Colochela Malaise 1937

Colochela Malaise, 1937, genus re-established

Colochela Malaise, 1937: 48. Type species: Colochela rufidorsata Malaise, 1937, by original designation.

Description. Body robust; black, mesonotum sometimes red; forewing strongly infuscate (Figs 1 a–c, e–j). Head slightly narrower than thorax; clypeus long, breadth between two basal lateral corners less than 2 times middle length, anterior margin truncate or with a very shallow and broad incision (Figs 2 d–f); mandibles short, subsymmetrically bidentate (Fig. 3a); labrum small, anterior margin roundly protruding; palpi of mouthparts hardly reduced (Figs 3 b–c); eyes short elliptical, inner margins weakly convex, distinctly convergent downwards; interocular distance at level of lateral corners of clypeus equal to or slightly broader than longest axis of eye; malar space shorter than diameter of an ocellus; distance between antennal sockets broader than distance between antennal socket and inner margin of eye (Figs 2 d–f); postorbit round, not broader than breadth of eye in lateral view, occipital carina absent; frons small, frontal ridge broad and obtuse; postocellar area broader than long; in dorsal view lateral sides of head behind eyes subparallel or narrowing backwards; inner orbit weakly oblique (Figs 2a–c); supra-antennal tubercle absent; antenna stout, not longer than head and thorax combined, 2nd antennomere longer than broad, 3rd antennomere as long as or slightly shorter than 4th and 5th antennomeres combined (Figs 3 e– g). Anterior lobe of pronotum very short, about 2 times as long as diameter of lateral ocellus, marginal carina absent; ventral margins of propleuron narrowly and roundly meeting; anterior of mesoscutellum distinctly and roundly protruding, broad furrow before mesoscutellum roundly bent; mesoscutellar appendage (posttergite) short and glabrous; anterior marginal carina of mesepisternum developed; distance between cenchri about 2 times as broad as a cenchrus; anterior basin of metascutellum broad and deep; metapostnotum strongly oblique, divided into two narrow triangular plates by protruding middle corner of first abdominal tergite (Figs 3 h–j); dorsal apical lobe of metepimeron elliptical with a short but distinct middle petiole. Hind coxa not strongly enlarged; apex of inner tibial spur of fore leg distinctly bifurcate; hind tibia slightly longer than hind tarsus, hind tibial spur slightly longer than apical width of tibia or about 0.3 times of metabasitarsus; metabasitarsus about as long as following 3 tarsomeres combined in length, tarsal pulvillus medium-sized; claw without basal lobe, inner tooth much longer and broader than outer tooth (Fig. 3 d). Fore wing narrow and long, vein 1M slightly shorter than 1m-cu, cell 2Rs much longer than 1R1+1Rs, anal cell with a very short cross vein at basal 0.3 or without cross vein; vein cu-a meeting cell 1M at basal 0.15–0.25, vein 2A+3A quite close to vein 1A at basal 0.3 with distance between them about as broad as width of vein 1A at that point; hind wing with cell Rs and M closed, hind anal cell with a short petiole (Figs 1 a–c, 1e–j). Setae on sheath long and strongly curved (Figs 2 j–l). Lancet distinctly sclerotized, subbasal teeth of serrula indistinct or absent (Figs 4 a–i). Penis valve strongly sclerotized, without long dorsal hook, with some fine dorsal marginal teeth, apical margin of valviceps with broad and more or less curved lateral lobe (Figs 5 j–r).

Distribution. East Asia (China, Nepal, North India, Thailand, Laos). The genus is firstly recorded from Nepal and Thailand.

Remarks. Malaise (1937) stated in his brief original description of Colochela that “[Colochela] also like and closely related to Colochelyna Konow, but the lanceolate cell strongly contracted in the basal third and there with a very short, perpendicular cross-vein, that is rather hard to see due to the infuscation of the wing”. Those were the only two diagnostic characters pointed out by Malaise (Malaise 1937, 1945). In fact, “the anal cell of forewing strongly contracted in basal fourth (not basal third)” is really a good character to separate Colochela from Colochelyna and Neocolochelyna, but the “very short, perpendicular cross-vein” in the basal fourth of anal cell in forewing is not stable within Colochela. As described below, Colochela nigrata does have a short and perpendicular cross-vein and C. zhongi usually also has a short and perpendicular cross-vein, but the basal crossvein in C. rufidorsata Malaise, the type species of Colochela, is usually absent.

Colochela Malaise, 1937 was regarded as a junior synonym of Neocolochelyna Malaise, 1937 by some sawfly researchers (Lacourt 1997; Wei & Nie 1998; Taeger et al. 2010). The comparison of the morphology of the type species of Colochela Malaise and the type species of Neocolochelyna shows that Colochela is distinct from Neocolochelyna and Colochelyna. The three genera can be separated by the following key.