Arpactophilus vamale Breitkreuz, Ohl & Engel, 2016, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Breitkreuz, Laura C. V.
name: Ohl, Michael
name: Engel, Michael S.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Crabronidae
Arpactophilus
Arpactophilus vamale

description: Arpactophilus vamale sp. nov.
(Figs. 103–104)
Diagnosis. Arpactophilus vamale is the only New Caledonian species in the genus with the combination of a sternum II with a bulge (Fig. 104, and as in Fig. 2), a dorsally-interrupted occipital carina (Fig. 6), dark brown femora, a mostly flat hypostomal midventral line that is slightly angulate medially, a light brown metatibia without a prominent darker colored area, and a roughly punctured frons without a distinct carina parallel to the inner compound eye margin (Fig. 103).
Description. FEMALE: Total length 5.0 mm; forewing length 3.3 mm.
Body black, with brown and dark yellow. Dark yellow: trochanters; femora apically and basally; tibiae; tarsi. Brown: antenna; anterior pronotal margin; tegula; coxae; most of femora. Mandible reddish-black. Wings slightly infumate; pterostigma dark brown.
Head about 1.1 × as long as wide in frontal view. Apical margin of clypeus strongly projecting medially, medioapical margin nearly straight (Fig. 103). Apical margin of labrum projecting medially, with a shallow Vshaped incision medially and laterally, forming four small lobes. Ventral mandibular tooth about ¼–1/5 of total mandibular length, not reaching opposite mandibular base. Palpal formula 5:4. Frons finely carinate-reticulate with dense short setae. Frontal carina present from median ocellus to midlength of clypeus, forming a flat point at basal clypeal margin. Scape 3.3 × as long as wide. Ocellar triangle anterior of tangent between upper posterior orbits of compound eyes, lateral ocelli anterior of tangent by more than their diameter. Occipital carina interrupted dorsally (Fig. 6). Gena imbricate, with sparse punctation and associated setae, without tubercles, spines, or dorsoventral carina. Hypostomal midventral line faint anteriorly, carinate posteriorly, slightly angulate medially.
Mesosoma about 1.8 × as long as wide in dorsal view. Propodeum about 0.9 × as long as wide in dorsal view. Mesosoma colliculate, also finely carinulate laterally (Fig. 104) and densely punctured dorsally, except on propodeum; lateral surface of propodeum transversely carinulate; dorsal surface of propodeum coarsely reticulate (similar to pattern in Fig. 18). Broadly pitted sulcus present posterior to fine mesoscuto-mesoscutellar sulcus. Hypersternal sulcus absent. Metafemur 2.7 × as long as wide. Metatibia without differently colored area apically. Pretarsal claws with a small tooth at base. Forewing with two submarginal cells; anterior border of submarginal cell II shorter than posterior border. Hind wing with five distal hamuli.
Metasoma polished, punctation sparse (Fig. 104). Metasomal sternum II swollen medially, forming bulge (as in Fig. 2). Pygidium with broad row of silk setae apically.
MALE: Unknown
Remarks. Arpactophilus vamale is similar to A. kumak, A. pwapwa, A. numee, A. xaragure, A. nyelayu, A. orowe, and A. arboreus as all share the combination of a dark brown or black metasoma with a bulge on the metasomal sternum II and a dark brown or black clypeus with a medially strongly projecting apical margin that has no or only a small incision medially. See remarks-section of A. kumak.
Material examined. HOLOTYPE ♀: “ NEW CALEDONIA Mt. Khogi, 600m, 30.XI.1963; R. Straatman, Collector, BISHOP [BPBM].
Etymology. The specific epithet is taken from the name Vamale, one of the New Caledonian native languages. It is treated as a noun in apposition.
description: Published as part of Breitkreuz, Laura C. V., Ohl, Michael & Engel, Michael S., 2016, A review of the New Caledonian Arpactophilus (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae), pp. 1-66 in Zootaxa 4063 (1) on pages 50-51, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4063.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/270412