Losgna occidentalis, Chaudhary & Reinisch, 2025

Chaudhary, Karmannye Om & Reinisch, Sophia, 2025, Rediscovery and description of a new species of Losgna (Cameron 1903): reviving a forgotten ichneumonid genus in India, Zootaxa 5632 (3), pp. 595-600 : 596-598

Losgna occidentalis sp. nov. (Om Chaudhary & Reinisch, 2025)

( Figs 1A–D )

Holotype: ♂ India: Chandigarh, Manimajara , 30°42’34’’N, 76°50’04’’E, 366 m. a.s.l., urban landscape, General Collection, 05.xii.2023, coll. Anu Chaudhary. Deposited in the Wildlife Institute of India ( WII) National Repository.

Description: Male. Body length 12.8 mm

Head: Flagellum with 40 flagellomeres, bristle shaped, sharply pointed at apex, 1 st flagellomere 2 × longer than wide, strongly broadened in middle, widest flagellomeres 1.1 × wider than long. Temple short and thin, narrowed behind eye. Frons convex, setose and weakly punctate. Punctures separated by width of more than one and a half punctures. Face weakly and sparsely punctate. Clypeus strongly punctate medially and weakly punctate laterally ( Fig. 1A ). Labrum short, transverse and wider than long with a shallow median depression. Malar space almost as long as width of mandibular base. Gena sparsely punctate posteriorly. Genal carina meeting occipital carina just before base of mandibles. Posterior and medial part of mandibles covered in plumose hairs ( Fig. 1B ).

Mesosoma: Notaulus distinct on anterior 0.6 of mesoscutum. Mesoscutum strongly punctate and sparsely setose. Scutellum slightly raised, longer than wide, evenly punctate with sparse setae. Mesopleuron smooth and shining above mesopleural fovea and weakly and finely punctate below. Metapleuron densely and coarsely punctate, juxtacoxal carina present. Propodeum ( Fig. 1C ) partially carinated, with apophysis.Area superomedia small, slightly wider than long, with coarse rugae; costula reaching at 4/10 of its length. Hind coxa with dense and fine punctures with scopa, and hind femur 4.6 × longer than wide.

Metasoma: 1st sternite smooth and not carinate. Postpetiole distinctly widened, with fine sparse punctures laterally, smooth surface with median field not defined. Gastrocoelus longer than wide, with some ridges. Thyridium large, slightly oblique, 1.5 × as wide as the interval between thyridia ( Fig. 1D ). 2nd tergite densely rugose-punctate, third tergite about as wide as long. 3rd and following tergites dull with fine punctures and fine and sparse setae. Gonosqama triangular with rounded apex; 8th sternite sharply pointed medially with projection facing nearly vertically downwards.

Colour: Black, richly patterned with ivory white markings. Scape and pedicel laterally yellowish, black centrally with brown base. Flagellomeres 14–19 ivory, others black. Palps, mandible except teeth, clypeus, face except blackish central markings, ivory ( Fig. 1A ). Gena ivory, outlined in black posteriorly, eye orbits completely ivory, face ivory except for narrow triangular black stripes extending dorsally from anterior tentorial pit to dorsum of facial protuberance, malar sulcus and frons black. Collar, antero-ventral stripes and upper margin of pronotum ivory. Two short posteromedian stripes on mesoscutum, subtegular ridge, wide ventral band on mesopleuron, apical spot on metapleuron and prescutellar ridge ivory. Scutellum laterally and posteriorly, postscutellum, spot in front of propodeal spiracle and posterolateral spot on propodeum ivory ( Fig. 1B , Fig. 1C ). Posterolateral spot on postpetiole and p osterior bands of tergites ivory. Tergites 2–6 triangularly narrowed medially, with emargination becoming shallower on posterior tergites. Coxae and trochanters ivory, hind coxa black with ivory markings ventrally ( Fig. 1D ). Legs reddish; fore and mid coxae and trochanters and hind coxa ventrally and internally ivory, hind coxae black with white dorsal spot, fore femur & tibia light orange, second tarsomere brown and final two tarsal segments dark brown to black, mid femur & tibia light red with proximal half of basitarsus light brown darkening to dark brown to black final tarsomere. Hind legs light red with dark brown and black joints, dark brown tibia apex and black tarsus. Wings hyaline with slight brown colouration and pterostigma uniformly black

Female: Unknown

Biology: Unknown

Distribution: The cities of Chandigarh and Dehradun in India.

Etymology: The specie name occidentalis translates to western as it this is the westernmost extent for species of this genus in the oriental region.

Remarks: This species runs to Losgna bambusicola indicola ( Heinrich, 1965) in the key to Oriental Losgna species ( Heinrich 1965) but differs by its larger size, ivory fore and mid coxae dorsally white, black hind coxae and the presence of complete, white posterior bands, triangularly indented but not interrupted medially on all the metasomal tergites.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Losgna occidentals sp. nov. A—face, frontal view, B—face and propodeum side view C—propodeum, dorsal view, D—basal tergites, dorsal view.