toliara, Manderano, 23.527611S 44.088222E, 70 m, 15– 29.V.2002, leg. Frontier Wilderness Project, 1♀ ( CAS, code CASENT2177683 ); Tulear, Ambohimahavelona, 33 km NE of Tulear, 23.440833S 43.899667E, 45 m, 21–26.X.2008, leg. M. Irwin & R. Harin’Hala, 1♀ ( CAS, code CASENT2068978 ); Tulear , Ambohimahavelona, 33 km NE of Tulear, 23.440833S 43.899667E, 45 m, 29.XI– 3.XII.2008, leg. M. Irwin & R. Harin’Hala, 1♂ ( CAS, code CASENT2174966 ); Tulear , Ambohimahavelona, 33 km NE of Tulear, 23.440833S 43.899667E, 45 m, 16–22.XII.2008, leg. M. Irwin & R. Harin’Hala, 2♂ 1♀ ( CAS, codes CASENT2174898 , CASENT2174890 ; MSVI, code CASENT2174954 ); 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 CASENT2174897 ); Tulear ,Ambohimahavelona, 33 km NE of Tulear, 23.440833S 43.899667E, 45 m, 20–27.II.2009, leg. M. Irwin & R. Harin’Hala, 2♂ 2♀ ( CAS, codes CASENT2174883 , CASENT2174887 , CASENT2174888 ; GoogleMaps

MSVI, code CASENT2174884 ); Tulear , Ambohimahavelona, 33 km NE of Tulear, 23.440833S 43.899667E, 45 m, 22.IV–2. GoogleMaps V.2009, leg. M. Irwin & R. Harin’Hala , 1♀ ( CAS, code CASENT2174960 ); Tulear, Ambohimahavelona, 33 km NE of Tulear, 23.440833S 43.899667E, 45 m, 15–27. GoogleMaps V.2009, leg. M. Irwin & R. Harin’Hala , 1♀ ( CAS, code CASENT2174886 ); Tulear, Ambohimahavelona, 33 km NE of Tulear, 23.440833S 43.899667E, 45 m, 10–21.VIII.2009, leg. M. Irwin GoogleMaps & R. Harin’Hala , 1♀ ( MSVI, code CASENT2174937 ); Tulear , Andohahela NP, Tsimelahy, Parcelle II, 24.936833S 46.626667E, 180 m, 16–17.XII.2002, leg. M. Irwin, F. Parker GoogleMaps & R. Harin’Hala , 1♀ ( CAS, code CASENT2118579 ); Tulear, Androimpano Forest, 5 km E of Itampolo, 24.650333S 43.963167E, 130 m, 14–21. GoogleMaps V.2009, leg. M. Irwin & R. Harin’Hala , 1♀ ( CAS, code CASENT2174992 ); Tulear, Androimpano Forest, 5 km E of Itampolo, 24.650333S 43.963167E, 130 m, 3–16.VII.2009, leg. M. Irwin GoogleMaps & R. Harin’Hala , 1♂ ( CAS, code CASENT2174991 ); Tulear, Cap Ste Marie Spec. Res., 74 km S of Tsihombe, 25.587667S 45.163000E, 37 m, 10–20.IX.2003, leg. M. Irwin, F. Parker GoogleMaps & R. Harin’Hala , 2♂ ( CAS, codes CASENT2081332 , CASENT2081333 ); Tulear, Cap Ste Marie Spec. Res., 74 km S of Tsihombe, 25.587667S 45.163000E, 37 m, 20–28.IX.2003, leg. M. Irwin, F. Parker GoogleMaps & R. Harin’Hala , 1♂ ( MSVI, code CASENT2081338 ); Tulear , Tsimanampetsotsa National Park, Mitoho Forest plateau, 24.048500S 43.752500E, 150 m, 18.II–11.III.2009, leg. M. Irwin GoogleMaps & R. Harin’Hala , 2♀ ( CAS, codes CASENT2174946 , CASENT2174947 ) .

Description. Male holotype ( Fig. 37B View FIGURE 37 ). Body length 6.5 mm; fore wing length 5.5 mm.

Head 1.2× as wide as high. Clypeus in frontal view as wide as long, free apical part about as long as interocular part, apical margin deeply emarginate and 0.2× as wide as clypeus, emargination 1.5× as wide as deep, apical teeth subtriangular and flattened with rounded apex; clypeus in lateral view barely convex. Vertex 1.5× as long as ocellocular distance, more or less flattened in lateral view. Gena 0.8× as wide as eye at bottom of ocular sinus; occipital carina complete and shortly lamellate, shorter dorsolaterally on transition from vertex to gena, weakly bent around middle on gena. F1 2.0× as long as wide and 1.35× as long as F2, F2–F3 slightly longer than wide, F3–F9 subquadrate; F11 claw-shaped, in lateral view with convex dorsal margin and straight ventral margin and pointed apex, not reaching base of F9, in dorsal view straight; F8 and F9 with tyloids, linear and ridge-like on F8 and subrectangular on F9. Mesosoma weakly elongate, in dorsal view 1.35× as long as wide, in lateral view slightly longer than high. Pronotum with straight and markedly converging sides; pronotal carina complete, very fine on dorsal face of pronotum and becoming higher on humeri, sharp and shortly lamellate on lateral faces, angled on humeri; pretegular carina sharp but not complete, clearly delimiting an apical concave area. Mesoscutum markedly convex in lateral view, with short hints of notauli in front of scutellum. Scutellum weakly convex and oblique, posterior margin placed much below level of anterior margin, anterior margin coarsely crenate; axillary fossa large and elliptical, longer than one ocellar diameter. Metanotum nearly vertical and strongly bulging dorsally. Tegula about as wide as long, anterior half of outer margin deeply and widely emarginate, appearing straight in dorsal view, so that the outer margin of tegula appears abruptly angled in the middle, posterior lobe short and bluntly angled, equaling parategula; parategula large and robust, basally bent and with partly depressed surface. Mesepisternum convex, separated from epicnemium by fine and blunt epicnemial carina; epimeron somewhat bulging ventrally but not clearly separated. Dorsal margin of metaepisternum produced in a sharp margin forming a small, pointed lobe directed posterolaterally. Propodeum short and weakly oblique in lateral view; dorsal faces of propodeum strongly convex, reaching submarginal carina and widely separated below metanotum; lateral faces of propodeum flattened, posterodorsally separated from dorsal faces but lateral carinae missing; posterior face of propodeum forming a large and deep depression, clearly but not sharply separated from dorsal faces, mid-line with fine longitudinal carina becoming thicker ventrally; submarginal carina of propodeum forming a long subtriangular lobe, fused with propodeal valvula in basal half, apex pointed and curved dorsolaterally. T 1 in dorsal view broadly subtriangular and anteriorly rounded, with sides markedly converging anteriorly, about as long as apically wide; T 1 in lateral view strongly convex in basal half and then shallowly depressed, apical margin thickened. T 2 in dorsal view about as long as wide with convex sides, slightly wider than apical width of T1 and basal margin narrower than apical margin; apical margin of T2 preceded by a shallowly depressed area and then shallowly thickened. S 2 in lateral view more weakly and evenly convex than T2.

Head with oblique punctures on frons, sparse and shallow above antennal insertions and becoming much denser and deeper dorsally, deep and not oblique on vertex; gena with scattered shallow large punctures; clypeus micropunctate in dorsal half and shagreened in ventral half, with few scattered barely visible punctures. Mesosoma similar to vertex but punctures larger, interspaces narrow and convex, shiny with sparse micropunctures; lateral faces of pronotum coarsely striate with few scattered punctures; tegula sparsely micropunctate with few larger punctures; ventral two-thirds of metanotum shiny and almost impunctate; interspaces on mesepisternum reaching one puncture diameter below pleural suture; dorsal faces of propodeum more irregularly punctate, interspaces ridge-like to flattened; metaepisternum and lateral faces of propodeum irregularly microstriate, leather-like, with few sparse small punctures; posterior depression of propodeum smooth and shiny on lateral fifths and obliquely striate on remaining surface. Metasoma with small deep punctures, smaller than those on mesosoma; T1 sparsely punctate especially on sides, anterior sloping part nearly impunctate; T2 densely punctate, interspaces generally narrower than puncture diameter, very dense and coarse on depressed apical area; T3 punctate similar to T2 but punctures sparser; T4–T6 with punctures progressively finer and sparser; T7 micropunctate; S1 weakly shagreened and finely punctate on basal stalk, shiny with small deep punctures arranged in irregular series on enlarged part; S2 with deep sparse punctures of variable size, interspaces ranging from one to four puncture diameters, denser and coarser apically; S3 with large punctures covering most of its surface except extreme sides; S4–S7 similar to respective tergites but punctures sparser. Covered in short silvery pubescence, spare and darker on dorsal parts of head and mesosoma, denser and brighter on frons, gena, sides of mesosoma and propodeum; frons with sparse short erect setae; pubescence on metasoma shorter and denser than on mesosoma, not markedly metallic.

Black with the following pale-yellow parts: mandible except margins, clypeus except narrow margins and broad transverse band, spot at bottom of ocular sinus, line on gena behind dorsal lobe of eye, complete and regular band covering the anterior third of pronotum, posterior half of tegula, parategula, small posterolateral spots on scutellum, metanotum except posterior margin, large spot on mesepisternum below tegula, small apical spots on propodeum extending on projections of submarginal carina, laterally expanded apical band on T1, broad and sinuate apical band on T2 extending along lateral margins of tergite, S4–S6 with laterally abbreviated apical band, S2 with a large band similar to T2 but more strongly sinuate, large semicircular spot in middle of S3, small irregular spot in middle of S4, ventroapical spot on mid coxa, most of outer face of fore and mid legs and hind tibia, small apical spot on hind femur. Posterior margin of pronotum and tegula ferruginous-red. Scape and dark parts of legs irregularly marked with ferruginous-brown. Wings fusco-hyaline with brown tinge.

Female. Differing from male as follows: clypeus 1.15× as long as wide, apical margin 0.2× as wide as clypeus and very shallowly emarginate with broadly rounded apical teeth, vertex 1.4× as long as ocellocular distance, cephalic foveae very close to each other and separated by about their diameter, not housed in a modified area, gena 0.75× as wide as eye at bottom of ocular sinus, mesosoma more elongate and with more convex sides, 1.4× as long as wide, T1 more elongate and more clearly subtriangular, punctures of metasoma generally finer and T3 sculpted similar to following tergites, legs with brighter ferruginous markings and less extensive pale-yellow markings, T6 with a central elliptical pale-yellow spot.

Variability. The paratypes show great variability in the extension of the pale markings, which can be variably extended in comparison with the holotype, in particular the yellow markings of clypeus can be reduced or almost cover the whole clypeus, and the tergites and sternites starting from T3 and S3 can have more or less abundant markings. One male paratype from Cap Ste Marie special reserve has lateral yellow spots on T2.

Distribution. Madagascar: Toliara ( Fig. 64N View FIGURE 64 ).

Etymology. The specific epithet refers to the abundant yellow markings of this species, in opposition to the usually much darker pattern observed in Leptomenes .