Tobantilla frigidula Cresson 1902, comb. nov.
Creators: name: Williams, Kevin A.
name: Brothers, Denis J.
name: Pitts, James P.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2011
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Mutillidae
Tobantilla
Tobantilla frigidula

description: Tobantilla frigidula (Cresson, 1902), comb. nov.
(Figs 3, 9, 13, 37)
Mutilla frigidula Cresson, 1902. Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc. 28: 40. Holotype Ƥ, Brazil, Santarem (CMNH). Mutilla frigidula: Nonveiller 1990: 113, Ƥ (incertae sedis).
Diagnosis. FEMALE. The pygidial plate is small, distant from the apical margin and connected to it by a single median longitudinal carina (Figs 13, 37); the head and mesosoma are dark red to black (Fig. 3); the scutellar scale is broadly arcuate, but not reaching the lateral propodeal margins; the posterior propodeal face is clothed with silver setae; and T2 has two large, nearly confluent yellowish-orange integumental patches.
Description. FEMALE. Body length 5.5-8 mm. Coloration. Body and appendages dark red; T2 with one pair of large trapezoidal yellow spots. Tibial spurs white. Head and mesosoma clothed with fairly sparse decumbent pale silvery setae, except anteromedial portion of mesosomal dorsum with patch of dark brown setae, anterolateral portions of mesonotum clothed with denser patch of silver setae, area directly anterior to scutellar scale with cluster of dark brown setae, and dorsum of head and mesosoma with scattered erect long brachyplumose brown setae; posterior face of propodeum with moderately dense decumbent silver setae and a few dark brown setae dorsally. T2 clothed with dark brown erect and appressed setae between spots and along apical margin, lateral thirds and integumental spots with sparse silver erect setae. T3–6 entirely clothed with decumbent silver setae and interspersed erect dark brown and silver setae. Head. Angulate posterolaterally, with occipital carina stronger laterally from base of weak narrowly triangular glabrous tubercle on posterolateral margin. Head width 1.1 × pronotal width. Eye almost circular. Front, vertex and gena reticulate. Genal carina produced, extending anteriorly to hypostomal carina. Mandible oblique, tapering, bidentate apically but preapical inner tooth minute and usually obliterated, unarmed ventrally. Antennal scrobe lacking carina. Antennal tubercle finely and sparsely punctate basally. Scape simply punctate. Flagellomere 1 1.6 × pedicel length; flagellomere 2 1.1 × pedicel length. Mesosoma. Mesosomal length 1.25 × width; pronotum slightly wider than mesothorax. Mesosomal dorsum reticulate. Humeral carina well developed. Lateral face of pronotum and mesopleuron micropunctate, dull, mesopleural ridge coarsely reticulate; clothed with coarse silver setae. Metapleuron dorsal to endophragmal pit and dorsal two-thirds of lateral face of propodeum clothed with fine appressed silver setae; ventral regions of metapleuron and lateral face of propodeum micropunctate and clothed with coarse silver setae. In dorsal view, mesosoma gradually narrowed posterior to pronotum, lateral margin of mesothorax weakly divergent anterior to propodeal spiracle. Scutellar scale broad and highly raised, with obscure w-shaped transverse carina anterior to it. Dorsal and posterior propodeal faces not separated by transverse carina. Dorsal propodeal face convergent posterior to spiracle, posterolateral angle rounded, posterior face virtually flat, vertical, reticulate and clothed with moderately dense decumbent lanceolate setae on dorsal half. Metasoma. T1 narrow and petiolate, somewhat cylindrical, 0.4 × as wide as T2. T2 1.2 × longer than wide, dorsomedially flattened, with maximum width situated posteriorly. Disc of T2 deeply and narrowly reticulate anteriorly and coarsely punctate posteriorly; T3–5 densely punctate. S1 with longitudinal carina, S2 with coarse moderately-spaced punctures, punctures small and dense on S3–5. Pygidium lacking lateral carinae, medially having two posteriorly convergent carinae with scattered longitudinal rugae and shagreened medially, anteriorly this “pygidial plate” 0.2 × the pygidial width; areas lateral to these carinae moderately punctate and clothed with erect setae; posterior 0.2 × pygidial area asetose and obscurely punctured, posterior margin with contiguous low transverse carina.
MALE. Unknown.
Material examined. Type material. Holotype, Ƥ, BRAZIL: Pará, Santarem, H.H. Smith (identified as Lomachaeta frigidula (Cresson) by D. Quintero in 1996, CMNH). Other material. BRAZIL: Amazonas, Amazon River, 50 km S Manaus, 1Ƥ, 5.I.2004 (EMUS); Pará, Taperinha, 1Ƥ, 8.XII.1968, on mango leaves, coll. R.L. Jeanne (MCZC); Rondônia, P.E. Guajara Mirim, 1Ƥ, 6.II.1998, coll. J.R.M. Santos (CPDC).
Distribution. Brazil (Amazonas, Pará, Rondônia).
Host. Unknown.
Remarks. This species has not been treated since its description (Cresson 1902) and was still in the genus Mutilla Linnaeus, 1758 until this paper (Nonveiller 1990). The pygidial sculpture (Figs 13, 37), coloration (Figs 3, 9) and distribution in northern Brazil (Fig. 39) likely contributed to the difficulty in placing this species in Tobantilla. The two previously recognized Tobantilla species have a well defined pygidial plate and were only known from Argentina (Casal 1965a, 1969). Like the other Tobantilla females, the mesosoma is flattened dorsally, appearing virtually concave anterior to the scutellar scale. The scutellar and propodeal armature of this species is nearly identical to that of T. kolasma, a species that matches the traditional diagnostic features for Tobantilla. The petiole is apparently more disciform than other Tobantilla, but is weakly constricted apically and is therefore considered petiolate, like other Tobantilla females.
Cresson (1902) noted the presence of a “rather long longitudinal groove” on each side of the propodeum. These are simply large reticulations situated immediately posteromesal to each propodeal spiracle. In the holotype, this reticulation is apparently undivided and elongate, but there is significant variation in the punctation of this region. In the specimen from Rondônia, it bears three contiguous setigerous reticulations that are slightly less differentiated from each other than from the surrounding reticulations. This trait does not seem much different from what is seen in other Tobantilla females.
description: Published as part of Williams, Kevin A., Brothers, Denis J. & Pitts, James P., 2011, New species of Tobantilla Casal, 1965 and a new genus and species, Gogoltilla chichikovi gen. et sp. nov., from Argentina (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae), pp. 41-68 in Zootaxa 3064 on pages 55-56, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.278958