Ropalidia novissima GIORDANI SOIKA 1944
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 novissima

description: Ropalidia novissima GIORDANI SOIKA 1944
Type material. A single holotype female at MSNV. However, the species description suggests Banno as the type specimen location, while the specimen bears the label Miss E Zavattari Sagan-Omo A. O. I., followed by the handwritten Caschei, 8-VIII 1929. Therefore, the loc. typ. changes slightly, by about 60 km to the West. The exact location map is provided in another publication related to the Sagan-Omo collection (Chiovenda, 1951), which provided a map and revealed the location of the holotype specimen collection.
Comments. A member of the capensis -group, characterized by the elongated antenna in both females and males. This species forms a group, with R. mosichi sp. nov. and R. macloutsie sp. nov., characterized by the weakly developed juxtamandibular lobe, straight, longer upes and almost entirely transparent wings. Males are described for the first time.
Males.
Material. Sof Omar, Ethiopia, 2♂♂ (OLM). The total number of examined specimens: 2♂♂.
Diagnosis. Males of this species have the most slender and very elongated antenna, (comparable only to R. macloutsie sp. nov.), in combination with flattened apical margin of finely punctate clypeus, specific tyloids shape, origin of tyloids on AF5 and strongly curved terminal flagellomere.
Description. Wing length: 5.4–6.7 mm. Colour. Similar to females, but more yellow; clypeus, inner orbit, interantennal area, mandible and thin line on gena (Figure 48a). Pronotum brown-reddish with yellow line underneath carina, mesonotum dark brown or black (Figure 48b), scutellum reddish, metanotum basally dark brown with two large yellow spots; mesopleuron forwardly with yellow patches and reddish, laterally brown; metapleuron and propodeum progressively darker, almost black. Coxa I ventrally yellow, coxa pair II yellow with longitudinal brown line, coxa pair III just with lateral yellow line, median half brown (Figure 48b). Femur I with small yellow line. Wings transparent, apical spot absent, nervature brown, stigma dark brown, opaque. Antenna dark brown from above, terminal segment light brown, entire underneath yellow-orange (Figure 48b, c).
Head. Clypeus flattened with obtuse apex, parallel sides and straight and elongated upes (Figure 48a). Clypeal base coarsely punctate, apical part with less defined punctures (Figure 48a); entire clypeal surface covered by short silvery pubescence, denser apically. Mandible elongated, with slightly tortuous surface; posterior margin with silvery pubescence. Gena coarsely punctate and thin, only about 0.3 times as wide as eye. Tempora no wider than AF1 base. Frons finely punctate, punctures evanescing towards occipital carina (Figure 48a). Frons covered by yellowish pubescence and longer silvery, extremely fine and thin setae with bent tips. AF1 about as long as the scape, AF2 about three times as long as wide (Figure 48b). Tyloids shiny, originate on AF4, triangular and weakly projecting above flagellomere surface (Figure 48c). Terminal flagellomere very elongated, about twice as long as AF10 width; tip strongly curved, close to right angle, covered by conspicuous pubescence (Figure 48c).
Mesosoma. Mesosoma densely punctate, with intermediate size of punctures, covered by yellowish-silvery pubescence. Mesonotum with well-defined punctures, strong median suture and developed parapsidal furrows. Scutellum with larger and shallow punctures, similar to that on metanotum; distal half of metanotum impunctate. Propodeum similar to other males of capensis -group. Femora covered by silvery pubescence and occasional protruding longer straight setae. Tarsal I spur very developed, at least twice as wide as tarsal segment base (Figure 48b).
Metasoma. T1 posteriorly pyriform, with strong dorsal curvature. T2 elongated, with more than half of its length with parallel sides; T2 lamella yellowish, T2/S2 notch visible, T2/S2 suture reached about half of the segment length. T2 covered by dense and intermediate directional punctures, sparser on S2. T2 covered by short yellowish pubescence; remaining segments with longer whitish protruding setae.
Male-female pairing strength: high; confirmed by the mt DNA.
Distribution. Ethiopia, Kenya.
Genetics. Three specimens were genotyped, suggesting a single BIN (BOLD: ADN 9352). One of the specimens was a male, therefore offering excellent support to male-female pair. The position of R. novissima GIORDANI SOIKA is sister to the other two members of this group, which have a less clear relationship between them. A single specimen yielded a successful 28s rDNA sequence, which suggested a central position within the capensis- group.
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 page 109, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5626.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/15325272