Ropalidia mabawa Polašek, 2025

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), Zootaxa 5626 (1), pp. 1-142 : 99-100

Ropalidia mabawa Polašek sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:7361DA01-F4DC-4989-9D5B-2EF8A855C3A5

Type specimen: Holotype: Dodwe stream, Tanzania, 1♀ ( SNM.29). The total number of examined specimens: 1♀.

Diagnosis. Very distinct species, with slender body, shallow punctures and darker tip of forewing.

Description. Female. Wing length 10.6 mm. Colour. Uniformly ferruginous body, metasoma and legs slightly darker ( Figure 18a ). Antenna ferruginous, terminal segments slightly lighter underneath ( Figure 18c ). Wings yellowish, nervature and stigma yellowish, apical spot brownish ( Figure 18a ). In addition to apical spot, this species also has an additional greyish darkening of wing tip that extends into 3 rd discoidal cell and partly into 2 nd brachial cell ( Figure 18a ).

Head. Clypeus elongated, pentagonal, longer than wide; upes slightly bent, oculo-clypeal angle not developed ( Figure 18c ). Clypeus minutely and weakly punctate, barely visible in basal two thirds due to silvery pubescence; few shallow craters close to clypeal apex. Inner orbit impunctate. Frons covered by weak, large and shallow punctures, gena and tempora similarly punctate; posterior three quarters of gena surface impunctate, few punctures visible close to mandible base. Gena slightly narrower than eye. Ocelli large, ocellar triangle smaller, slightly acute forward. Occipital carina complete, barely sinuate. Eyes covered by longer setae. Scape about as long as AF1, pedicel longer than wide, AF2 about 1.3 times as long as wide.

Mesosoma. Mesosoma shallowly and minutely punctate, punctures larger on mesopleuron and lateral parts of pronotum. Metapleuron impunctate, only with fine cuticular surface and some striae. Entire mesosoma covered by white pubescence and longer protruding setae. Scutellum rounded, largely and shallowly punctate; median carina developed, reaches half of scutellar length. Metanotum with more developed large punctures; posterior triangle with cuticular surface, moderately shining, tooth not developed. Propodeum very rounded, without upper carina; entire surface covered by fine striations ( Figure 18b ). Inferior propodeal carina visible among striae, but very weak. Median propodeal suture expanded into spindle-like structure, with fine and regular striations across ( Figure 18b ). Legs slender, terminal tarsal segment III thin, tarsal claws smaller and shorter than other Ropalidia species ( Figure 18a ).

Metasoma. T1 very elongated, twice as long as wide ( Figure 18a ). Dorsal surface impunctate. T2 smaller, bell-shaped, with gradual widening and some posterior narrowing, with less than half of tergum with parallel sides ( Figure 18a ). T2 with very shallow directional punctures. T2 lamella of intermediate length. Entire metasoma covered by silvery pubescence and some longer protruding setae.

Males are unknown.

Distribution: Tanzania.

Etymology. After the Swahili word mabawa (“wings”), referring to the apical darkening that is unique among the African species; the name is to be treated as indeclinable

Similar species: none, this is the only known African Ropalidia that has a darkened tip of the wing (excluding apical spot).

Genetic data. Genotyping failed on multiple primers, most likely due to specimen’s age.

Figures

FIGURE 18. Ropalidia mabawa sp. nov. a. dorsal view. b. propodeum, postero-oblique view. c. head.