Tobantilla kolasma Williams, Brothers & Pitts, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Williams, Kevin A.
name: Brothers, Denis J.
name: Pitts, James P.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2011
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Mutillidae
Tobantilla
Tobantilla kolasma

description: Tobantilla kolasma Williams, Brothers & Pitts, sp. nov.
(Figs 4, 10, 38)
Diagnosis. FEMALE. The head and mesosoma are pale brown (Fig. 4); the scutellar scale is contiguous with the carinae that separate the dorsal and posterior propodeal faces (Fig. 4); the posterior propodeal face is clothed with dense black setae (Fig. 10); and the pygidial plate is defined by lateral carinae.
Description. FEMALE. Body length 4.5–5.5 mm. Coloration. Head, mesosoma, legs, antennae and mandibles pale brown. Metasoma brown except T2–4 dark brown to black; T2 having two pairs of yellow circular spots, anterior pair of spots longitudinally ovate, slightly larger than posterior circular pair. Tibial spurs white. Head and mesosoma clothed with pale golden or silvery setae, except medial portion of mesosoma having interspersed black and golden setae, area directly anterior to scutellar scale clothed with black setae, posterior face of propodeum densely clothed with thick black setae, and dorsum of head and mesosoma having a few scattered erect brown setae. T2–3 clothed with black setae, except lateral margins and integumental spots clothed with silver setae. T5–6 and S1–6 clothed with silvery white setae. Head. Rounded posteriorly, with lowly produced rectangular glabrous tubercles on posterolateral margin. Head width 1.1 × pronotal width. Eye almost circular. Front, vertex and gena reticulate. Genal carina lowly produced, extending anteriorly to hypostomal carina. Mandible oblique, tapering, bidentate apically, unarmed ventrally. Antennal scrobe with weak dorsal carina. Antennal tubercle moderately punctate basally. Scape simply punctate. Flagellomere 1 1.5 × pedicel length; flagellomere 2 1.3 × pedicel length. Mesosoma. Mesosomal length 1.1 × width; pronotum slightly wider than mesothorax. Mesosomal dorsum reticulate. Humeral carina low, extending to epaulet. Lateral face of pronotum and mesopleuron micropunctate, dull, mesopleural ridge broadly and shallowly reticulate; clothed with sparse silver setae. Metapleuron dorsal to endophragmal pit and dorsal two-thirds of lateral face of propodeum shagreened; ventral regions of metapleuron and lateral face of propodeum shagreened. In dorsal view, mesosoma gradually narrowed posterior to pronotum, lateral margin of mesothorax weakly sinuate anterior to propodeal spiracle. Scutellar scale broad and highly raised, contiguous with carina separating dorsal and posterior propodeal faces, lacking transverse carinae anteriorly. Dorsal propodeal face weakly convergent posterior to spiracle, posterolateral angle rounded, posterior face virtually flat, vertical, reticulate, and clothed with dense dark brown setae. Metasoma. T1 narrow and petiolate, somewhat cylindrical, 0.4 × as wide as T2. T2 1.1 × longer than wide, with maximum width situated medially. Disc of T2 with small longitudinally ovate contiguous punctures, except yellow spots sparsely punctate; S2 sparsely punctate. T3–5 densely punctate, S2–5 moderately punctate. Pygidium well defined by lateral carinae, posterior margin truncate, having 8 widely separated striae, spaces between striae irregularly granulate.
MALE. Unknown.
Type material. Holotype, Ƥ, VENEZUELA: Guarico, Hato Masaguaral (44 km S Calabozo), 11–19.V.1985, A.S. Menke & J. Carpenter (USNM). Paratypes. 2Ƥ, same data as holotype (USNM, EMUS).
Distribution. This species is known only from the type locality.
Host. Unknown.
Etymology. From the Greek kolasma “punishment”, a noun in apposition. This species, along with T. krima is named after the Russian novel Преступление и наказание “Crime and Punishment” written by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky.
Remarks. The scutellar scale of this species is similar to that of T. frigidula. This species also has a narrower pygidial plate than T. krima and the Argentinean Tobantilla species.
description: Published as part of Williams, Kevin A., Brothers, Denis J. & Pitts, James P., 2011, New species of Tobantilla Casal, 1965 and a new genus and species, Gogoltilla chichikovi gen. et sp. nov., from Argentina (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae), pp. 41-68 in Zootaxa 3064 on pages 56-57, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.278958