Ropalidia salebrosa Polasek 2025, sp. nov.
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 salebrosa

description: Ropalidia salebrosa Polašek sp. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: A63A2B4B-0073-41D2-8637-557FA41416A7
Type specimens. Holotype: Parc National de Dzanga-Ndoki, Central African Republic, 1♀ (SAM. A033864). The total number of examined specimens: 1♀.
Diagnosis. Dark species that resembles R. excavata GIORDANI SOIKA, but with more coarsely punctate T1 and S1, and shiny gena in females.
Description. Females. Wing length 9.4 mm. Colour. Basal colour black, with only few yellow or yellowish markings (Figure 22a). Yellow areas include thick apical band on clypeus, antero-basal spot on mandible (distal half of mandible ferruginous), yellow line along inner orbit and antennal socket underside (Figure 22c); orangetinted line high on tempora (Figure 22a), faintly yellowish pronotal inferior angles and small yellow spot on frontal surface of mesopleuron. Metasomal segments 3–6 gradually convert to ferruginous colour (Figure 22a, b). Antenna black from above, scape reddish underneath, flagellomeres yellow underneath (Figure 22a). Wings yellowish, stigma brown and opaque, apical spot faintly brown and extended towards stigma (Figure 22a). Legs black, tibia I ferruginous (Figure 22a, b).
Head. Clypeus wider than long, with evenly curved upes and no apparent oculo-clypeal angle (Figure 22c). Clypeus punctures of intermediately density and depth basally, more sparsely and less defined apically; entire surface covered by long setae. Inner orbit weakly punctate, in strong contrast to coarse punctures of frons. Frons covered by white-golden dense pubescence; setae on frons shorter, about as long as ocelli width, or slightly shorter; their tips slightly bent forward. Gena coarsely punctate close to eye, evanescing towards occipital carina. Occipital carina strong, sinuate. Ocellar triangle nearly evenly sided. Eye setae sparse, intermediate in length. Scape shorter than AF1, pedicel longer than wide, AF2 about 1.4 times as long as wide.
Mesosoma. Mesosoma coarsely punctate, especially on mesonotum, pronotal angles, scutellum and metanotum. Parapsidal furrows are barely visible, nearby punctures smaller and sparser. Metapleuron with just few defined punctures towards distal end, remaining surface with cuticular structure. Frontal margin of scutellum perpendicular. Scutellar median carina not developed (only a slightly disrupted cuticular impunctate surface is in its place). Metanotum wider, with pronounced postero-lateral angles and without median tooth; triangular impunctate shiny area of intermediate size (Figure 19 aa). Propodeum resembles R. excavata GIORDANI SOIKA; propodeal excavation wide, finely punctate and finely striate, somewhat obscured by pubescence (Figure 19 aa). Superior propodeal carina weak (Figure 19 aa). Inferior propodeal carina strongly developed, merged with more developed lateral longitudinal propodeal carina (Figure 19 aa). Legs morphologically similar to R. excavata GIORDANI SOIKA; femur I with just a few protruding setae; coxa II and III impunctate. Wings yellowish, nervature and stigma brown, apical spot brown and weaker; trichome dense, but setae short (Figure 22a).
Metasoma. T1 wide and nearly rectangular, seen dorsally (Figure 22b). Proximal half of T1 finely punctate and shiny, distal half coarsely and deeply punctate (Figure 22a). S1 rugged, producing central strong longitudinal cuticular crest, accompanied by two more less developed lateral crests (Figure 22b). T2 punctures intermediately sized, directional and shallow distally. T2/S2 suture visible, lamellar notch not developed. Lamella short, dark brown, with long interdigitations; lamella cut-out nearly even.
Male is unknown.
Distribution: Central African Republic.
Etymology. The name is the Latin adjective salebrosus -a -um (“rugged”), and refers to the rugged surface of T1 and S1.
Similar species. No other African Ropalidia has strong punctures on T1 or rugged S1 surface. Overall appearance may resemble R. excavata GIORDANI SOIKA, as well as the two newly described species, R. baki sp. nov. and R. kuficha sp. nov., but separation from any of these species does not present a challenge.
Genetics: sequencing had failed on multiple primers.
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 118, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5626.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/15325272