Ropalidia mosichi 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 mosichi

description: Ropalidia mosichi Polašek sp. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 148CBDC9-3E5A-4C4E-B621-9015A78660B1
Type specimens: Holotype: Mosich farm, Mt Erongo, Namibia, 1♀ (MFNB.27). Paratypes: Erongo Mountains, Namibia, 1♀ (OLM); Gobiswater farm, Namibia, 1♀ (NHM); Fransfontein, Namibia, 1♀ (MSNV). The total number of examined specimens: 4♀♀.
Diagnosis. A member of capensis -group, morphologically similar to R. novissima GIORDANI SOIKA and R. macloutsie sp. nov., with several defining morphological and colour pattern features, including silvery pubescence, coarser pronotum punctures, yellow markings on gena and more clavate female antenna; males are unknown.
Description. Females. Wing length: 6.3–6.9 mm. Colour. Basal colour dark brown, with more yellow colour than R. novissima GIORDANI SOIKA: clypeus yellow with basal detached light-brown spot (that can be very reduced), gena with large yellow area that continues to posterior side (Figure 7b), tempora with faint yellowish continuation of yellow area from gena, inner orbit with broad yellow line, interantennal area and lower halves of antennal sockets yellow (Figure 8a). Mandible yellow with central elongated brown spot that almost reaches the mandible tip (Figure 8a). Pronotum with thicker yellow line underneath carina (Figure 8c), scutellum with posterior reddish-yellow line (even with lateral edges with traces of yellow in one specimen), metanotum with two yellow spots (merged in one specimen). Coxa I and II (rarely coxa III) with yellow markings. Legs brownish, corresponding to basal body colour. T1 commonly brown (Figure 7b) or with minor bilateral yellow spot, T2 with thicker posterior band extending onto S2 (Figure 8b). T3–T5 with suffused yellow posterior bands, S3–S4 (S5) have complete or incomplete posterior yellow bands. Wings transparent or just slightly yellowish, nervature and stigma brown; apical spot of fore wing absent (Figure 7b). Antenna dark brown dorsally, orange ventrally; scape ferruginous-brown ventrally (Figure 8a).
Head. Clypeus resembles R. novissima GIORDANI SOIKA, with straight and elongated upes and weakly developed juxtamandibular lobe and excavation (Figure 8a). Clypeus basally coarsely and shallowly punctate, punctures less defined and denser towards apex. Clypeus covered by silvery pubescence and some protruding setae of similar length basally and apically. Mandible slightly widened basally. Inner orbit impunctate, frons with dense and shallow punctures that continue on tempora close to eye and dissipate on gena, especially in yellow areas. Gena at most about 0.6 times as wide as eye (Figure 8c). Occipital carina straight, reaches mandible. Ocellar triangle wider basally. Antenna more clavate than in R. novissima GIORDANI SOIKA and R. macloutsie sp. nov.; scape longer than AF1, AF2 about as wide as long. Entire head covered by silvery pubescence, with some yellowish tint on vertex.
Mesosoma. Entire mesosoma covered by short silvery pubescence; mesosoma with coarser punctures, especially pronotum dorsally, close to mesonotum (Figure 8d). Mesonotum covered by sparse, large and shallow punctures. Mesopleuron with large and shallow punctures, metapleuron almost impunctate, with traces of punctures obscured by silvery pubescence. Scutellum coarsely punctate, metanotum with smaller posterior impunctate area. Propodeum with weak upper and inferior propodeal carina, excavation mainly with downward directing setae.
Metasoma. T1 pyriform and globular, with sparse and well-defined punctures posteriorly and laterally; T1 covered by silvery pubescence and some longer protruding setae. T2 shorter, more rounded, with intermediate-sized regular punctures. T2 lamella yellow, transparent; T2/S2 notch wide and obtuse, T2/S2 suture short.
Males are not known.
Distribution. Namibia.
Etymology. The name is given after the farm where the holotype was collected, Mosich farm, Namibia, as an adjective, in the masculine gender.
Similar species. This species is similar to both R. macloutsie sp. nov. and R. novissima GIORDANI SOIKA; the defining features are provided in the key to species.
Genetics. A single specimen was successfully genotyped, yielding a BIN designation (BOLD:ADR2457). The position of this cluster is sister to R. macloutsie sp. nov. and R. novissima GIORDANI SOIKA branch. The phylogenetic relationship, corroborated by the morphological features, suggests that R. macloutsie sp. nov. and R. novissima GIORDANI SOIKA are more closely related, while R. mosichi sp. nov. is more distant.
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 pages 104-105, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5626.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/15325272