Siobla pulchra Shinohara, Wei & Niu, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Shinohara, Akihiko
name: Wei, Meicai
name: Niu, Gengyun
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2013
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Tenthredinidae
Siobla
Siobla pulchra

description: Siobla pulchra Shinohara, Wei & Niu, sp. nov.
(Figs 2 g–h, 5o–p, 6g, 7g, 8g, p, 9a–e, 10a, e)
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:2A07DDB0-3BA3-4567-BD9B-5F4D0A67CD54
Siobla ferox: Naito et al., 2004: 56 (in part). Not Smith (1874). Siobla sp. 1: Tanaka & Tanaka, 2007: 109.
Description. Female. Holotype (Figs 2 g, 5o). Length 15.0 mm. Head and thorax black with following parts yellow white: clypeus, labrum, middle of mandible, antenna, posterior corner of pronotum, tegula, mesoscutellum, mesoscutellar appendage, metascutellum, minute stripe on middle of mesepimeron, and upper margin of metepimeron; palpi, narrow stripe on upper half of inner orbit, broad anterior stripe on upper half of hind orbit, and posterior part of postocellar area yellow brown. Abdomen yellow white with tergum 1 largely, small macula on tergum 3, most of terga 4 and 8 dorsally, terga 5–7 dorsally, and basal half of tergum 9 black. Legs yellow brown with base of fore coxa, middle and hind coxae, and apical 0.65 of hind femur black, and ventral side of hind tibia dark brown at apex. Body hairs yellow brown. Wings hyaline with weak yellow brown tinge, apical third distinctly infuscated, vein C and stigma yellow brown, other veins black brown. Apex of hind wing slightly grayish.
Dorsum of head coarsely and densely punctured, interspaces between punctures on temple hardly recognizable, without microsculpture; clypeus shallowly and densely punctured, shiny; labrum shallowly and sparsely punctured; punctuation on dorsum of thorax similar to head; mesoscutellum matt, extremely densely punctured; mesoscutellar appendage polished, shiny, lateral corners microsculptured; metascutellum densely and coarsely punctured, anterior slope with linear interspaces between punctures; metapostnotum polished, shiny; mesepisternum feebly shiny, dorsal half coarsely and densely punctured and ventral half with small and shallow, dense, punctures; metepisternum with dorsal part densely punctured and ventral part sparsely punctured, shiny; middle and posterior part of metepimeron shiny, dorsal part of metepimeron coarsely and densely punctured; abdominal terga 1–3 strongly shiny, without microsculpture, other terga weakly microsculptured, terga 4–9 laterally and outer side of hind coxa shallowly and sparsely punctured.
Hairs on temple straight, 1× diameter of median ocellus. Clypeus 2.2 × as broad as long, with anterior margin truncate; malar space 1× diameter of median ocellus; lower interocular distance 1.2 × eye height (Fig. 10a); anterior margin of supraantennal tubercle elevated, small, posteriorly confluent with frontal ridge; middle fovea round and broad, deep; lateral fovea small and deep; interocellar furrow narrow and deep; postocellar furrows broad and shallow; postocellar area weakly elevated, as high as top of ocelli, with sharp middle carina, about 1.4 × as broad as long; lateral furrows deep, distinctly curved outwards in anterior half and subparallel posteriorly; head behind eyes slightly shorter than eyes in dorsal view, convex at basal 0.4 and distinctly narrowing posteriorly (Fig. 9a). Antenna shorter than vein C of forewing, about as long as head, thorax and abdominal tergum 1 together; pedicel slightly longer than broad, antennomere 3 1.5 × as long as antennomere 4, subapical antennomeres slightly enlarged, antennomere 7 2 × as long as broad (Fig. 9e). Middle furrow on pronotum deep; mesoscutellum weakly elevated, anterior slope quite flat, much longer than posterior slope, without peak and carina; mesoscutellar appendage almost flat, without middle carina; mesepisternum roundly elevated, ventral spur absent. Apex of hind tibia distinctly enlarged; metabasitarsus 3.8 × as long as broad, 1.1 × length of following 3 tarsomeres combined; hind inner tibial spur 0.5 × length of metabasitarsus; pulvilli small, distance between basal two pulvilli 2.5 × length of second pulvillus. Hind wing with petiole of anal cell 0.7 × length of cu-a. Abdominal tergum 1 with distinctly elongated carina just above spiracle; sternum 7 with each lateral part roundly incised; ovipositor sheath 0.93 × length of middle tibia, apical sheath subequal in length to basal sheath (Fig. 9d); lancet as in Fig. 6 g, middle serrulae as in Fig. 7 g.
Male. Paratype from Nakayama-toge. Length 14.0 mm (Figs 2 h, 5p). Head and thorax black, labrum, mesoscutellum, mesoscutellar appendage, metascutellum and dorsum of metepimeron yellow white; palpi and tegula yellow brown; antenna yellow brown, scape entirely and pedicel largely black; abdomen yellow brown, basal 0.65 of tergum 1 and dorsum of terga 5–8 black. Legs yellow brown; each coxa, broad and long inner stripe and outer apical 0.35 of hind femur black; dorsal stripe on fore and middle femora and ventral half of hind tibia black brown. Punctuation and structure similar to female except as follows: eyes large, shortest distance between eyes almost as long as height of eye; malar space 0.8 × diameter of lateral ocellus (Fig. 9c); lateral side of temples strongly narrowed backward in dorsal view (Fig. 9b); pulvilli minute; subgenital plate longer than broad, apex round; penis valve as in Fig. 8 p; gonoforceps as in Fig. 8 g, harpe broad, less than 2 × as long as broad.
Etymology. The specific epithet, meaning beautiful, refers to the appearance of the new species.
Distribution. Japan (Hokkaido, Honshu).
Holotype (Figs 2 g, 5o): ♀, [JAPAN: Honshu], Minoto, 1850m, Yatsugatake Mts., Nagano Pref. 25–29. VII. 2000, A. Shinohara, NSMT-I-HYM 68233, genitalia slide N20131105A (NSMT). Paratypes: 17 specimens (6♀ and 9♂, see Appendix).
Variation. The length varies from 13.5 to 15.0 mm in the female and 12.5 to 14.0 mm in the male. The female specimens examined show little variation in colour pattern. The valvifer 2 (basal sheath) is subequal in length to or slightly longer than the valvifer 3 (apical sheath). Five males from Hyogo Prefecture, western Honshu, have the broad anterior margin of the clypeus pale yellow medially and the hind femur largely black. The ranges of some ratio variations are given in the key.
Remarks. This new species belongs to the ferox group defined by Niu & Wei (2010) and is similar to S. fulvomarginata Wei & Nie, 1999, from Henan and Hunan Provinces, China. Siobla pulchra differs from S. fulvomarginata in the following features: head and thorax in both sexes largely black with a few yellow white maculae; eyes small, shortest distance between them longer than height of eye; postocellar area with distinct middle carina; dorsum of mesoscutellum flat, below top of mesoscutum; tergum 1 with distinct carina just lateral of spiracle; dorsum of head and thorax coarsely and densely punctured; apical 0.3 of forewing distinctly infuscate; tergum 1 and dorsum of terga 5–8 largely black and male subgenital plate longer than broad.
Siobla pulchra differs from the Japanese congeners in the following characters. Female: clypeus, entire antenna, mesoscutellum, mesoscutellar appendage, metascutellum, and valvifer 2 (basal sheath) yellowish white; upper hind orbit and postocellar area marked with yellowish brown; postocellar area with distinct middle carina; forewing apically distinctly infuscated; mesoscutellum weakly raised; hind tibia mostly orange, with only obscure black spot near apex; tergum 1 largely black; abdominal segments 4 to 7 mostly whitish or pale orange ventrally; sternum 7 with each lateral part roundly incised; valvifer 2 (basal sheath) subequal in length to or slightly longer than valvifer 3 (apical sheath). Male: Clypeus entirely black or with broad anterior margin pale yellow medially; antenna yellowish white, with scape and most of pedicel black, and flagellomere 1 partly darkened; mesoscutellum, mesoscutellar appendage and metascutellum whitish yellow; mesoscutellum weakly swollen; forewing apically distinctly infuscated; hind tibia mostly orange, with only obscure black spot near apex; tergum 1 with basal half black.
Tanaka & Tanaka (2007) noted that their Siobla sp. 1 “resembles S. ferox but the apex of the forewing is dark and there is a difference in hind tibia” (original in Japanese, p. 109; see also fig. 1 in p. 113). This species is probably S. pulchra.
description: Published as part of Shinohara, Akihiko, Wei, Meicai & Niu, Gengyun, 2013, Revision of Siobla (Hymenoptera, Tenthredinidae) from Japan, pp. 1-40 in Zootaxa 3746 (1) on pages 18-21, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3746.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/285294