Anaylax mahafaly Barbosa & Azevedo, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Barbosa, Diego N.
name: Azevedo, Celso O.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2012
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Bethylidae
Anaylax
Anaylax mahafaly

description: Anaylax mahafaly Barbosa & Azevedo, sp. nov.
(Figs 2, 6–8, 57, 69, 70)
Material examined. Holotype, 3. MADAGASCAR, Toliara, Prov [ince] Réserve Spéciale de Cap Sainte Marie 12.3 km 262° W Marovato, [elevation] 200 m, 11–15.ii.2002, 25°34’54’’S, 45°1’06’’E, Fisher, Griswold et al., CAS sifted litter, [collection code:] BLF5500, CASENT 2071392 (CASC).
Description. Holotype (Fig. 2). MALE. Body 2.46 mm. LFW 0.43 mm.
Colour. Wings clear hyaline; scape, pedicel, mandible, palpi, wing venation, procoxa, mesocoxa, metacoxa, trochanters, profemur, mesofemur, metafemur, protibia, mesotibia, metatibia, tarsi light castaneous; flagellum light castaneous with last flagellomeres dark castaneous; head, mesosoma and tegula castaneous; metasoma dark castaneous.
Head (Fig. 6). Head as long as wide, globoid [in lateral view]. Malar space shorter than VOL, parallel. Mandible with three sharpened apical teeth, equally wide in your extension; lower margin straight; lower tooth longer than immediately upper teeth, lower tooth wider than others. Clypeus with median lobe delimitated, rounded; lateral lobe absent; median clypeal carina inclined, complete, straight shape [in dorsal view], above torulus. Intertorular distance less than torulus diameter. Antenna with conspicuous pubescence, erect, sparse, medium; scape curved, with same diameter across extension; pedicel longer than wide, caliciform; first flagellomere longer than pedicel, longer than others; flagellomeres long, caliciform; first five antennal segments in ratio of about 21:10:13:11:11. Frons weakly foveolate. Eye small, round, hairy, its contour protuberant. Ocellar triangle compact, with frontal angle acute; composed by ocelli very small; with ocellar fovea present, narrow. Temple profile divergent anterad, vertex convex, its corner rounded. Palpi caliciform, flattened. Hypostomal carina forming obtuse angle. Dorsal half of occipital carina present, high, with side polished; ventral half of occipital carina present, complete, high, with side polished. LH 1 × WH. WF 1.33 × HE. WF 0.57 × WH. OOL 1 × WOT. VOL 0.66 × HE. Distance of posterior ocellus to vertex crest 2.4 × DAO.
Mesosoma (Figs 7, 8). Pronotal disc 0.77 × as long as wide; polished; plate groove present; anterior slope inclined in profile; anterior margin convex, with transverse carina, with anterior corner angled; trapezoidal shaped, with side slightly concave; longitudinal pronotal furrow present, incomplete, shallow; posterior margin straight. Propleuron with epicoxal sulcus, shallow, polished. Pleurosternum with epicoxal sulcus, polished. Mesoscutum polished, long; longitudinal mesoscutal furrow absent; notaulus complete, convergent posteriorly, deep, narrow, polished; parapsidal furrow incomplete, weakly impressed, parallel. Scutellar groove narrow, fused with axilla, arched, dilated at ends; scutoscutellar sulcus conspicuous; scutellum short, polished, plane, not touching propodeal disc; axilla polished, shallow. Metanotum overlapping lateral region of scutellum. Propodeal disc as long as half width, with central fovea fused with propodeal triangle fovea; median carina complete; without longitudinal ridge between median and inner discal carinae; sublateral and inner discal carina fused anteriorly; spiracle elliptical; inner discal carina complete; sublateral carina present; lateral carina present; lateral margin sculpture followed by short striae; posterior carina complete; posterior spine of propodeum present, short, thin, divergent. Declivity of propodeum coriaceous, with median carina, with lateral carina. Lateral surface of propodeum weakly strigate, without superior carina, without posterior carina. Mesopleuron coriaceous, with subtegular fovea continuous with episternal furrow; mesopleural sulcus present, complete, foveolate; episternal furrow with inner margin foveolate.
Wings. Brachypterous. Tegula separated of mesoscutum. Fore wing with sparse pilosity. Hind wing with costal vein short; with one proximal hamuli.
Legs. Metacoxa with dorsal spine, with ventral expansion. Protibia short [1.5× first tarsomere length], with protibial spur short [shorter than half length of first tarsomere]. Tarsi with tarsomeres 1–4 progressively shorter distad, cylindrical; tarsal claw with two sharpened teeth, curved posterad; arolium simple, apex angled, and slender.
Metasoma. 1.38 × longer than wide; tergum 1 with ventral region coriaceous, without lap of lateral margin, with sparse lateral pilosity; tergum 2 with dorsal region polished, without lateral pilosity, with ventral region polished; terga 3–6 with dorsal region polished, with ventral region polished; with posterior margin of tergites straight, with sparse setae at posterior margin of terga 2–6. Hypopygium (Fig. 57) wider than long; with hypopygial median stalk undivided; lateral margin parallel, and slightly convex; with posterior margin bilobate with median indentation, slightly concave, with lobate branch.
Genitalia (Figs 69, 70). Genital ring protruding dorsally, with distal margin rounded and emarginated. Basivolsella fully outlined from basiparamere, with sparse line of hairs. Paramere fully divided into two arms; dorsal arm of paramere as long as ventral arm, club-shaped, and with basal margin thin; ventral arm of paramere slender, apex sparse hairy, inner margin straight. Cuspis birramous, with arms distinct; ventral arm aligned with dorsal arm apex, slender, and thin, with apex rounded; dorsal arm wide, and with apex rounded. Aedeagus slender; with pair of apical lobes, with apex not reaching paramere apex, lobes touching each other, with apical margin rounded, lateral of margin of basal portion slightly convex; apodeme parallel, with base straight.
FEMALE unknown.
Remarks. This species is similar to Anaylax maroccanus Móczár, 1970 by having the median clypeal lobe truncate; the ocellar triangle with very small ocelli; the pronotal disc and mesoscutum polished; the scutellar groove narrow and arched; brachypterous. However A. mahafaly sp. nov. has the head as long as wide, the longitudinal pronotal furrow present; the scutellum with scutellar groove dilated at ends; the propodeal disc without longitudinal ridge between median and inner discal carina, the posterior spine of propodeum present, whereas A. marroccanus has the head longer than wide, the longitudinal pronotal furrow absent; the scutellar groove not dilated at ends; the propodeal disc without longitudinal ridge between median and inner discal carina, the posterior spine of propodeum absent. Besides, A. maroccanus is known only from males, whereas A. mahafaly sp. nov. from females. This is the first record of brachypterous males to Anaylax.
description: Published as part of Barbosa, Diego N. & Azevedo, Celso O., 2012, Revision of Mesitiinae (Hymenoptera, Bethylidae) from Madagascar, with description of eleven new species, pp. 1-44 in Zootaxa 3417 on pages 5-7, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.246276