Psomizopelma Gibson 1995
Creators: name: Gibson, Gary A. P.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Eupelmidae
Psomizopelma

description: Psomizopelma Gibson
Psomizopelma Gibson, 1995: 255 –258. Type species: Psomizopelma brachypterum Gibson, by monotypy and original designation.
Diagnosis. FEMALE. Body usually mostly yellow (e.g. Figs 44, 45) to dark brown (e.g. Figs 17, 18) except gaster with all but apical one or two sternites and at least Gt1 and Gt2 and sometimes Gt3 laterally white (Figs 8, 24, 33, 45, 62), though sometimes with quite distinct metallic luster on head and mesosoma (Fig. 54) and gaster dorsally (Fig. 62); body (excluding appendages) mostly meshlike reticulate to punctate-reticulate, though sometimes acropleuron or gaster much more finely sculptured than rest of body.
Head in lateral view comparatively flat, lenticular (Figs 2, 18, 33), and in frontal view (Figs 3, 19, 34, 46, 56) subcircular to somewhat transversely oval with comparatively large, densely setose, elongate-oval eyes with subparallel inner margins extending most of height of head such that malar space only about one-quarter to one-third height of eye; entirely setose except for variably extensively bare scrobes; scrobal depression more or less bell-shaped but lacking distinct margins except for sinuous, carinate margin lateral of torulus; toruli inserted much closer to oral margin than middle of head, ventral margin separated from oral margin by distance only about equal to height of torulus (Figs 4, 20, 35, 47, 57). Mandible tridentate (Figs 4, 57). Antenna (Figs 4, 36, 41– 43, 59) variable in colour pattern, entirely dark to partly pale; clavate; fl1 longer than wide, subequal in length or longer than fl2; clava large, subequal in length to combined length of apical 4–6 funiculars, and in ventral view with variably conspicuous sensory region along most or entire length (Figs 4, 43).
Brachypterous (fore wing extending at least to base of gaster but for less than half length of gaster, Figs 1, 17, 32, 54) or macropterous (fore wing extending about to apex of gaster, Figs 44, 45). Fore wing densely setose and infuscate with orangish to dark brown setae, without hyaline regions with white setae (Figs 7, 23, 38, 52, 61). Mesosomal structures similar in both brachypterous and macropterous forms except mesoscutum with distinct, convex, triangular medial lobe only in macropterous female (cf. Figs 5, 48: arrow). Pronotum in dorsal view subtriangular, medially divided with dorsal surface in single plane, without differentiated collar and neck (Figs 1, 17, 44, 48). Prepectus (Figs 6: pre, 21, 49, 58) comparatively short, not extending posteriorly to base of tegula (Fig. 6: tg, 21, 37, 49, 58); bare or setose. Metapleuron (Fig. 22: pl3) bare or setose, separated by more or less distinct carina (e.g. Fig. 50: arrow) from more horizontal, quadrangular, setose metasternal surface (Fig. 22: st3; Gibson 1995, fig. 138: lpl) separating acropleuron from base of metacoxa (Figs 22, 50). Mesotibia with apical groove (e.g. Gibson 1995, fig. 329: mag) and with apical pegs over base of tibial spur (e.g. Gibson 1995, fig. 327: map); mesobasotarsomere ventrally with single row of pegs along either side (e.g. Gibson 1995, fig. 328: mpg), the pegs similar in color to tibia. Metafemur in lateral view sometimes with dorsal margin undulating (Fig. 2) or femur distinctly expanded subapically (Figs 18, 60); metatibia strongly compressed dorsally, unicolorous dark (Fig. 40) or with dorsal margin paler (Figs 2, 45) and sometimes with variably distinct ‘notch’ along dorsal (Fig. 60) or ventral margin (Fig. 40). Propodeum with carinate margins of foramen sinuately or arch-like incurved to anterior margin, differentiating uniformly meshlike reticulate plical and callar regions (Fig. 51).
Gaster (Figs 8, 24, 39, 53, 62) with posterior margins of tergites transverse except Gt5 emarginate; syntergum extended posteriorly into syntergal flange over only slightly protruding ovipositor sheaths.
MALE. Head structure, setation and sculpture (Figs 11, 27) similar to female except for antennal structure and malar space longer, about 0.4× eye height. Antenna (Figs 12, 28) with pedicel almost as long as combined length of fl1 and fl2, and ventrally without line of long setae; flagellum variably distinctly robust-filiform with multiple rows of inconspicuous mps beyond fl1; fl1 almost as long to somewhat longer than wide, but slightly shorter than fl2, without mps; clava of same width as and at least as long as combined length of apical three funiculars, and tapered to point apically without distinct micropilose sensory region. Mesosoma not unusually modified for male Eupelminae (Figs 13, 14, 30); metapleuron with 2–5 setae ventrally; metasternal region (Fig. 30: st3) much smaller and less conspicuous than for female, but separated from metapleuron (Fig. 30: pl3) by carina and separating mesepimeron from base of metacoxa (Figs 14, 30) similar to female. Fore wing (Figs 15, 29) without speculum; disc at least slightly infuscate behind marginal vein. Metatibia less distinctly compressed than for female, but sometimes with dorsal margin paler (Fig. 10) as for female.
Discussion. Females of Psomizopelma can be distinguished from those of all other genera except Taphronotus Gibson by their comparatively short prepectus (Fig. 6: pre) that apically is conspicuously separated from the base of the tegula (Figs 6: tg, 21, 49, 58) (Gibson 1995, character 20, state 2, table 1). A more comprehensive description of both sexes is given by Gibson (1995), though some modifications to this are necessitated by the newly described species. The discovery of P. metallicum females demonstrates that at least the head (Figs 54–57) and mesosoma dorsally (Figs 54, 61) can have quite distinct metallic lusters. Males of P. metallicum are unknown and therefore it is unknown whether they display similar metallic lusters, but this is possible because the larger P. albiclava male exhibits slight but distinct metallic luster (Fig. 11). This contradicts Gibson’s (1995) couplet 13(12) for males, which keys out Psomizopelma. The discovery of P. albiclava males also falsifies some other statements in the couplet and the generic diagnosis. Relative length of the OOL for P. albiclava males differs from that stated in the key and generic diagnosis of Gibson (1995), the flagellar segments, including fl1, are all quite obviously longer than wide (Fig. 12), and the body is not uniformly dark brown but has some yellowish regions (Fig. 13) in addition to sometimes slight metallic luster. However, Psomizopelma males are quite readily identifiable to genus because head structure (Figs 11, 27) is otherwise similar to that of females (Figs 3, 19).
Homology of the lateral surface of the metathorax remains somewhat uncertain in Psomizopelma, but females have a vertical, sculptured, bare or setose region that here is interpreted as the metapleuron (Fig. 22: pl3). Ventrally this region is separated by a variably well-developed transverse carina (Fig. 50: arrow) from a more horizontal, setose region that is here interpreted as an exposed part of the metasternum (Fig. 22: st3), which separates the posterior of the acropleuron from the base of the metacoxa (Figs 22, 50). Males are known for only P. albiclava and P. brachypterum. Females of P. albiclava have setae on both the presumptive metapleuron and metasternum (cf. Fig. 50) whereas females of P. brachypterum have setae only on the presumptive metasternum (Fig. 22). Males of both species have setae ventrally on the presumptive metapleuron whereas the presumptive metasternum is bare (Figs 14, 30), though a transverse carina below the setae is visible in males that distinguishes the much smaller presumptive metapleuron.
The presence of P. brachypterum and P. metallicum in Florida, as the only two species from the Nearctic region, indicates Psomizopelma is restricted to the tropical and subtropical regions of the New World.
description: Published as part of Gibson, Gary A. P., 2018, The species of Psomizopelma Gibson (Hymenoptera: Eupelmidae), pp. 73-91 in Zootaxa 4444 (1) on pages 74-75, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4444.1.5, http://zenodo.org/record/1309488