Aberropompilus Shimizu & Wahis, gen. nov.
Creators: name: Akira Shimizu
name: Raymond Wahis
name: Anthony C. Harris
name: James P. Pitts
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Pompilidae
Aberropompilus

description: Genus Aberropompilus Shimizu & Wahis gen. nov.
(Figures 1 – 3)
Diagnosis
The female has unique characteristics among Pompilidae in having a remarkably shaped head, its outline rhomboid in frontal view (Figure 1 A) and triangular in profile (Figure 1 B); upper frons strongly produced anteriorly, hence supra-antennal area overhanging radicle of scape; lower frons markedly receding posteriorly, greatly narrowed below, flattened. The following characteristics are also very specialised and, together with the above traits, distinguish this genus from others: (1) body very slender (Figure 2 A); (2) mesosoma and metasoma compressed laterally; (3) upper frons with several long, stout, suberect setae (Figures 1 A, B); (4) inner orbits strongly arcuate and remarkably convergent below; (5) eye with numerous erect setulae, those being much longer than facet width; (6) clypeus small, entirely flattened; (7) antenna not convolute (Figures 2 A, 3); (8) juncture of anterior and posterior faces of vertex sharply edged; (9) posterior faces of vertex and gena concave, smooth and highly polished, without occipital carina (Figure 1 C); (10) pronotum much longer than mesoscutum at midline (Figure 1 D); (11) pronotal collar slightly depressed below level of its dorsum (Figure 2 B); (12) oblique sulcus on mesepisternum subobsolete (Figure 2 C); (13) mesepimeron entirely obsolete, save for its upper margin (Figure 2 C, arrow); (14) metapostnotum completely invaginated dorsally; (15) lower metapleuron and lateral side of propodeum fairly flattened, smooth and highly polished (Figure 2 C); (16) pterostigma very small and triangular, its base much shorter than cross vein 2r-rs (Figure 2 D); (17) marginal cell very long and narrow, strongly tapering apically (Figure 2 E); (18) vein M reaching outer wing margin; (19) hind wing with only one basal hamulus; (20) hind wing cross vein cu-a short and almost straight, originating very basally to fork of vein M+CuA, forming an obtuse angle with vein 1A (Figure 2 F); (21) jugal lobe very small; (22) outer face of fore coxa flattened, with a fine, semi-circularly curved groove posteriorly from base to apex (Figure 2 G, arrow); (23) fore femur enormously incrassate (Figure 2 G); (24) hind coxa much larger than mid coxa, strongly compressed laterally, greatly raised and lamellate dorso-innerly, smooth and polished, forming the same plane with both lower metapleuron and lateral face of propodeum (Figure 2 B); (25) outer apicoventral corner of hind femur rounded; (26) orbicula minute, with its pecten consisting of a few radiating, almost straight weak setulae; (27) all tarsal claws edentate (Figure 1 E); (28) tergum I narrowed and parallel sided basally (Figure 2 A); and (29) sternum VI strongly compressed laterally, with a median carina (Figure 2 H).
Description
Body smooth and impunctate. Ocelli forming low obtuse-angled triangle (Figure 1 F). Malar space much longer than one-half width of mandibular base (Figure 1 B). Labrum small, fairly exposed beneath clypeus (Figure 1 A); apical margin feebly convex without median emargination. Mandible small, thin antero-posteriorly with small tooth subapically on inner margin, without lamina or fimbriate groove along outer margin. Maxilla with palpus elongate (Figures 1 G, H); last three palpomeres thinner than third, fourth longer than third. Labium with prementum without median cleft apically or circular or heart- or spade-shaped membranous area subapically (Figure 1 I). Antennal socket removed from upper margin of clypeus by much more than its long axis. Scape long, flattened and curved outward on outer face (Figure 1 F).
Pronotum with anterior declivity much shorter than dorsum, gradually and uniformly merging into dorsum, thus never differentiated from dorsum (Figure 2 B); lateral face almost vertical and concave (Figure 2 A), juncture of lateral and dorsal faces narrowly rounded. Dorsal surface of pronotum, mesoscutum and scutellar disc flattened, almost conforming to the same plane (Figure 2 B). Posterolateral margin of mesoscutum not raised. Axilla (cuneoli) practically absent. Propodeal dorsum much longer than declivity, flattened, and gradually merging into latter (Figure 2 C); declivity somewhat concave posteromedially.
Third abscissa of fore wing vein M (basal vein) curved anteriorly (Figure 2 E). Cross veins 2 and 3 rs-m almost straightly slanting and subparallel. Cross vein 2 m-cu meeting vein CuA1 much less than half of distance from base of CuA1 to wing margin. Vein CuA1 slightly deflected downward basally. Cross vein cu-a originating basally to fork of vein M+CuA.
Mid coxa sharply raised and lamellate on dorso-outer surface. Fore tarsomere I shorter than tarsomeres II – IV combined. Mid and hind femora with basal ring, and small spines posterodorsally. Hind femur compressed laterally, its inner face flattened. Hind tibia with many short but strong spines dorsally, without scale-like teeth; apical spines equal in thickness but unequal in length, weakly splayed out (Figure 2 I). Apicoventral spine on hind tarsomere V and apicodorsal spine on hind tarsomere IV somewhat broadened basally and narrowly triangular.
Metasoma slender, fusiform (Figure 2 A). Tergum 1 with lateral crease. Sternum II without transverse groove.
Distribution
Southeast Asia (Malaysia, Thailand).
Biology
Unknown.
description: Published as part of Akira Shimizu, Raymond Wahis, Anthony C. Harris & James P. Pitts, 2016, An extraordinary new genus and species of spider wasps (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Pompilidae) from Southeast Asia, pp. 1549-1559 in Journal of Natural History 50 on pages 1550-1553, DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2016.1155781, http://zenodo.org/record/159018