Anastatus narendrani Rameshkumar, Ghosh & Sheela, 2025

Ghosh, Dipanjana, Sheela, S., Kumar, P. Girish & Rameshkumar, A., 2025, Description of two new brachypterous species of Anastatus (Chalcidoidea: Eupelmidae) from India, Zootaxa 5679 (1), pp. 123-132 : 124-125

1. Anastatus narendrani Rameshkumar, Ghosh & Sheela sp. nov. ( Fig. 1 )

Material Examined: Holotype: 1 ♀, INDIA, Kerala, Wayanad, Periya Camp shed (11.7768°N, 75.8475°E), 10.ii.2021, Coll. K. A. Subrahmaniam, deposited in National Zoological Collection, Zoological Survey of India , Kolkata.

Female: Holotype. Length 3.76 mm.

Colouration: Head dark with metallic green and violet refringence on the frons, eyes grey; antenna yellowish brown, scape darker and gradually lighter towards clava, apical segment of clava brown; mandible yellowish brown except brownish apices, maxillary palpi dark brown. Mesoscutum, SAC, propodeum, acropleuron, coxae and legs uniformly brownish yellow, pegs of mid tarsus black; metasoma with T 1 whitish yellow, T 2 to T 7 reddish brown; distal one third of forewing uniformly infumate with dense setae, a single line of setae present near the margin of costal cell and other parts asetose.

Head: In anterior view, 1.5 × as wide as high, in dorsal view 1.2 × as wide as long, in lateral view 1.8 × as long as high, head width 3.4 × frontovertex width; malar space, lateral side of clypeus with reticulate sculpture; supraclypeal region with striate sculpture; genae up to malar groove longitudinally striate; frons, gena with scattered and clypeus with moderately dense long light brown pubescence, setae on lower face long, MS 0.3 × EH in profile; IAA with reticulate sculpture, scrobe not deep, lateral margins carinate but upper margin non-carinate, separated from median ocellus by four times its diameter. No groove between scrobe and median ocellus; frontovertex with fine scattered punctation, vertex with striate sculpture, setae on the vertex darker and shorter. Last segment of maxillary palp broadened and compressed into a triangular shape. Antennal scape 7.3 × as long as wide, scape length 1.5 × of clava length, funicle segments gradually decreasing in length (F1 the longest).

Mesosoma: Pronotum with distinct median groove, posteromedially concave; MLM distinctly longer than broad, 0.5 × length of mesoscutum in dorsal view, nearly flat, sparsely pubescent; LLM smooth and shiny; SAC densely punctured; prepectus subtriangular; acropleuron finely and longitudinally striate-reticulate. Brachypterous, forewing 4.7 × as long as wide, extending up to about T2 of metasoma (holotype contorted); hind wing 4.3 × as long as wide. Legs longer than usual, length of legs including coxae: foreleg = 3.28 mm, mid leg = 4.26 mm, hindleg = 4.58 mm; mid tibial spur subequal to mid basitarsus, mid tarsus with a single row of black pegs ventrally on either side of basal three tarsal segments; hind basitarsus (0.39 mm) shorter than following three segments combined (0.53 mm). Apical part of fore femur laterally compressed into a lamina.

Metasoma: Longer than mesosoma, but both contorted and difficult to measure, about 1.4 × length of HT; ovipositor sheath not exserted.

Measurements (mm): Head: H = 0.76, W = 1.12; OOL: POL: LOL= 0.05: 0.10: 0.09; relative measurements of L:W of antennal segments: Scape = 0.65: 0.09, pedicel = 0.13: 0.06, anellus = 0.05: 0.06, F1 = 0.25: 0.05, F2 = 0.26: 0.05, F3 = 0.23: 0.06, F4 = 0.18: 0.09; F5 = 0.17: 0.11, F6 = 0.13: 0.11, F7 = 0.12: 0.11, clava = 0.43: 0.14; forewing: L = 1.05, W = 0.22; hind wing: L = 0.37, W = 0.08; HT = 1.24; length of metasomal segments: T1 = 0.36, T2 = 0.28, T3 = 0.29, T4 = 0.36.

Etymology. This species is named after the renowned Eupelmid taxonomist, the late Dr. T.C. Narendran from Calicut for his enormous contribution to chalcidoid taxonomy.

Male. Unknown.

Comments. The species Anastatus narendrani resembles Anastatus rufopostumus Narendran , but the differences are significant. These include colour of antennae yellowish brown, scape darker and gradually lighter towards clava, the apical segment of clava brown; mesosoma pale yellowish brown with MLM a little darker; legs uniformly brownish yellow, apex of fore femur compressed into a ventral lamina; forewing with distal one third uniformly infumate; scrobe not deep, upper margins not carinate and separated from the front ocellus by four times the diameter of ocellus; T2 to T7 reddish brown; ovipositor not exserted. In A. rufopostumus , the antenna is dark brown with only scape pale yellowish-brown; the distal infumate part of the forewing with a lighter, yellowish area medially; SAC dark brown; legs dark brown with fore and mid coxae lighter brown, mid tarsus pale yellow; scrobe deep, carinate and separated from front ocellus by length equal to diameter of ocellus; T3 to T6 dark brown, T7 reddish brown; ovipositor exserted.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Anastatus narendrani sp. nov.: ♀, Holotype, A. Habitus, lateral view; B. Mesosoma, dorso-lateral view; C. Head, dorso-lateral view; D. Antenna; E. Head, frontal view; F. Foreleg; G. Forewing.