Mesoconius epandribarba Marshall 2019, sp. nov.

Mesoconius epandribarba sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 39ECDB1C-D9C9-48E7-B339-5095F1CB0A48

Fig. 8

The specific name is a noun referring to the beard-like posteroventral corner of the epandrium.

Holotype

COLOMBIA • ♂; Boyacá, SFF Iguaque, La Planada; 05°25ʹ N, 73°27ʹ W; 2850 m a.s.l.; 6–23 May 2000; P. Reina leg.; Malaise trap; IAVH.

Paratypes

COLOMBIA • 1 ♀; Boyacá, SFF Iguaque, Cabaña Carrizal; 05°25ʹ N, 73°27ʹ W; 2850 m a.s.l.; 16 Apr.–2 May 2001; P. Reina leg.; IAVH • 1 ♀; Boyacá, SFF Iguaque, Quebrada Los Francos; 05°25ʹ N, 73°27ʹ W; 2860 m a.s.l.; 7–24 Feb. 2001; P. Reina leg.; IAVH • 1 ♂; Boyacá, SFF Iguaque, La Planada; 05°25ʹ N, 73°27ʹ W; 2850 m a.s.l.; 19 Apr.–6 May 2000; P. Reina leg.; Malaise trap; MYCRO328-18 sequenced for CO1; IAVH • 1 ♀; Boyacá, SFF Iguaque; 05°25ʹ12ʺ N, 73°27ʹ24ʺ W; 2850 m a.s.l.; 25 Jun.–13 Jul. 2000; P. Reina leg.; Malaise trap; IAVH • 1 ♂; Boyacá, SFF Iguaque, La Planada; 05°25ʹ N, 73°27ʹ W; 2850 m a.s.l.; 13–30 Jul. 2000; P. Reina leg.; Malaise trap; IAVH.

LENGTH. 17–20 mm.

COLOUR. Head black, except as follows: parafacial, postgena and most of gena silvery microtrichose, middle part of gena shiny brown ventrally; palpus pale dull yellow, darker basally; lower face pale, face and clypeus otherwise brown to black. Cervical sclerite reddish brown and subshining. Thorax mostly black, notum with dull silvery longitudinal lateral vittae continuous with broader postsutural vittae running over supra-alar area to side of scutellum; scutellum reddish brown; dorsocentral bristle inserted in reddish prescutellar patches. Fore coxa black, fore femur yellow except for brown apex, mid and hind femora black on basal quarter to half, otherwise bright yellow; mid and hind tibiae yellowish brown, tarsi brown but densely black setose. Wing uniformly and conspicuously yellow, without clear spots or bands. Abdomen with tergites black and pleuron pale; oviscape shiny reddish brown, except for dark apex.

HEAD. Epicephalon and paracephalon finely striate, dull; frontal vitta sharply tapered posterior to ocelli, broad anterior to ocelli, with an anteromedial point reaching anterior margin of frons; inner vertical bristle strong, with four–five setulae near base. One strong fronto-orbital bristle inserted in a discrete patch of thick white microtrichia near lower margin of epicephalon. Upper face broadly raised, white microtrichosity of lower face extending dorsally almost to lunule, subantennal areas microtrichose on outer half.

THORAX. Cervical sclerite with a vertical groove separating a large subquadrate posterior portion from a small anterior portion. Notum finely and densely microtrichose, acrostichal and dorsocentral setulae in distinct rows, scattered setulae also present anterolaterally. Postpronotal lobe densely microtrichose, with several scattered small pale bristles, anterior margin bare, shiny and almost vertical, posterior margin bare and sloped. Dorsocentral bristle golden, longer than scutellar length (right dorsocentral black on one female paratype). Scutellum with four small discal setulae and long, closely spaced golden apical bristles (longer than scutellum). Katatergite very prominent, with a long, nipple-like, microtrichose pointed process. Anterior notopleural bristle golden; posterior bristle black, on a microtrichose patch. Vertical row of katepisternal bristles brown. All coxae with black anteroventral setae, mid coxae with some golden setae.

ABDOMEN. Abdominal segment 1 and base of segment 2 petiolate, length of 1+2 slightly more than double length of T3. T1 setose, with preapical long, thin lateral setae.

FEMALE ABDOMEN. Oviscape bare except for scattered setulae, microtrichose apex and a narrow preapical band of microtrichia. Bursa broad, ventral receptacle small and inconspicuous; single spermathecal duct short and branching off side of a broad and parallel-sided common duct that continues unmodified as proximal half of paired spermathecal duct, distal half slightly narrower, relatively smooth (indistinctly striate). Paired spermathecae pipe-shaped, expanded distally to invaginated apex, surface transverse striate, stem (beyond division of paired duct) broad and conspicuously coiled and tuberculate, darker at base of spermatheca. Single spermathecal duct similar in texture to distal part of paired spermathecal duct but much smaller, single spermatheca elongate and tubercle-studded, separated from stem by a small spherical swelling.

MALE ABDOMEN. Sternite 5 long and thin, similar to S4; S6 large, tapered anteriorly, expanded and notched posteromedially. Synsternite 7–8 mostly microtrichose, shiny and bare on anterior third of S8, contrasting with dull, microtrichose preceding sclerites and microtrichose epandrium; S7 with a very broad but unmodified ventral part. Sternite 8 larger than epandrium, epandrium short dorsally and elongate ventrally, microtrichose but sparsely setose, except for a dense and prominent patch of setae posteroventrally; cercus small but distinct. Hypandrium elongate and slender, extending to anterior margin of T6, anterior apex not expanded. Basiphallus small, not extending beyond base of distiphallus. Basal part of distiphallus very short, narrow basally, distally abruptly expanding to enclose a small phallic bulb; distal part of distiphallus slender, parallel-sided, more than twice as long as basal distiphallus. Ejaculatory apodeme similar in size to epandrium.

Mesoconius epandribarba sp. nov., M. nigripleuron sp. nov. and M. auristrigatus are closely related and very similar.