Baeosega kimseyae Binoy, Mita & Girish Kumar 2024, sp. nov.

Baeosega kimseyae Binoy, Mita & Girish Kumar, sp. nov. LSIDurn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: C3F3B6A3-1579-4255-973A-F6CDD556A962 (Figs 1–9) Type Material: Holotype ♀, India: Kerala, Palakkad district, Lakkidi (10°45’38.4”N, 76°26’03.4”E, 56m), 21.iv.2020, Coll. K. S. Surya (ZSIK) Regd. No. ZSI/ WGRC /IR/INV.16146. Diagnosis. Head and pronotum coarsely rugose-punctate; declivous anterior surface of T1 with longitudinal striae; remainder of metasoma polished, sparsely aciculate with scattered thick setae. Description. Female holotype (Figs 1–9). Body length 3.19 mm. Colour. Head dark metallic black with greenish highlights (Fig. 3), mesosoma shiny reddish brown; metasoma black except tubular apical terga yellowish (Fig. 9); scape, pedicel and F1–F4 ivory to pale yellowish, rest of flagellomeres brownish black; legs testaceous brown, metafemur and metatibia darker dorsally (Fig. 1). Head. Scapal basin cross-ridged, band of wrinkles baso-medially, in anterior view as long as 0.6 × head length (Fig. 4); clypeus short, truncate apico-medially, subantennal distance 0.92 × MOD (Fig. 5); head in anterior view 1.06 × wider than long; MOD 2 × OOD; POD 3.62 × OOD (Fig. 3); remainder of ventral area of frons shiny, smooth with scattered setigerous foveolate punctures, diameter of punctures distinctly less than MOD; inner and outer eye margins lined by setigerous foveolate punctures (Fig. 1a); dorsal area of frons and vertex shiny, coarsely rugose punctate; eye large, black with scattered microtrichiae, in profile 1.28 × as long as wide; shallow impression present anterior to anterior ocellus; flagellomeres fusiform, rounded, ventrally flattened, wider than long, except F1–F3 longer than broad, with short microtrichiae; F1 3.37 × as long as broad; F2 almost as long as broad; relative lengths of antennal scape: pedicel: F1–9 = 11: 3: 6: 2: 2: 2: 2: 2: 2: 2: 2: 2: 3. Mesosoma. Dorsal pronotal area 1.0 × as long as length of mesonotum, coarsely rugose-punctate with punctures tending to be confluent in oblique rows from midline, diameter of puncture less than 1.0 × MOD; median longitudinal furrow distinct on posterior two-third; posterior pronotal margin deeply incurved; postero-lateral corner of pronotum produced, almost touching tegula; propleuron rugose punctate, ventrally forming small lobe-like process onto mesopleuron; notauli deep, complete; mesoscutum dorsally rugose punctate; mesoscutum 1.23 × length of mesoscutellum, mesoscutellar area coarsely rugose punctate; mesopleuron shiny with large punctures; meso-metascutellar suture foveolate; metapleuron polished anteriorly, forming coarse striae meeting propodeal rugae posteriorly; metapostnotum rugate, with two distinct tubercles diverging posteriorly; metapectal-propodeal complex with postero-lateral corner bluntly angulate (Fig. 6). Metasoma. Metasoma ovoid; T1 with strong longitudinal striae on declivous surface, remainder shiny, aciculate with scattered setae dorsally, laterally alutaceous with dense setosity; remainder visible terga densely setose (Fig. 8); S2 with distinct setigerous punctures, punctures mostly separated by half the diameter of a puncture (Fig. 9). Distribution. India (Kerala). Differential diagnosis. B. kimseyae sp. nov. resembles B. torrida in having the foveolate meso-metascutellar suture and T1 with longitudinal striae on the declivous part. However, B. kimseyae sp. nov. differs from B. torrida in having the head and pronotum with shiny, rugose interspace among punctures (vs. head and pronotum with matte, distinctly granulose interspace); and the metasoma polished and faintly aciculate (vs. metasoma strongly granulated). Etymology. The specific epithet kimseyae is named after Lynn S. Kimsey, Professor of Entomology (Retd.) and Director of the Center for Biosystematics and Bohart Museum of Entomology at the University of California (Davis, USA).