Prototilla nigra Torrens, Fidalgo, Roig-Alsina & Brothers, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Torréns, Javier
name: Fidalgo, Patricio
name: Roig-Alsina, Arturo
name: Brothers, Denis J.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2012
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Mutillidae
Prototilla
Prototilla nigra

description: Prototilla nigra Torréns, Fidalgo, Roig-Alsina & Brothers, sp. nov.
(Figs 10–16)
Diagnosis. Male. General body color black (Figs 11, 13). Scale-like setae covering posterior half of T1 and center of T2 (Fig. 12). Fore wing barely setose (Fig. 10). Female. Unknown.
Description. Male. Length 5.0– 6.7 mm. General body color black. Scape, pedicel, trochanters and mandible dark brown; rest of legs and antennae light brown; last 4 segments of flagellum lighter than the rest (Figs 11, 13, 14, 15).
Head oval, 1.3–1.4 × as broad as high and 1.1–1.2 × as broad as mesosoma, with numerous scale-like setae covering almost entire head, vertex without or with a few scattered scale-like setae; plumose setae long, white and scattered over vertex and frons almost reaching toruli; vertex with spaced punctation (Fig. 14). POL 1.0–1.1 × as long as OOL, POL 1.5–1.9 × as long as LOL; eyes ovoid, separated by 1.2–1.3 × their height, malar space 0.1–0.2 × eye height. Mandible arched, simple, with a small preapical denticle on inner edge; palpal formula 6- 4. Antenna of 13 segments; radicle as long as broad; scape with scale-like and plumose scattered setae, except ventrally glabrous, scale-like setae denser on external surface; scape 1.8–2.2 × as long as broad and 2.2–2.6 × as long as pedicel; flagellomeres cylindrical, F1 0.7–0.8 × length of scape and 0.8–0.9 × length of F2, F2–F6 approximately same length, F7–F10 gradually decreasing in length, F11 elongated with rounded apex (Fig. 15).
Mesosoma elongate, 1.4–1.7 × as long as broad; punctation well marked, similar to that of head, spaced on dorsum and more contiguous on pleura and propodeum which becomes rugose toward insertion of metasoma; covered with scale-like and plumose setae (Figs 11, 13). Pronotum transverse, anteriorly forming a collar with small plumose setae, rest with scale-like and white plumose setae, lateral surface with scattered setae and spaced punctation; humeral angle well marked but not acute. Mesonotum moderately punctate, with scattered scale-like and white plumose setae; tegula convex, smooth and with a few scale-like setae dorsally; scutellum with wellscattered punctation and with scale-like and plumose setae, except medially smooth and without setae. Metanotum transverse, narrow, with scale-like and plumose setae; punctate except medially smooth and without setae. Propodeum in dorsal view with spaced punctation and moderately dense scale-like setae, punctation becoming contiguous, deeper and wider on vertical surfaces, and with predominance of plumose setae; a group of scale-like setae at insertion of hind coxa. Propleuron heavily punctate, covered almost completely with scale-like setae; mesopleuron convex, punctate, densely covered by scale-like and plumose setae; metapleuron with punctation contiguous, covered with scale-like setae.
Wing venation as for genus. Fore wing 3.3 × as long as broad, barely setose (Fig. 10), hyaline, venation light brown, with white and thick plumose setae at base, becoming light brown on veins C and M+Cu.
Legs slender; anterior surface of coxae, trochanters, femora and tibiae almost covered by scale-like setae, rest of their surfaces with or without scattered scale-like setae; plumose setae scattered across surfaces of legs, becoming denser where no scale-like setae; mid and hind tibiae each with two long white spurs, claws toothed.
Metasoma 2.6–2.7 × as long as broad; terga with well-marked punctation slightly spaced on T1 and T2, remaining terga with punctation less marked and contiguous (Fig. 12). Posterior margins of T1–T5 with scale-like setae; T1 covered with plumose setae, except covered by scale-like setae on posterior half; T2 with plumose setae covering all surfaces, denser laterally and scattered on dorsal surface at median group of scale-like setae; rest of terga with scattered plumose setae; posterior margin of T6 with dark brown, thick and apically truncate setae; T7 with surface convex; sterna with sculpture and distribution of setae similar to corresponding terga. Genitalia with paramere slender and curved upwards, with long setae along surface and small setae towards apex; volsella well developed, digitus swollen towards apex and cuspis thin, both with few long setae on surface and very small setae distally; aedeagus bipartite; basal ring anteroventrally narrowly and acutely emarginate (Fig. 16).
Female. Unknown.
Variation. The antennae and legs are sometimes darker, and the femora may be almost completely dark brown; the predominance of scale-like setae on the mesosoma is higher in some specimens, especially on the metapleuron; on T2 the scale-like setae may cover almost the entire dorsal region.
Etymology. From Latin niger -gra -grum which means “black”, referring to the general body color that is mostly black to dark brown.
Distribution. Argentina: La Rioja, Mendoza.
Material examined. Holotype 3: ARGENTINA: Mendoza, Lavalle, Reserva Telteca [32°23'6"S 68°3'0"W], 15/XII/1994 – 03/II/1995, G. Flores and S. Roig (IADIZA). Paratypes, 23: La Rioja, Santa Teresita [28°35'57"S 66°33'32"W], XI/2005, J. Torréns, G. Fidalgo and P. Fidalgo, TM (13, IFML; 13, MACN).
description: Published as part of Torréns, Javier, Fidalgo, Patricio, Roig-Alsina, Arturo & Brothers, Denis J., 2012, New species of Prototilla Schuster, 1949 from Argentina and diagnoses of the genus based on male and female (Hymenoptera: Bradynobaenidae: Typhoctinae: Eotillini), pp. 17-32 in Zootaxa 3427 on pages 23-25, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.215056