Ropalidia barbata Polasek 2025, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Polašek, Ozren
name: Onah, Ikechukwu
name: Kehinde, Tope
name: Rojo, Veronica
name: Noort, Simon Van
name: Carpenter, James M.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Vespidae
Ropalidia
Ropalidia barbata

description: Ropalidia barbata Polašek sp. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 7D816B66-CBEC-4CEB-8EB5-E949BB8E1F54
Type specimens. Holotype: Banankeledaga, Burkina Faso, 1♂ (MSNV.107). Paratype: Koro, Burkina Faso, 1♀ (MSNV). The total number of examined specimens: 1♂, 1♀.
Diagnosis. A member of the capensis -group, which is so far only known from Western Africa (Burkina Faso). Morphological features include a very wide clypeus in females, a specific pattern of clypeal pubescence in both sexes, a darker apical spot of the fore wing, and rounded male head, with curved terminal flagellomere and weak tyloids.
Description. Females. Wing length: 6.9 mm. Colour. Basal colour brown. Yellow areas include clypeus (except small triangular brown area), inner orbit, mandible (except central, elongated, irregular brown line; Figure 10a), slightly thickened line underneath pronotal carina (Figure 83a), two postero-lateral suffused spots on metanotum, entire ventral surface of coxa I, lateral lines on coxa II and III, thicker band on T2 and disproportionally thinner band on S2, and additional yellow band on T3 and corresponding short lateral triangles on S3 (Figure 83a). Remaining metasomal segments light brownish, more lightly coloured than most T2 surface. Wings transparent, stigma and nervature brown, apical spot brown and well developed (Figure 10c). Legs brown, tarsi II and III slightly darker (Figure 83a). Antenna brownish, infuscated dorsally, orange ventrally (Figure 10a, b).
Head. Clypeus very wide, about 1.4 times as wide as long (Figure 10a). Upes straight, oculo-clypeal angle acute, apex longer, juxtamandibular lobes weakly developed. Basal clypeus surface covered by small, sparse and poorly defined punctures that turns to poorly defined craters towards the apex (Figure 10a). Clypeus base covered by short, brightly silvery pubescence, which becomes longer at juxtamandibular lobe where it creates specific tuft (Figure 10b). Inner orbit impunctate, covered by short, bright-silvery pubescence that becomes golden on the frons and vertex; frons and vertex covered by small and shallow punctures, barely discernible underneath pubescence. Tempora thin, more coarsely punctate. Gena very thin, about 0.5 time as wide as eye, covered by intermediate-sized, deeper and well-defined punctures even close to occipital carina; it is covered by similarly bright-silvery pubescence. Mandible with stronger base and stronger basal excavation. Scape longer than AF1, AF2 about as long as wide (Figure 52a).
Mesosoma. Mesosoma covered by short yellowish pubescence, somewhat longer towards distal part of propodeum. Parapsidal furrow and median suture of mesonotum developed, scutellum without median sulcus, metanotum with wide impunctate area. Propodeal excavation rounded, inferior propodeal carina not developed.
Metasoma. T1 pyriform and globular, with sparse and well-defined punctures posteriorly; T1 covered by short yellowish pubescence and some longer protruding setae. T2 elongated, with less parallel sides, covered by small, shallow and regular punctures; those on S2 less dense. T2 lamella yellow, transparent; T2/S2 notch wide and obtuse, T2/S2 suture visible almost along entire segment length (Figure 83a).
Males resemble females. Wing length: 6.8 mm. Colour. Basal colour and markings correspond to females, except for more overall yellow: clypeus, interantennal area, inner orbit and mandibles yellow (Figure 52a). Coxa yellow (including markings on coxa II and III), anterior surface of mesopleuron with yellow spot. T1 with three yellow triangular markings correspond to remnants of posterior yellow band (Figure 83b). Antenna ferruginous from above, orange-yellowish underneath; scape yellow underneath (Figure 52a).
Head. Clypeus specifically shaped; wider than long (about 1.4 times as wide as long), with elongated and curved upes, obtuse OC angle, somewhat projecting apex, with mildly obtuse tip and deeper juxtamandibular notches (Figure 52a). Basal surface of clypeus covered by sparse and very weakly defined punctures, apex nearly impunctate. Mandible somewhat widened but without basal sulcus (as seen in R. valentula sp. nov. or R. luculenta sp. nov.). Gena about 0.6 times of eye width, covered by large and intermediately developed punctures that gradually dissipates towards vertex; frons with sparse and intermediately developed punctures, covered by yellowish pubescence and longer yellowish setae, with forwardly bent tips. Clypeal apex covered by specific silvery pubescence, slightly longer and denser in juxtamandibular notch area; similar pubescence extends onwards to gena, giving males an overall “bearded” appearance (Figure 52a). Scape about as long as pedicel+AF1, AF2 about 1.2 times as long as wide. Tyloids very narrow, underdeveloped (least developed of all capensis -group species males), originate from distal third of AF1, gradually widening on more distal flagellomeres, where they occupy at most one third of inner surface (Figure 52b). Tyloids almost similar in proximal-distal direction, as opposed to R. antennata (DE SAUSSURE), with asymmetrical shape of tyloids. In addition, tyloids are aligned with flagellomere axis. Terminal flagellomere substantially narrower than AF10, unevenly curved, tip subacute; overall, tyloids less prominent (Figure 52b). Eyes asetose (Figure 52a).
Mesosoma. Tarsal spur I with moderately developed fang. Femur II and III with few, barely protruding setae (in contrast to numerous protruding setae present in R. antennata DE SAUSSURE males).
Metasoma. S7 flattened, not concave.
Distribution. Burkina Faso.
Etymology. The name is the Latin adjective barbatus -a -um (“bearded”), in reference to the pubescence of clypeus and gena.
Similar species. Both females and males have sufficient morphological features that allow easy separation from other species. Only one more species from the capensis -group is present in this region, R. antennata (DE SAUSSURE).
Genetics. Not attempted due to old specimen age.
description: Published as part of Polašek, Ozren, Onah, Ikechukwu, Kehinde, Tope, Rojo, Veronica, Noort, Simon Van & Carpenter, James M., 2025, Revision of the mainland African species of the Old World social wasp genus Ropalidia Guérin-Méneville 1831 (Hymenoptera; Vespidae), pp. 1-142 in Zootaxa 5626 (1) on pages 70-71, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5626.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/15325272