Epipompilus delicatus Turner 1917

Epipompilus delicatus Turner
Epipompilus delicatus Turner, 1917, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., (8) 20: 359 [Type: 2, Panama: Bugaba (GCC) (BMNH, no. 19, 316)]. — Bradley, 1944, Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc, 70: 146. — Evans, 1961, Psyche, 68: Both Bradley and I published on this species without having seen the type. More recently I have had an opportunity to study the type, and a full description is provided below. The species keys well in the key I presented in 1961, except that the tibiae have two minute, barely noticeable spines. It seems conceivable, though I think not probable, that nigribasis Banks and/or insolitus Evans may fall within the range of variation of this species. The probable male is described here for the first time.
Description of type female. — Length 6 mm.; fore wing 5 mm. Head black; thorax rufo-ferruginous except lower posterior sides of pronotum pale and sides of propodeal rim whitish; abdomen blackish, basal half of T2 with a whitish band, base of Tl, apex of T4, and all of T5 and T6 rufous, basal and apical sternites also rufous; antennae rufous except scape with a whitish apical spot, flagellum infuscated on apical third; legs rufous except coxae pale apically and hind tibia with a basal whitish annulus. Fore wings with coarse setulae which form a brownish area at base, a brown band across basal and transverse median veins, and another brown band from marginal cell to lower outer wing margin; wing tips hyaline; area between bands somewhat luteous. Pubescence of front and thoracic dorsum coarse, somewhat golden, that of rest of body silvery, that on sides of propodeal slope very coarse. Head much wider than high, width 1.2 X height. Clypeus much broader than high. Front narrow, MID .51 X TFD, 1.28 X LID, .75 X height of eye; UID 1.15 X LID. POL:OOL= 16:13; ocellar triangle broad, front angle greater than a right angle. First four antennal segments in a ratio of about 8:3:6:8, segment three 2.5 X as long as thick, .45 X UID. Eyes wholly covered with short hairs. Pronotum short, its posterior margin arcuate, disc sloping evenly to much lower plane of collar. Postnotum medially about half as long as metanotum. Propodeum with its slope low and even. Legs smooth and with only a few minute spines; hind tibiae with only two weak spines above, with a delicate raised line on its inner side for its entire length. Fore wing with marginal cell removed from wing tip by .75 X its own length; SMC3 1.5 X as long as second; basal vein arising well beyond junction of transverse median vein.
Male (assigned here tentatively). — Length 4 mm.; fore wing 3.3 mm. Head and thorax black except the clypeus and mouthparts wholly strawcolored, the following ivory-white: sides of lower face (the two streaks connected by a narrow band passing close above the antennal insertions), posterior margin of pronotum, and paired spots on the extreme posterior margin of propodeum; antennae dark brown except scape lighter brown beneath; legs brownish-fuscous except as follows: much of front coxae and ventral and apical parts of middle and hind coxae ivory-white, a basal ring on hind tibia ivory-white, front legs beyond coxae testaceous, middle femora and parts of tibiae and coxae testaceous; abdomen dark brownish-fuscous; fore wing very lightly infuscated on apical third. Clypeus 1.7 X as wide as high, its apical margin concave. Head 1.16 X as wide as high; front narrow, MID .56 X TFD; inner orbits strongly diverging above, UID 1.35 X LID; ocelli in a broad triangle, POL:OOL = 6:5. Antennae very short, flagellum weakly crenulate in profile; segments three and four about 1.4 X as long as wide, segments 5-12
only about 1.1 X as long as wide. Pronotum broadly subangulate behind; postnotum on the midline nearly as long as metanotum; slope of propodeum very low and even. Hind femora with several spines extending above the coarse pubescence; both claws of front tarsus strongly curved, bifid, the outer claws more conspicuously so than the inner claws; claws of hind tarsus very weakly dentate; longer spur of hind tibia as long as basitarsus. Wings as in female except SMC3 barely longer than SMC2. SGP and genitalia as shown in Figs. 60 and 63.
Distribution. — Costa Rica and western Panama. (Map 7.) Specimens examined. — 1 2,1 $ . Panama: 1 2 , Bugaba [type, BMNH]. Costa Rica: 1 S , Tilaran, Guanacaste Prov., about 1000 feet, 25 Feb. 1964 (HEE) [MCZ].