Triepeolus tuberculifer Onuferko, Rightmyer & Roig-Alsina 2024, sp. nov.

Triepeolus tuberculifer Onuferko, Rightmyer & Roig-Alsina sp. nov. urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 1504F420-5757-4BA3-B68A-89EF4254722A Figs 1I, 13D, 15B, 16 Triepeolus n. sp. 2 – Rightmyer 2008: 30 (in key). Diagnosis Triepeolus tuberculifer sp. nov. can be told apart from all other South American Triepeolus by the distinctly tuberculate pro- and mesotrochanters (Fig. 15B). Otherwise, the following morphological features in combination tell T. tuberculifer sp. nov. apart from all other South American Triepeolus: the axillae and mesoscutellum are black and densely punctate (most i<1d) (Fig. 13D) and the T1 basal and apical transverse bands are subparallel, such that the discal patch is transversely oblong (Fig. 16B). Triepeolus tuberculifer sp. nov. is the only species in the T. simplex species group—containing species in which the pseudopygidial area of the female is triangular, with the apical margin of T5 concave (Fig. 16D)—with medially interrupted apical transverse bands on T2–T4 (Fig. 16B). Males of T. tuberculifer sp. nov. most closely resemble those of T. osiriformis and T. rufotegularis, but in the latter two species the trochanters are not at all tuberculate, in T. osiriformis the axillae and mesoscutellum are reddish brown (as are much of the head, rest of the mesosoma, and metasoma) and sparsely punctate (most i ≥1d), and in T. rufotegularis the free portion of each axilla is less (as opposed to more) than ⅓ as long as its entire medial length and the T1 discal patch is reniform. Etymology The specific epithet refers to the conspicuous tubercles on the pro- and mesotrochanters. The Latin adjectival suffix ‘-fer’ means ‘that which carries’. Material examined Primary type material COLOMBIA • ♀; holotype; Bolívar, Monterrey Forestal, Zambrano; 17 Nov. 1993; G. Ulloa and F. Fernández leg.; ICN HY-1056. Secondary type material COLOMBIA • 2 ♂♂, paratypes (studied from images); Casanare, Parque Ecotemático Wisirare, Orocué; 4.8887° N, 71.4381° W; 9 Nov. 2010; ICN 101499, 101500 • 1 ♀, paratype; Meta, Puerto Gaitán; 21 Mar. 1993; G. Ulloa and F. Fernández leg.; MACN. VENEZUELA • 1 ♂, allotype; Lara, 18 km SW of Carora; 11 Jul. 1988; C. Porter and L. Stange leg.; FSCA M.G.R. Database No. 3704. Description MEASUREMENTS OF HOLOTYPE. Body length 9.7 mm; ITW 2.0 mm; head length 2.3 mm; head width 3.2 mm; fore wing length 7.6 mm. Both sexes INTEGUMENT COLORATION. Dark brown to black except as follows. Mandible with middle third, labrum with apical two-fifths (apical half in female paratype), scape and pedicel to some extent, F1 extensively, tegula, anterior metasomal terga and sterna laterally, and pygidial plate reddish brown. Fore wing membrane subhyaline, apically dusky. Hind wing membrane dusky subhyaline to hyaline. Coxae to some extent and trochanters to tarsi entirely orange. PUBESCENCE. Face with tomentum densest around antennal socket. Tomentum slightly sparser on clypeus; upper paraocular and frontal areas and vertexal area mostly exposed. Pronotal collar with tomentum uniformly pale yellow. Mesoscutum with short but well-defined paramedian band of pale-yellow tomentum, well separated from anterior margin; pale tomentum otherwise mostly restricted to lateral and posterior margins. Mesopleuron with off-white, appressed, branched setae; upper half densely setose, except behind pronotal lobe, with setae slightly sparser on hypoepimeral area; ventrolateral half nearly bare, except along margins. Metanotum with tomentum uninterrupted, off-white laterally and pale yellow medially. Propodeal triangle mostly glabrous, laterally with punctures bearing very short dark brown setae. Metasomal terga with bands of off-white tomentum. T1 with basal and apical transverse bands interrupted medially (former somewhat more widely than latter) and subparallel, discal patch transversely oblong. T2–T4 with medially interrupted apical transverse bands, that of T2 with pair of basomedially convergent anterolateral extensions. S2–S3 with apical transverse bands of white tomentum. SURFACE SCULPTURE. Labrum and clypeus with punctures equally dense and nearly contiguous (most i <1d). Clypeus without glabrous midline in holotype and female paratype, but with incomplete and very short glabrous midline extending from upper margin down to <⅓ length of clypeus in (male) allotype. Vertexal area somewhat sparsely punctate (some i>2d), especially around ocelli. Mesoscutum densely punctate (most i ≤ 1d) but interspaces well defined, shining. Mesoscutellum and axilla with punctures equally dense and nearly contiguous (most i <1d). Mesopleuron with punctures in upper half not much denser (most i <1d) than in ventrolateral half (most i ≤ 1d); interspaces shining; punctures similar in size throughout. Discs of metasomal terga with punctures very fine, dense (i≈ 1d), and evenly distributed; interspaces dull due to tessellate surface microsculpture. STRUCTURE. Labrum with pair of small subapical denticles. Pronotal collar short (medial length ~½ MOD). Mesoscutellum moderately bigibbous. Axilla not extending much beyond midlength of mesoscutellum (extending to ~ ⅗–⅔ its length); tip distinctly pointed and hooked (i.e., concave along medial margin), mesally unattached to mesoscutellum for ~ ⅓–⅖ medial length of axilla; lateral margin somewhat sinuate. Pro- and mesotrochanters distinctly tuberculate. Female T5 with concave apical margin and large patch of off-white tomentum on each side lateral to pseudopygidial area. Pseudopygidial area with underlying integument reddish brown in part; forming rounded triangle with concave sides; with brown erect/suberect setae basally and brown spinelike setae laterally. Pygidial plate apically truncate. S4 with apical transverse band of white tomentum. S5 straight in lateral view, with patch of off-white tomentum submedially (absent in paratype) and apical fimbria of coppery bristle-like setae; S5 otherwise covered in brown tomentum. Male T5–T6 with medially narrowed or narrowly interrupted apical transverse bands of off-white tomentum. Pygidial plate relatively flat and apically rounded. S4–S5 each with apical/subapical fringe of dense, long (> 1 MOD), curved, coppery to silvery setae, not contrasting strongly with bands of preceding sterna. Distribution Northern South America (Fig. 1I). Ecology Host records Unknown. Floral records Unknown. Remarks This species was first documented in Rightmyer’s (2006) dissertation, wherein it was referred to as “sp. 169”. Rightmyer (2008) included the species in a key to Triepeolus from South America and the Caribbean but under the name Triepeolus n. sp. 2. Although Rightmyer (2006, 2008) treated the species, then based on a single, male specimen (herein designated as the allotype of T. tuberculifer sp. nov.), as a member of the T. verbesinae species group, the subsequent discovery of the female confirms its true placement in the T. simplex species group.

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