Ropalidia tajiri Polasek 2025, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Polašek, Ozren
name: Onah, Ikechukwu
name: Kehinde, Tope
name: Rojo, Veronica
name: Noort, Simon Van
name: Carpenter, James M.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Vespidae
Ropalidia
Ropalidia tajiri

description: Ropalidia tajiri Polašek sp. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 205417D3-8B52-4A25-B99D-82678896EF8F
Type specimens. Holotype: Voi, Kenya, 1♀ (OLM.0226). Paratype: Voi, Kenya, 1♀ (OLM). The total number of examined specimens: 2♀♀.
Diagnosis. A member of the capensis -group, with phenotypic and genotypic data suggesting an intermediate position between R. luculenta sp. nov. and R. antennata (DE SAUSSURE). The key diagnostic features include shiny clypeus and continuous yellow line on posterior margin of the metanotum, thick yellow line on pronotum and two yellow spots on scutellum. Males are unknown.
Diagnosis. Females. Wing length 6.2–6.8 mm. Colour. Basic colour brownish, with yellow and reddish areas (Figure 105a). Yellow areas include clypeus (except basal light brown elongated spot), inner orbit, mandible (except small triangular basal brown spot), suffused small area on gena (Figure 16a); pronotum with thickened yellow line (Figure 16b), coxa pair I yellow, scutellum with two small yellow areas, metanotum with continuous yellow line that occupies posterior half (Figure 16c). T1/S1 brown, T2 with thickened yellow posterior band, S2 with thin posterior band; T3 (partly also S3) with suffused yellow area, remaining segments somewhat reddish, and more lightly coloured than T2 basal colour (Figure 105a). Wings transparent, apical spotabsent, stigma semi-transparent, light brown. Antenna ferruginous, slightly darkened in more distal segments, orange underneath (Figure 105a).
Head. Clypeus about as long as broad, convex, with evenly curved upes, protruding apex and developed juxtamandibular lobe (similar to R. antennata DE SAUSSURE females; Figure 16a). Clypeus has shiny basal and central surface, finely and minutely punctate, gradually becoming less defined craters near apex. Clypeus covered by very short pubescence and some protruding whitish-yellowish setae. Inner orbit impunctate, covered by dense pubescence (denser than clypeus). Frons sparsely punctate, similar to tempora, while vertex punctures gradually diminishnear occipital carina. Gena sparsely punctate near eye, impunctate towards occipital carina. Frons, tempora and gena covered by short setae, equal or shorter than ocellus diameter. Gena about 0.7 times as wide as eye. AF1 0.8 times as long as scape, AF2 about as long as wide (Figure 16a).
Mesosoma. Mesosoma covered by very short whitish-golden setae. Punctures of mesosoma coarser and larger (Figure 16b). Tegula with few large and poorly defined punctures. Scutellum finely punctate, metanotum with coarser punctures laterally, with posterior impunctate area that is smaller than in R. luculenta sp. nov. (Figure 16c). Metapleuron shallowly punctate, almost entirely indiscernible due to overlying pubescence. Propodeal excavation with obtuse margins and much narrower contour than in R. luculenta sp. nov., covered by very dense, distally directing golden setae (Figure 16c).
Metasoma. T1 globular and posteriorly constricted. T2 short, with about half of total length with parallel sides. T2/S2 suture less developed, visible only proximally. T2 lamella elongated, transparent, lamellar notch very shallow, T2/S2 suture longer. T2 covered by short golden setae, S2 covered by yellowish-silvery pubescence; remaining segments covered by longer protruding setae (Figure 105a).
Males are unknown.
Distribution: Kenya.
Etymology. After the Swahili word tajiri, “rich”, referring to a rich amount of yellow colour on the body; the name is treated as indeclinable.
Genetics. A single specimen was genotyped, confirming an intermediate position between R. antennata (DE SAUSSURE) and R. luculenta sp. nov., with a BIN assignment BOLD:AEA6302.
description: Published as part of Polašek, Ozren, Onah, Ikechukwu, Kehinde, Tope, Rojo, Veronica, Noort, Simon Van & Carpenter, James M., 2025, Revision of the mainland African species of the Old World social wasp genus Ropalidia Guérin-Méneville 1831 (Hymenoptera; Vespidae), pp. 1-142 in Zootaxa 5626 (1) on page 122, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5626.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/15325272