Nesostenodontus mkomazi ( Rousse & van Noort, 2013 ), 2023

Nesostenodontus mkomazi ( Rousse & van Noort, 2013) comb. nov.

Figs 32–34 View Fig View Fig View Fig

Heterischnus mkomazi Rousse & van Noort, 2013: 51 View Cited Treatment (original description, key).

Heterischnus mkomazi – Yu et al. 2016 (catalogue).

Original type series

Holotype: ♂, by original designation ( SAMC)

Paratype: 1 ♂ ( MNHN)

Type locality

Tanzania: Mkomazi Game Reserve.

Material examined

Holotype

TANZANIA • ♂; “[White label] TAZANIA, Mkomazi / Game Reserve / Kisima Plot, / 16 April-2 May 1996 // [White label] 406.06’S 3805.58’E / S. van Noort / Malaise trap, Acacia / / Commiphora bushland // [White label] SAM-HYM- / P016166 // [Red label] HOLOTYPE ♂ / Heterischnus mkomazi / Rousse & van Noort, 2013 // [Yellow label] IMAGED / WaspWeb / SAMC 2012 View Materials // [Second Yellow label] IMAGED / WaspWeb / LAS 4.9 / SAMC 2022 View Materials ”; SAMC.

Distribution

Senegal ( Rousse et al. 2013); Tanzania ( Rousse et al. 2013).

Remarks

The species mkomazi was originally placed in Heterischnus by Rousse et al. (2013), based on two male specimens, one from Tanzania ( holotype) and the other from Senegal ( paratype). However, despite its original generic placement, mkomazi differs from previous ( Perkins 1959; Selfa & Diller 1994) and recent ( Claridge 2021b) diagnoses of Heterischnus in the following morphological features: gena grossly swollen (not swollen in Heterischnus ) ( Fig. 33 View Fig ); scutellum nearly flat (convex and distinctly elevated above post-scutellum in Heterischnus ) ( Fig. 33B View Fig ); propodeum posteriorly sloping and without distinct dorsal and posterior faces (propodeum with distinct faces in Heterischnus ) ( Fig. 34A View Fig ); propodeal spiracle oval-shaped (circular and small in Heterischnus ) ( Fig. 34A View Fig ); and gastrocoeli and thyridia obsolete (well distinct in Heterischnus ) ( Fig. 34B View Fig ).

The above features are instead shared with the genus Nesostenodontus Cushman, 1922 , from which it slightly differs by the ventral margin of the clypeus, which is irregularly emarginate in mkomazi as opposed to strongly dentate in bakeri (the type species) ( Cushman 1922: 554) ( Fig. 32A View Fig ). However, this difference can be regarded as a simple variation within the genus. Moreover, three other unidentified Afrotropical specimens were located at EMUS, belonging to the genus Nesostenondontus . However, their species identity remains, at the moment, doubtful. Therefore, because of the above shared features of H. mkomazi with Nesostenodontus , and based on an examination of the new material, we feel confident in proposing a new combination for mkomazi : Nesostenodontus mkomazi ( Rousse & van Noort, 2013) comb. nov.

Nesostenodontus was previously known only from three described species in the Indo-Malaysian region ( Cushman 1922, 1937; Heinrich 1934; Gupta 1988), but it is herewith also recorded for the first time from the Afrotropical region, specifically in Tanzania and Senegal ( N. mkomazi ) ( Rousse et al. 2013), and Sierra Leone and South Africa (undescribed species at EMUS). Because of this generic transfer, the genus Heterischnus is no longer recorded for Senegal ( Table 1).