Arpactophilus merle Breitkreuz, Ohl & Engel, 2016, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Breitkreuz, Laura C. V.
name: Ohl, Michael
name: Engel, Michael S.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Crabronidae
Arpactophilus
Arpactophilus merle

description: Arpactophilus merle sp. nov.
(Figs. 1, 19, 71–72)
Diagnosis. Arpactophilus merle is the only New Caledonian species in the genus with multiple teeth on the inner side of the pretarsal claws. Additionally of that the species can be distinguished by the combination of a yellow mesoscutellum (Fig. 19), a black mesoscutum, and a laterally yellow, medially brown clypeus that has a medially projecting apical margin with a broad V-shaped incision (Fig. 71).
Description. FEMALE: Total length 3.8–4.8 mm, mean = 4.6 mm; forewing length 2.5–3.0 mm, mean = 2.8 mm.
Body black or dark brown, with areas of light yellow. Light yellow: clypeus laterally (Fig. 71); mandible; labrum; palpi; antenna; band close to inner compound eye margin, extending from clypeus to middle of frons (on same level as scape), with upper order truncate (Fig. 71); area around mandibular base; anterior pronotal margin; pronotal lobe; most of mesoscutellum (Fig. 19); tegula; legs (metatibia often slightly darker). Wings hyaline; pterostigma dark brown.
Head about 0.9 × as long as wide in frontal view. Apical margin of clypeus medially projecting, with deep Vshaped incision (Fig. 71). Apical margin of labrum projecting, with deep V-shaped incision. Ventral mandibular tooth about ¼–1/5 of total mandibular length, not reaching opposite mandibular base. Palpal formula 4:3. Frons imbricate with sparse punctation and short setae. Frontal carina present from median ocellus to upper half of clypeus. Scape 5.4 × as long as wide. Ocellar triangle anterior of tangent between upper posterior orbits of compound eyes, lateral ocelli anterior of tangent by more than their diameter. Occipital carina interrupted dorsally (Fig. 6). Gena imbricate with sparse setae, without tubercles, spines, or dorsoventral carina. Hypostomal midventral line faint, not angulate.
Mesosoma about 1.8 × as long as wide in dorsal view. Propodeum about 1.1 × as long as wide in dorsal view. Mesosoma imbricate and punctate (Fig. 72), except propodeum; lateral surface of propodeum transversely carinulate; dorsal surface of propodeum coarsely reticulate with a pattern of transverse carinae (Fig. 19). Pitted sulcus present posterior to mesoscuto-mesoscutellar sulcus. Hypersternal sulcus a broad pitted area up to one-half of mesopleuron length. Metafemur 3.6 × as long as wide. Metatibia without differently colored area apically. Pretarsal claws with several teeth (4–5). Forewing with two submarginal cells; anterior border of submarginal cell II shorter than posterior border. Hind wing with five distal hamuli.
Metasoma polished, sparsely punctured (Fig. 72). Metasomal sternum II without bulge (Fig. 1). Pygidium with narrow brush of silk setae apically.
MALE: Difference from female aside from genitalic structures: clypeus more blunt; generally lighter brown; mesoscutellum light brown. Metasomal sternum VIII neither broadened nor narrowed.
Remarks. Arpactophilus merle is easily identifiable by its unique pattern of coloration. As in A. nere, A. paici, and A. scutellaris the mesoscutellum is mostly yellow, but A. merle differs from these species in the coloration of head and body. The species has dorsally truncate yellow markings on the frons and a laterally yellow and medially brown clypeus (Fig. 71). Similarly to A. nere the body is mostly dark brown, but the two species are most easily distinguishable by the form of the clypeus and labrum, which is both have pointed long teeth in A. nere (Fig. 77). Some specimens of A. fwai have a yellowish mesoscutellum, but they differ from A. merle and A. nere by having a completely yellow clypeus (Fig. 55) and from A. scutellaris and A. paici by their dark brown or black ventral meso- and metasoma (Fig. 56).
Material examined. HOLOTYPE ♀: “ NEW CALEDONIA 8683: 20°58’S x 165°17’E, 500m, Pic d’Amoa, N slopes. 10–24 Nov 2001. C. Burwell & G. Monteith. Malaise trap” [QM].
PARATYPES 11♀, 1♂:
♀: (1x) “ NEW CALEDONIA 8683: 20°58’S x 165°17’E, 500m, Pic d’Amoa, N slopes. 10–24 Nov 2001. C. Burwell & G. Monteith. Malaise trap” [QM]; (1x) “ NEW CALEDONIA 8711: 21°11’S x 165°18’E, 850m, Aoupinie top camp. 3–23 Nov 2001. C. Burwell & G. Monteith. Malaise, rainforest” [QM]; (2x) “ NEW CALEDONIA 8905: 20°58’S x 165°17’E, 500m, Pic d’Amoa, N slopes. 24 Nov 2001 – 31 Jan 2002. Burwell, Monteith. Malaise” [QM]; (6x) “ NEW CALEDONIA 8926: 21°11’S x 165°18’E, 850m, Aoupinie top camp. 23 Nov 2001 – 1 Feb 2002. Burwell, Monteith. Malaise” [QM]; (2x) “ NEW CALEDONIA 9964: 20°33’S x 164°46’E, 900m, Mt Panie track. 25 Sep–19 Nov 2000. Skevington & Burwell. Malaise” [ZMB].
♂: “ NEW CALEDONIA 8926: 21°11’S x 165°18’E, 850m, Aoupinie top camp. 23 Nov 2001 – 1 Feb 2002. Burwell, Monteith. Malaise” [QM].
Etymology. The species is named after the first author’s sister Merle Breitkreuz. The name is treated as a noun in apposition.
description: Published as part of Breitkreuz, Laura C. V., Ohl, Michael & Engel, Michael S., 2016, A review of the New Caledonian Arpactophilus (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae), pp. 1-66 in Zootaxa 4063 (1) on pages 33-35, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4063.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/270412