Ficomila flava Lotfalizadeh & Delvare & Cruaud & Rasplus 2024, sp. n.
Creators: name: Lotfalizadeh, Hossein
name: Delvare, Gérard
name: Cruaud, Astrid
name: Rasplus, Jean-Yves
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Eurytomidae
Ficomila
Ficomila flava

description: Ficomila flava Lotfalizadeh & Rasplus sp. n.   
(Figs 27–29)  
  Type material examined. Holotype  ♀: Gabon, La Lopé, -0.527451° 11.540916°, ex syconia of Ficus recurvata, 5.ii.2008, Cruaud A. & Zahab R. leg. Deposited in CBGP. Paratypes: same data as holotype, 2♂. Guinea, Monts Nimba, Mifergui, ex syconia of Ficus artocarpoides, 6.v.1993, Rasplus J.-Y. leg., 3♀. Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, Lamto, 6.222197° -5.024070°, ex syconia of Ficus scott-elliottii, 11.iv.1994, Kerdelhué C. leg., 25♀ & 11♂. United Republic of Tanzania, Amani, Mt Usambara East, ex syconia of F. ottoniifolia subsp. ulugurensis , 10.iii.1996, Rasplus J.-Y. & Kerdelhué C. leg., 5♀.   
 Etymology. The specific name refers to its yellowish body colouration.   
 Diagnosis. Female body yellowish, with mesosoma dorsally almost brown or with a dark brown band (Fig. 27A), sometimes yellowish. Flagellum with fu2–fu5 longer than broad (Fig. 27B). Mesosoma densely coriaceous with sparse umbilicate punctures (Fig. 28A). Gaster of female compressed laterally, dorsally angulate (Fig. 28E).   
Male body slender, yellowish and partly dark (Fig. 29A). Antennal formula 11143, fu2–fu4 long, longer than broad, clava 3-segmented (Fig. 29B). Propodeum with 2 rows of areolae medially (Fig. 29C). Fore wing partly bare, not densely setose (Fig. 29D).  
 Description of holotype ♀ (Figs 27–28). Length 3.60 mm. Body yellowish (Fig. 27A), except head in occipital region, ocellar area, mesosoma dorsomedially, propodeum medially, gaster medially black and antennal flagellum blackish-yellowish; pronotum yellowish and black dorsomedially; fore wing with a dark brown spot below mv, lower margin of mv not obscured by dark brown spot, dark brown spot reaching base of mv (Fig. 28C); gaster bicoloured (Fig. 28D); body setation whitish, setation of fore wing entirely dark.   
 Head 1.26× as broad as high [HW 158 & HH 125] (Fig. 27C); in dorsal view stout, 1.77× as broad as long [HW 158 & HL 89] (Fig. 27D); face coriaceous with sparse punctures, vertex mostly coriaceous; malar space 0.65× length of eye [ms 45 & EH 69]; malar sulcus distinct, straight (Fig. 27E); lower margin of gena sinuous, edged but not carinate; antennal toruli widely separated, interantennal space not raised, carinate laterally; scrobal depression smooth, reaching the median ocellus, carinate on margin (at least dorsally); POL 2.57× as long as OOL [POL 54 & OOL 21] (Fig. 27D); temple margined, 0.41× the eye length (in dorsal view) [TL 35 & EL 85]; setation oriented downwards on face, outwards on the punctuate frons.   
 Antenna. Scape not reaching median ocellus, 3.16× as long as broad [SL 60 & SW 19]; fu1 2× as long as broad [fu1L 30 & fu1W 15], distinctly longer than pedicel, bulging dorsally; funiculars (fu2–fu4) with two rows of mps and several whorls of adpressed setae, fu2–fu5 slightly longer than broad (Fig. 27B).   
 Mesosoma weakly arched dorsally, 1.5× as long as wide (150:100), with obliterate punctures (Fig. 28A); pronotum with sparse umbilicate punctures, mesodiscrimen with a ring-like process, adjacent to mesocoxa; mesoscutum 0.65× as long as wide (65:100), 0.75× longer than length of pronotal collar (65:85), sparsely umbilicate, transversely strigose anteriorly; notauli impressed; prepectus bare, with raised sculpture; mesoscutellum sparsely umbilicate laterally; mesepimeron transversally strigose; metepimeron subtriangular and areolate with long white hairs; propodeum (Fig. 28B) with deep median depression, with a smooth median band, with two short submedian carinae; lateral rows of areolae long and extending at least over posterior half of propodeum; inverted U-shaped basal carina, lateral branches relatively straight, width of basal carinae about 0.5× width of nucha.   
 Fore wing with short marginal fringe, apically subtruncate (pointed anteriorly); dark brown spot below mv; basal cell bare or nearly so, mv distinctly enlarged, triangularly broadened, in lower margin concave; stv curved up; pmv not distinct; costal cell ventrally and dorsally bare; speculum present; parastigmal bristles absent (Fig. 28C).   
 Legs. Fore coxa without depression on frontal surface, hind coxa bare basodorsally; fore (32:12) and hind femora (32:14); hind tibia dorsally with about 10 setae, setae shorter than tibia width basally.   
 Metasoma. Petiole shorter than broad dorsally, ventral transverse carina between petiole and St1 present. Metasoma 1.65× as long as wide (165:100) (Fig. 28D), longer than mesosoma, slightly compressed laterally (Fig. 28E); ventral transverse carina between petiole and St1 present; petiole in dorsal view not longer than wide, shorter than half length of hind coxa; tergites smooth; Gt4 (in lateral view) slightly as long as Gt3, sinuous posteriorly; Gt5 partly covering Gt6, sinuous posteriorly; Gt6 with few setae ventrally; ovipositor oriented dorsad but not distinctly upturned (Fig. 28D).   
 Male (Fig. 29). Length 2.06–2.38 mm. Similar to female with longer petiole (Fig. 29A); exhibiting same colouration; antennal formula 11143; each funicular with 2 rows of mps and several whorls of relatively long erected setae (Fig. 29B); fore wing more setose than in female, without speculum (Fig. 29D).   
 Variation. Length 2.20–3.65 mm. Sometimes gaster uniformly yellowish. Antennal flagellum yellowish-brown.   
 Host plants. Ficus artocarpoides, F. scott-elliottii, F. ottoniifolia and F. recurvata.   
 Geographical distribution. Gabon, Guinea, Republic of Côte d’Ivoire and United Republic of Tanzania.
description: Published as part of Lotfalizadeh, Hossein, Delvare, Gérard, Cruaud, Astrid & Rasplus, Jean-Yves, 2024, Morphological phylogeny and revision of Sycophila and Ficomila (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea, Eurytomidae) associated with Afrotropical fig trees (Moraceae, Ficus), pp. 1-190 in Zootaxa 5401 (1) on pages 49-51, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5401.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/10524258