Revision of the Chinese Cleptes (Hymenoptera, Chrysididae) with description of new species

Abstract The genus Cleptes Latreille, 1802 from China is revised and illustrated for the first time. Seventeen species of Cleptes are recorded. Nine species are new to science, Cleptes albonotatus sp. n., Cleptes eburnecoxis sp. n., Cleptes flavolineatus sp. n., Cleptes helanshanus sp. n., Cleptes niger sp. n., Cleptes shengi sp. n., Cleptes sinensis sp. n., Cleptes tibetensis sp. n., and Cleptes villosus sp. n.,and two species are reported as new to China, Cleptes metallicorpus Ha, Lee & Kim, 2011, and Cleptes seoulensis Tsuneki, 1959.

Metasoma. T-I impunctate; T-II-T-IV with small punctures (Plate 1F). Punctures on T-III denser than those on T-II and T-IV. Pubescence. Head on vertex and clypeus with long (2.0-2.5 MOD), sparse and whitish hairs. Metasoma laterally on T-I and T-II with short (1 MOD), sparse and white hairs; dorsally and laterally on T-III and T-IV with long (2.2 MOD) and dense hairs.
Colouration. Head and mesosoma black, without metallic reflections. Mandibles black, with anterior half testaceous. Antennae black, with ventral sides of F-IV to F-XI testaceous. Tegulae blackish-brown. Legs blackish-brown, with trochanters, tibiae and tarsi testaceous. Metasoma blackish-brown, T-I laterally and on the anterior half testaceous, T-II laterally with distinct pale torus.
Metanotum without anteromedian pit, with a big fovea along the posterior margin; axillary trough polished (Plate 2E). Metapleuron smooth and polished (Plate 2D). Dorsal surface of propodeum with six longitudinal ridges, with some weak transverse wrinkles. Propodeal angles long and blunt (Plate 2E).
Metasoma. T-I and T-V nearly impunctate; T-II-T-IV with small and dense punctures (Plate 2F). Punctures on T-III denser than those on T-II and T-IV. T-V with the posterior margin emarginate medially.
Pubescence. Head on clypeus, face, and vertex with long (1.5 MOD), sparse and brown hairs. Metasoma with few brown hairs scattered laterally. T-I and T-II laterally with short (0.8 MOD) hairs. T-III and T-IV laterally with long (1.5 MOD) hairs.
Colouration. Head entirely metallic green, rest of body without metallic reflections. Mandibles brown, with testaceous tints. Antennae blackish-brown. Mesosoma black, with basolateral angles of pronotum testaceous to white, with apex of propodeal angles brown. Tegulae testaceous. Legs with coxae, trochanters, and base of femora whitish; rest of femora, tibiae and tarsi testaceous. Metasoma blackish-brown, with anterior half of T-I, and lateral sides of T-I and T-II testaceous.
Variation. Body length 6.3-8.0 mm. Forewing length 4.3-5.5 mm. Head metallic greenish-blue or bluish-green. Clypeus with lower margin less convex than holotype, nearly truncate. Frontal sulcus complete, but indistinct on lower half. Pronotum black, with testaceous near the posterior margin. Admedian lines almost absent.
Female. Unknown. Distribution. Oriental part of China (Zhejiang, Guangxi). Biology. Collected from June to August. Etymology. The specific name refers to the whitish coxae.
Remarks. According to Móczár (2000a), Cleptes eburnecoxis sp. n. would be the second member of the townesi species-group based on the short MS (0.4 MOD), blackish body and metallic tint on face. Diagnosis. Cleptes flavolineatus sp. n. is similar to C. satoi Tosawa, C. albonotatus sp. n. and C. niger sp. n. based on the blackish body, coarse punctures on head and rugose on pronotum. However, it can be easily distinguished by the combination of the following characteristics: with distinct yellow stripes on head, pronotum and mesoscutellum (absent in C. satoi, C. albonotatus sp. n. and C. niger sp. n.); without anteromedian pit on metanotum (with an anteromedian pit in C. satoi); with four longitudinal ridges and numerous transverse wrinkles dorsal surface of propodeum (propodeum coarsely striate in C. satoi).
Head. Face with dense and coarse punctures (0-0.5 PD). Clypeus with lower margin indistinctly convex medially, without acute teeth at corners. Frontal sulcus incomplete, interrupted by coarse punctures (Plate 3B). Mandibles with few punctures Plate 3. Cleptes flavolineatus sp. n., holotype, female. A Habitus lateral B Head anterior C Head, pronotum and mesoscutum dorsal D Mesopleuron and metapleuron lateral e Mesoscutum, mesoscutellum, metanotum and propodeum dorsal F Metasoma dorsal. Scale bars in mm. and two teeth. Ocellar area with punctures similar to those on face. Ocellar triangle equilateral, without post-ocellar sulcus. Vertex with punctures similar to those on face.

Metasoma. T-I and posterior half of T-II nearly impunctate. Anterior half of T-II-T-IV with dense punctures (Plate 3F).
Pubescence. Head with long (1-1.5 MOD) and brown hairs. Metasoma dorsally and laterally on T-III and T-IV with short (0.8-1.0 MOD) and brown hairs.
Colouration. Head black, with two oblique yellow stripes dorsally. Mandibles brown. Antennae blackish-brown, with pedicels, F-I-F-III and ventral sides of F-IV-F-XI testaceous. Mesosoma mostly black, with a transverse yellow stripe near the posterior margin of pronotum, a transverse brown stripe on posterior mesoscutellum, and brown tints on mesoscutum between notauli and metanotum. Mesopleuron and metapleuron mostly black, with yellow tint on anterior corner of mesopleuron. Tegulae brown. Legs brown, with apical coxae and apical femora pale, tibiae and tarsi testaceous. Metasoma blackish-brown, with pale tint laterally on each segment.

Biology. Collected in June.
Etymology. The specific name refers to the yellow stripes on head and pronotum.
Remarks. According to Móczár (2000b), Cleptes flavolineatus sp. n. belongs to the satoi species-group based on the typical irregular punctures along the posterior margin of pronotum and black body. Diagnosis. This species resembles C. mareki Rosa based on the pronotum without posterior pit row and metanotum without pit or fovea. However, C. helanshanus sp. n. can be quickly separated from this species by the colouration: pronotum golden, laterally with green tints, mesopleuron and metanotum golden red, and mesoscutellum greenish-golden.
Metasoma. T-I with small and sparse punctures. T-II and T-III with dense punctures. T-IV with anterior half impunctate, and posterior half with sparse punctures (Plate 4F).
Pubescence. Head with long (2 MOD) and erect black bristles on vertex. Metasoma on T-III and T-IV dorsally and laterally with long (1.5 MOD) and white hairs; with very long (3-4 MOD) and erect black bristles laterally on T-III and T-IV.

Biology. Collected in July.
Etymology. The species is named after the type locality.

Cleptes mandsuricus
Metasoma. T-I nearly impunctate; T-II-T-IV with dense punctures (Plate 7F). Punctures on T-III denser than those on T-II and T-IV.
Pubescence. Head with erect, short (0.5-1.0 MOD), sparse and black bristles, but with short (1 MOD) and brown hairs on the posterior margin of vertex. Clypeus with sparse, long (2 MOD) and white hairs. Metasoma dorsally and laterally with long (1.0-1.5 MOD) and white hairs.
Male. Unknown. Distribution. China (Shaanxi, Zhejiang, Guangdong); Korea. Biology. Collected from May to July. Remarks. According to Móczár (2000a), Cleptes metallicorpus Ha et al. belongs to the asianus species-group based on two distinct pit rows on pronotum, longitudinal median sulcus absent and mesopleuron with V-shape loop. Diagnosis. Cleptes niger sp. n. is related to C. albonotatus sp. n., C. flavolineatus sp. n. and C. satoi Tosawa based on the blackish body, coarse punctures on head, rugose pronotum and similar sculptures on the mesopleuron. However, it can be distinguished by the combination of the following characteristics: body without metallic tints or yellow stripes (mesopleuron partly metallic blue in C. satoi, body with yellow stripes in C. flavolineatus sp. n.); metanotum without anteromedian pit (with an anteromedian pit in C. satoi); dorsal surface of propodeum with six longitudinal ridges and numer-ous and weak transverse wrinkles (irregularly reticulate with dense wrinkles in C. satoi Tosawa and C. albonotatus sp. n.,); metapleuron polished and weak striate on upper part (entirely and strongly striate in C. albonotatus sp. n. and C. flavolineatus sp. n.).

Cleptes niger
Description Head. Face, ocellar area and vertex with dense and coarse punctures (0-0.5 PD). Frontal sulcus complete, indistinct on lower face (Plate 8B). Clypeus with lower margin convex medially, without acute teeth at corners. Mandibles with sparse punctures and three teeth. Ocellar triangle isosceles, with post-ocellar sulcus indistinct and curvate.
Mesosoma. Pronotum rugose, with coarse and dense punctures. Pronotum with a distinct anterior pit row, without posterior pit row and defined pits, but with shallow depression with irregular punctures along the posterior margin (Plate 8C); without longitudinal median sulcus; with a small depression in the middle of pronotum (Plate 8C). Mesonotum and metanotum with punctures smaller and sparser than on pronotum. Mesoscutum with notauli complete; parapsidal lines incomplete, 1/2 length of notauli; admedian lines absent (Plate 8C). Mesopleuron with dense and coarse punctures and transverse wrinkles; scrobal sulcus short (Plate 8D). Mesoscutellum longitudinally polish in the middle; axillary trough longitudinally striate (Plate 8E). Metanotum without anteromedian pit, with a broad fovea along the posterior margin; axillary trough mostly smooth, longitudinally and weakly striate (Plate 8E). Metapleuron polished and weakly striate on upper part (Plate 8D). Dorsal surface of propodeum with six longitudinal ridges, with numerous and weak transverse wrinkles. Propodeal angles long and blunt (Plate 8E).
Colouration. Head and mesosoma entirely black, without metallic reflections. Mandibles testaceous. Antennae blackish-brown, with ventral sides of F-IV to F-XI testaceous. Tegulae black. Legs with coxae and femora blackish-brown, tibiae and tarsi testaceous. Metasoma black, with T-I blackish-brown anteriorly, T-I to T-III with distinct testaceous tint laterally.

Distribution. China (Shaanxi).
Biology. Collected in July at 1100 m. Etymology. The specific name refers to the black colouration.
Remarks. According to Móczár (2000b), Cleptes niger sp. n. belongs to the satoi species-group based on the typical irregular punctures along the posterior margin of pronotum, and black body.

Metasoma. T-I, T-IV and T-V with sparse punctures. T-II and T-III with dense punctures (Plate 9F).
Pubescence. Head with long (1-2 MOD) and brown hairs, except upper face, and vertex with short (0.8-1.0 MOD), erect and black bristles. Metasoma on T-III and T-IV dorsally and laterally with long (1.0-1.5 MOD), sparse and white hairs.

Metasoma. T-I and T-IV with sparse punctures. T-II and T-III with dense punctures (Plate 10F).
Pubescence. Face and vertex with short (0.8-1.0 MOD) and black hairs. Clypeus and mandibles with long (1.5-2.0 MOD), sparse and testaceous bristles. Metasoma on T-I and T-II laterally with very short (0.5 MOD), sparse and whitish hairs; on T-III and T-IV laterally, and on T-IV dorsally with long (1.0-1.3 MOD) hairs.
Etymology. The species is named after the collector. Remarks. According to Móczár (2001), C. shengi sp. n. belongs to the semiauratus species-group based on the pronotum without longitudinal median sulcus and with both anterior and posterior pit rows distinct, and the colouration of metasoma. Houhe National Nature Reserve (30°4'40.64"N, 110°37'32.89"E), 11.VII.1999, Wen-jun Bu leg., No. 200104521. Diagnosis. Cleptes sinensis sp. n. shares the metallic blue colouration on head and part of mesosoma, pronotum without posterior pit row, and polished mesopleuron with C. nitidulus (Fabricius) and C. mareki Rosa. However, it can be distinguished by metasoma blackish-brown (T-I and T-II testaceous in C. nitidulus and black with weak blue reflections in C. mareki); metanotum with a broad fovea along the posterior margin (without broad fovea in C. nitidulus and C. mareki); dorsal surface of propodeum with six longitudinal ridges and numerous and weak transverse wrinkles (irregularly reticulate in C. nitidulus and C. mareki).
Metasoma. T-I nearly impunctate. T-II-T-IV with small and dense punctures. Punctures on T-III denser than those on T-II and T-IV. T-V with posterior margin emarginate medially (Plate 11F).
Pubescence. Head on clypeus with short (0.5-1.0 MOD), sparse and white hairs; on vertex nearly without hairs. Metasoma nearly without hairs, only with few on T-IV and T-V laterally.
Variation. Body length 4.3-6.6 mm. Forewing length 3.9-5.3 mm. Vertex metallic blue, with some purple tints. Mesonotum and metanotum metallic blue, with more or less blackish-brown tints. One specimen from Hainan with blackish-brown mesosoma, and indistinct metallic blue reflections. Pronotum with irregular and shallow punctures along the posterior margin. Metasoma with few 1.5-2.0 MOD long and sparse hairs on T-I, T-II, and T-III laterally.
Description. Redescribed after a female from Hunan (Liuyang City). Body length 8.2 mm (Plate 12A). Head. Face with dense and coarse punctures (0-0.5 PD) merging laterally, with big polish area above clypeus. Clypeus with lower margin slightly convex medially, with distinct acute teeth at corners. Frontal sulcus complete, but becoming shallow and indistinct on upper 1/3, after reaching pit before midocellus (Plate 12B). Mandibles with sparse punctures and three teeth. Ocellar area and vertex with shallower and sparser punctures (0.5-1 PD). Ocellar triangle isosceles, without post-ocellar sulcus. Mesosoma. Mesosoma with small and shallow punctures, and gradually sparser from pronotum to metanotum. Pronotum with distinct anterior and posterior pit rows, with two median pits of posterior pit row considerably larger than the others (Plate 12C); longitudinal median sulcus incomplete, and somewhat foveate. Mesoscutum with notauli complete; parapsidal lines nearly complete; admedian lines incomplete, 1/8 length of notauli (Plate 12C); axillary trough longitudinally striate. Mesopleuron with strong foveate V-shape loop (Plate 12D). A transverse foveate sulcus present between mesoscutellum and metanotum (Plate 12E). Metanotum with a big, deep and triangular anteromedian pit, with two foveae along the posterior margin; axillary trough with several oblique wrinkles (Plate 12E). Metapleuron polished, with big and triangular pit on upper part (Plate 12D). Dorsal surface of propodeum rectangular, with width longer than length (L : W = 1 : 3), reticulate, with aligned areolae along the anterior and lateral margins. Propodeal angles big and blunt produced obliquely (Plate 12E).
Metasoma. T-I with small and sparse punctures. T-II-T-IV with bigger and denser punctures (Plate 12F). Punctures on T-IV double than those on T-II and T-III, with bigger punctures deeply incised. T-IV with apex medially incised.
Pubescence. Head with short (0.5-1.0 MOD), sparse and brownish hairs, scattered on clypeus and posterior half of vertex. Metasoma nearly without hairs dorsally, with only few very short (0.5 MOD) hairs laterally.
Colouration. Head and mesosoma metallic blue, with purple reflections. Mandibles testaceous, with teeth blackish-brown. Antennae black, with scapes and pedicels metallic blue, ventral sides of F-IV to F-XI testaceous. Tegulae metallic blue, with brown tint. Legs metallic blue, with ventral side of tibiae and tarsi brown. Metasoma metallic bluish-purple.
Biology. Parasitoid of Diprionidae. Collected from May, June, August and October at 1548 m to 1959 m.

Cleptes taiwanus
Diagnosis. Body mostly metallic greenish-blue, with propodeum, part of mesonotum and partly T-I-IV purple. Tegulae metallic greenish-blue basally, brown apically with purple tint. Lower margin of clypeus with acute teeth at corners. Ocellar triangle isosceles. Parapsidal lines complete. Metanotum with an anteromedian pit and a broad fovea along the posterior margin (Tsuneki 1982;Móczár 2000a Diagnosis. Cleptes tibetensis sp. n. is similar to C. crassiceps Tsuneki, C. metallicorpus Ha, Lee & Kim, and C. villosus sp. n. based on the posterior pit row on pronotum, V-shape loop on mesopleuron, and short propodeal angles. However, it can be distinguished by the combination of the following characteristics: metallic bluishpurple metasoma (metasoma black, only partly with metallic reflections in C. crassiceps); absence of frontal sulcus (present in C. crassiceps, C. metallicorpus and C. villosus sp. n.); lower margin of clypeus with acute teeth at corners (absent in C. crassiceps and C. villosus sp. n.); mandibles without striatopunctures (with striatopunctures in C. metallicorpus); metanotum with transverse depression anteriorly (absent in C. crassiceps, C. metallicorpus, and C. villosus sp. n.); metanotum with a broad fovea along the posterior margin (with two foveae along the posterior margin in C. metallicorpus).
Metasoma. T-I and T-V impunctate. T-II-T-IV with dense punctures (Plate 14F). Punctures on T-III denser than those on T-II and T-IV.
Female. Unknown. Distribution. China (Tibet). Biology. Collected in June at 2054 m. Etymology. The species is named after the type locality.
Head. Face and vertex with small and sparse punctures (0.5-1.0 PD). Clypeus with lower margin truncate, without acute teeth at corners. Frontal sulcus complete (Plate 15B). Mandibles mostly polished, with few punctures and four teeth. Ocellar area with punctures similar to those on vertex but denser (0.5 PD). Ocellar triangles isosceles, almost equilateral, bulging in frontal view, without post-ocellar sulcus.
Interestingly, the Cleptes species in China show a convergence to green, blue and black in all studied species, while those in the Western Palaearctic show various metallic and non-metallic colours (such as green, blue, orange, red, golden tinge, and so on) with different combinations. The reason of this phenomenon needs further research.