Rhopalum gulmargense Saini & Dey. A 2022, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Saini, Varun
name: Dey, Debjani
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Crabronidae
Rhopalum
Rhopalum gulmargense

description: Rhopalum (s. str.) gulmargense Saini & Dey, sp. nov.
(Figs 1−9)
Diagnosis. The new species is close to R. cornilabiatum Li & He, 1999 and R. adamsi Leclercq, 2011. It shares with R. cornilabiatum the anterior margin of the clypeus dentate with conspicuous lateral indentation and pronotal collar rounded laterally, and with R. adamsi the inconspicuous supra-antennal projection, distinct admedian line, pronotal collar rounded laterally and antennomere III longer than wide. The new species differs from R. cornilabiatum and R. adamsi by body length (7.4−7.6 mm), presence of orbital fovea, broader face, antennal sockets contiguous, supraorbital projection, carina on inner margin of compound eyes, median lobe of clypeus, trochanters and femora of all legs ventro-laterally with sparse long silver pubescence, hindtibia largely inflated and pygidial area broad basally & rounded apically.
Description. FEMALE. Holotype ♀. BL= 7.4−7.6 mm; FWL= 5.03 mm
Color. Body dark brown except metasoma (Fig. 2). Yellow are: antennal scape (except dorsal region), pronotal lobe, mouth parts, pedicel basally, apical part of coxae of all legs, forefemur apically, foretibia except ventral part, fore and midbasitarsi completely, foretarsomeres except apically; dorsal part of all legs and mandible except apically, dark brown; petiole, basal part of terga II to V, tergum VI entirely and sterna reddish brown; wing veins and flagellum, light to dark brown.
Head. Shiny, subcubical, densely micro-punctured dorsally, length 0.6× shorter than width; orbital fovea indistinct, elliptical, close to compound eye; ocelli equilateral in position; inner margin of compound eyes slightly convergent below, with carina; supra-antennal projection inconspicuous, covered with silvery setae; inner orbit of compound eyes near scapal basin with dense silvery pubescence; distinct longitudinal line extends from anterior ocellus to frontoclypeal groove; face broad (Fig. 4); clypeus broad, slightly swollen medially, anterior margin with one median and two lateral projections (Fig. 4), basal part of clypeus touching compound eyes, anterior tentorial pit joining antennal socket through frontoclypeal suture on each side (Fig. 4); vertex with fine longitudinal line starting at post-ocellar area, almost reaching occiput; hypostomal carina wide U-shaped, separated from occipital carina; mandible bifid at apex; antennal sockets contiguous, POD equal to 0.46 × of OOD; relative length of antennomere I: II: III: IV: V: VI: VII: VIII: IX: X: XI and XII = 4.8: 1.2: 1.3: 1.3: 1.3: 1.2: 1.4: 1.2: 1.1: 1: 0.8 and 1.4.
Mesosoma. Dull compared to head; pronotal collar rounded laterally with slight longitudinal groove medially (Fig. 3); scutum densely micro-punctured with well-defined admedian and parapsidal lines; scutellum and metanotum dorsally with micro-punctures; mesopleuron appearing micro-punctured dorsally; epicnemial sulcus with distinct large foveolae, reaching tegula; precoxal area with small foveolae compared to those on epicnemial sulcus (Fig. 5), mesopleural suture without fovea; metapleuron smooth and shiny; propodeum smooth, shiny, its anterior margin with well-defined foveolae, longitudinal furrow inconspicuous anteriorly, with weak longitudinal striae; posterior surface dorsally covered with fine pubescence, not striate; side smooth and shiny (Fig. 6); foretibia without dorsal spines, midtibia simple and covered with 2-4 spines dorsally, hindtibia largely inflated apically with 9-10 short spines dorsally, ventrally with dense silvery pubescence.
Metasoma. Petiolate, petiole longer than combined length of hindtrochanter and hindfemur, distinctly nodose at apex; tergum II longer than wide, following terga subequal (Fig. 7); pygidial plate dull, microsculptured, broader at base, without longitudinal carina, depressed and rounded apically, carinate laterally before middle, PPL= 0.37 mm (Fig. 8).
MALE. Unknown.
Etymology. Species name is based on the type locality (Fig. 9).
Distribution. India (Jammu & Kashmir: Gulmarg).
Material Examined. Holotype ♀, India: Jammu and Kashmir: Gulmarg, (34°03’13.4”N 74°22’52.8”E, 8500ft), 23.vii.1923, coll. T. B. Fletcher (NPC−IARI) (Fig. 1). Paratypes: 2♀♀, India: Jammu and Kashmir: Gulmarg, (34°03’13.4”N 74°22’52.8”E, 8500ft), 12.vii.1903, 17−24.vii.1923, coll. T. B. Fletcher (NPC−IARI).
description: Published as part of Saini, Varun & Dey, Debjani, 2022, Description of Rhopalum (s. str.) gulmargense n. sp. with a key to the Indian species of the subgenus Rhopalum Stephens, 1829 s. str. (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae: Crabronini), pp. 139-144 in Zootaxa 5105 (1) on pages 140-142, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5105.1.6, http://zenodo.org/record/6332496