Tiphia pulawskii Krombein 1982

Tiphia pulawskii

This handsome montane species is one of the most distinctive species of Tiphia in the Ceylonese fauna. Both sexes have yellow wings (brighter in female than in male), light red antennae, tegulae, and legs, golden vestiture, normal, not elongate, tegulae and lack an anterior ridge on the first abdominal tergum. The female lacks a groove on the inner surface of the hind basitarsus, and the hind tibia is not ridged on the inner surface. In the male the marginal cell extends farther toward the wing apex than the second submarginal, and the ridge separating the dorsal and posterior propodeal surfaces is usually evanescent but is always weaker than normal.

The species occurs only in a limited area of the Central Highlands in Nuwara Eliya District at altitudes over 5000 ft.

ETYMOLOGY.—It is named for Wojciech J. Pulawski, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, collaborator on Ceylonese Larridae.

HOLOTYPE.—, Sri Lanka, Central Province, Nuwara Eliya District, Hakgala Sanctuary, 23–24 Apr 1981, K.V. Krombein, T. Wijesinhe, L. Weeratunge (USNM Type 100271).

FEMALE.—Length 10.2 mm. Black, the following light red: mandible except tip, apical half of clypeus, antenna, posterior margin of pronotal disk, tegula, legs except forecoxa, mid and hind coxae above, and apical half of pygidium. Vestiture golden. Wings bright yellow, stigma light red, veins yellow to amber.

Head 1.7 times as broad as interocular distance at anterior ocellus; mandible with preapical denticle on inner margin; clypeal lobe narrow, margin truncate, lateral angles rounded, 1.3 times as wide as antennal fossa; lower front not ridged along midline, contiguously to subcontiguously punctate; upper front with large areas impunctate, punctures very sparse except along eye margin where they are separated by about half the width of a puncture.

Pronotal disk not ridged anteriorly, most punctures separated by about half the width of a puncture except more crowded laterally, impunctate posterior area half as wide as disk medianly and about a third laterally; lateral surface of pronotum with median arcuate groove, smooth except for fine wrinkles below; anterior scutal escarpment present only in middle, not reaching notauli, middle of disk closely punctate, elsewhere sparsely so; tegula transparent, 1.1 times as long as broad; subalar patch of mesopleuron narrower than tegula, densely micropunctate and with a few scattered large punctures, anterior disk with scattered punctures of several sizes, mostly separated by several times the width of a puncture, posterior disk with close small punctures; posterior tibia not inflated, 3 times as long as wide, not ridged on inner surface, sensorium large, subcircular, not impressed; inner surface of hind basitarsus not grooved; propodeal areola tricarinate, median carina extending almost to apex, basal width 1.2 times apical width and 0.6 times length, area laterad of areola glossy and delicately roughened, submarginal carina lacking; posterior propodeal surface with a median ridge on apical half, with fine close punctures elsewhere; lateral propodeal surface with close oblique weak rugulae posteriorly and above, very delicately lineolate anteriorly below.

Preapical impression of first abdominal tergum shallow, punctures large and subcontiguous, 2 punctures wide on sides and 1 puncture wide across middle; pygidium closely punctate on anterior half and with a moderately broad smooth vitta posteriorly in middle, apical half smooth and glossy.

ALLOTYPE.—, same label data as holotype (USNM).

MALE.—Length 7.7 mm. Coloration as in holotype. Wings paler yellow, stigma dark brown, veins on basal half yellow, light brown on apical half. Vestiture golden.

Head 1.7 times as wide as interocular distance at anterior ocellus; mandible with stout preapical denticle on inner margin; clypeal lobe flat, apex emarginate, lateral angles broadly rounded, 1.5 times as wide as antennal fossa; lower front with weak median ridge, contiguously punctate except more sparsely toward side; upper front with large impunctate areas, a narrow patch of punctures separated from each other by half the width of a puncture below anterior ocellus, eye margin with a strip 2 to 3 punctures in width.

Pronotal disk with a relatively weak anterior ridge and no rugulae behind it, disk with most punctures separated by half to about the width of a puncture except posterior impunctate strip which is half the width of disk in middle and about a sixth at the sides; lateral pronotal surface lacking median groove, smooth except for some fine close wrinkles below; tegula transparent, 1.2 times as long as broad; anterior half of mesopleuron with larger punctures separated by 1 or more times the diameter of a puncture and with some interspersed smaller ones, posterior half with scattered fine punctures; inner surface of hind tibia without median ridge, sensorium ovate, not impressed; marginal cell of forewing extending farther toward apex than second submarginal; propodeal areola tricarinate, carinae weak, median one extending to apex, basal width 1.1 times apical width and 0.6 times length, area adjacent to areola delicately shagreened and subopaque, submarginal carina lacking; ridge separating dorsal and posterior surfaces weaker than usual; posterior propodeal surface with very short median ridge at apex, surface finely roughened and with a few punctures; lateral propodeal surface with close, oblique weak rugulae posteriorly and above, delicately shagreened below anteriorly.

First abdominal segment 1.4 times as long as broad, preapical impression shallow, 2 punctures wide across middle; posterolateral process (Figure 55) of fifth sternum low, very slightly arcuate, almost longitudinal; sixth sternum without a median tuft of dense suberect hair.

PARATYPES.—All CENTRAL PROVINCE, Nuwara Eliya District: 3, 1, Nuwara Eliya, G.M. Henry (Colombo), 1, 25 Apr 1923, 1, 28 Apr 1923, 2, 12 May 1938; 1, Galway Natural Reserve, Nuwara Eliya, 6200 ft, 10 Jun 1978, P.B. Karunaratne, V. Kulasekare, L. Jayawickrema (USNM); 1, Kanda-ela, 2 Jun 1975, S.L. Wood, J.L. Petty (USNM); 1, Hakgala, 3 Apr 1924, G.M. Henry (Colombo). 1, 56, same locality as holotype but with following data (USNM): 1, 6–7 Feb 1979, K.V. Krombein, T. Wijesinhe, S. Siriwardane, T. Gunawardane; 2, 1650–1800 m, 23–25 Feb 1977, K.V. Krombein, P.B. Karunaratne, P. Fernando, D.W. Balasooriya; 1, 53, 23–24 Apr 1981, 5 in Malaise trap, K.V. Krombein, T. Wijesinhe, L. Weeratunga. 1, Ohiya, 6500 ft, 28 Apr 1928, G.M. Henry (Colombo). Paratypes have been deposited in the National Museums of Sri Lanka (Colombo) and in the British Museum (Natural History).

Female paratypes are 10.0–11.8 mm long and differ in no essential details from the holotype. Male paratypes are 7.3–8.1 mm long and are quite similar to the allotype except that the clypeus may be black, the ridge between dorsal and posterior propodeal surfaces may be present but weak, and the preapical impression of first abdominal tergum may be only 1 puncture wide across the middle.