Mischocyttarus rodriguesi Silveira & Silva & Felizardo 2015, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Silveira, Orlando Tobias
name: Silva, Suzanna de Sousa
name: Felizardo, Sherlem Patricia de Seixas
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2015
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Vespidae
Mischocyttarus
Mischocyttarus rodriguesi

description: Mischocyttarus rodriguesi Silveira sp. nov.    
 (Figs. 4, 11A, K, 12E, 13A, B and 14E)   
Holotype: female, Brazil, Pará, Melgaço, Caxiuanã, 06/xi/2006, S.S. Silva & J. Dias (MPEG).  
 Diagnosis. Female: wing length 8.0; clypeus higher than wide; first metasomal segment very long and narrow, LSI/HMP 1.56–1.70 with the apex only 1.7–2.06 times wider than the basal petiole; sculpture very strong, mesoscutum with punctures of two very distinct size-classes, the larger ones being numerous and very distinct measuring ca. 0.06 mm or more, the smaller with 0.02 mm or less; color deep black with yellow marks reduced on head and thorax, virtually without reddish areas, yellow transversal stripe on pronotal carina interrupted on two sectors around the center.   
Description. Female: length of fore wing 8.0 mm. Head nearly as high as wide in frontal view; clypeus higher than wide, ratio H/WCL 1.04–1.11, apex narrowly truncate; malar space nearly obsolete; tentorial pit much closer to eye margin than to antennal socket; ocelli in an equilateral triangle, narrowly separated from eyes, POL/OOL about 1.0; occipital carina well developed, distinct in lateral view and ending fairly below the level of ocular sinus and outwards in relation to margin of pre-foraminal concavity; gena considerably narrower than the upper lobe of the eye. Pronotum without a lateral fovea, central part of the anterior margin of pronotum with the lamella raised and strongly reflexed, with contour profile reaching more than 180 degrees; region immediately behind the lamella without secondary margin; humeral angle well developed, produced into a strong lobe, pronotal carina just moderately high at sides, lamella measuring about 0.14 mm, total width of carina (WCAR) about 1.12 times larger than that of mesoscutum; mesoscutum about as long as wide, L/WMS ca. 1.0. Fore wing well-elongated, LDIS/HMP ca. 2.12. Inner claw of hind tarsus with the apex uniformly rounded, but not enlarged or spoon-shaped. Propodeum with median furrow relatively wide and shallow, developed on 4/5 of the length of propodeal dorsum, propodeal valve strongly expanded backward, with outline more semioval than triangular. First metasomal segment very long and narrow (Figs. 4 and 12E), LSI/HMP 1.56–1.70 with the apex only 1.7–2.06 times wider than the basal petiole; spiracles moderately prominent.  
Sculpture: very strong and conspicuous. Disk of clypeus with medium-sized punctures and well distinguishable micropunctures, area close to the ventral margin finely reticulate with sparse larger punctures, smooth but not really shining; upper interantennal area and frons with puncture diameter variable, small punctures larger and more easily distinguishable. Mesoscutum with punctures of two very distinct size-classes, the larger ones being numerous and very distinct measuring ca. 0.06 mm or more, the smaller with 0.02 mm or less (Figs. 11A and K); mesopleuron sculpture similar to that of mesoscutum, but with larger punctures denser; propodeum with larger punctures strong but more sparse, central area around median furrow with distinct punctures; integument in general shining.  
Vestiture: eyes bare; head and mesosoma with very conspicuous appressed or decumbent pilosity; longer and stouter hairs on clypeus, frons and mesoscutum, those on pleura and propodeum still longer but finer and more decumbent; metasomal terga with appressed pubescence, and more erect hairs on distal segments; first metasomal sternum with very smooth and shining integument, nearly absolutely glabrous except for rather sparse fine and curved hairs; remaining sterna with appressed pubescence, with longer and more erect hairs on distal segments, besides those of glandular brushes.  
Color: black (see Fig. 12E). Lateral and ventral surfaces of scape and ventral surface of apical articles of antenna light orange brown. Main surface of mandible, including apical teeth; ventral corner of pronotum at sides; most of anterior surface of fore and mid coxa; mid and hind trochanters; elongate mark on anterior dorsal aspect of mid and hind femora; upper metapleural plate, reddish brown. Most of mandible and clypeus (around a central elongate dark mark), inner and outer orbits, narrow supra-antennal concave and interrupted “V-shaped” mark; pronotal carina discontinuously (a central mark, and a lateral mark hardly reaching the ventral extreme of the carina); strip along posterior pronotal margin; small spot on mesepisternal plate and ventral articular region of mesopleuron; inner posterior mark on tegula; most of anterior two-thirds of scutellum (divided by a median line), with faint spot on mesoscutellar crest; most of metanotum anteriorly; two medium-sized spots on propodeum (widening posteriorly); valvular region; lateral stripe on fore coxa; very narrow distal margin of all trochanters; distal spot on fore femur; interrupted dorso-lateral stripe on fore tibia; small streaks on dorsum of first and fifth segments of fore tarsus; lateral spots on mid and hind coxae; distal mark on mid and hind femora, elongated interrupted stripe on dorsal surface and distal spot on mid tibia; apical spot on hind tibia; distal marginal band on metasomal tergum I, extending forward at sides up to the spiracle; narrow band on distal and lateral margins of tergum II and distal margin of terga III to V (interrupted medially); distal expanded region of sternum I; distal margin (broadened medially) of sterna II to VI, yellow. Wings hyaline with brown veins.  
Male: unknown.  
 Nest. Three nests are known for this species, two from Caxiuanã (Nest A, 02/xi/2006: 4 cells + 1 unfinished, Figs. 13A, A 1 and 14E; Nest B, 06/xi/2006: 14 cells + 1 broken, Fig. 13B) and a third from a different locality (Serra do Pardo, Nest C, 27/iv/2012: 8 cells + 1 broken). They consist of a single-row comb fastened by a broad and direct attachment of the first basal cell (i.e., without a pedicel; see Figs. 13A, A 1 and 14E) to the thin filiform stem of a parasitic plant (Cuscuta trichostyla Engelm., Convolvulaceae). A dark, blackish wasp-secretion covers the plant stem near the basal cell attachment. Complete cells are ca. 13 mm long and 3 mm wide at distal rim, and are composed of gray wood pulp that appears darker because of secretions applied to their external walls, creating longitudinal blackish stripes (see Figs. 13A, A 1, B, and 14E). Nests B and C have some capped cells; the pupal caps consist of darkened secretion without pulp fragments.   
 Most cells in the nests of M. rodriguesi sp. nov. appear to be directly connected to the border rim of the preceding cell (although small interconnecting stalks are sometimes visible), in variable positions on that cell rim. Cell connections are sometimes aligned on the same side along a series, resulting in a curved section of comb (Figs. 13A and 14E). Sometimes, position varies as to form a spiraling series of cell connections (the same applying to cell opening direction) (Fig. 13B).   
Distribution: Brazil (PA).  
Etymology: the specific epithet is in homage to Rodolfo Siqueira Rodrigues, a staff member of the Museu Goeldi for 47 years (from 1898 to 1945). Rodrigues was a great defender of this institution and especially of natural history collections in the very difficult times after the “rubber debacle”.  
 Remarks. This new species is morphologically related to M. vaqueroi, but the very slender shape of its first metasomal segment (Fig.4) and its deep black color, with reduced yellow marks, renders it very distinct (Fig. 12E). The broad attachment of the basal nest cell to a filiform substrate (without a pedicel) seems unique among the known architectures of this species group (Fig. 13A and A 1). Two colonies of M. rodriguesi sp. nov. from Caxiuanã were found deep in Amazonian rainforest (Figs. 13 A-B and 14E).   
Examined material (Paratypes): Brazil, Pará, Melgaço, Caxiuanã, 1 female (with part of nest), 06/iii/2006, 1 female (with part of nest), 02/xi/2006, S.S. Silva & J. Dias, 1 female (with part of nest), São Félix do Xingu, PARNA Serra do Pardo, 27/iv/2012, S.S. Silva (MPEG).
description: Published as part of Silveira, Orlando Tobias, Silva, Suzanna de Sousa & Felizardo, Sherlem Patricia de Seixas, 2015, Notes on social wasps of the group of Mischocyttarus (Omega) punctatus (Ducke), with description of six new species (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Polistinae), pp. 154-168 in Revista Brasileira de Entomologia 59 (3) on pages 165-166, DOI: 10.1016/j.rbe.2015.07.006, http://zenodo.org/record/13194821