On the variability of Agaon paradoxum (Dalman) Grandi and Seres armipes Waterston, with remarks on other African Agaonidae (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea)

Recently, I received a sample of fig wasps from Uganda (East Africa), collected by Mrs. Ir. W. A. Rijks-Jongbloed in November, 1960. The fig, from which the insects were taken, was recognized by Dr. Gordon P. DeWolf as belonging to Ficus brachypoda Hutchinson1). The sample consisted of two species of Agaonidae, viz., Agaon paradoxum (Dalman) Grandi, and Seres armipes Waterston; moreover several species of Idarninae were represented. The Agaonid species were known from West Africa only2), where they seem to be rather constant in their characters. It is interesting to establish the fact that the species also occur in East Africa, where, however, they differ significantly from the West African forms. The East African forms are described here as separate subspecies. The material is preserved in the Leiden Museum. AGAON PARADOXUM MODESTUM nov. subspec. 4 ♀♀, 1 ♂, ex Ficus brachypoda Hutch., Kampala (Uganda), XI-1960; coll. no. 481; type, ♂, slide no. 481a; allotype, ♀, slide no. 481b. Figs. 1-6, Agaon paradoxum modestum nov. subsp.: 1, head of female, X 17; 2, antenna of female, external aspect, X 40; 3, antenna of male, dorsal aspect, X 72; 4, head, thorax, and propodeum of male, X 17; 5, femur, tibia, and tarsi II of male, external aspect, X 53; 6, abdominal segments and penis of male, dorsal aspect, X 53 (VII, VIII, IX, X, urites, p, penis, s, stigmata). ♀. Head, fig. 1. Mandibular appendage with approximately thirty-five transverse rows of teeth. Maxillae I with four lateral setae, not counting the apicals. Antenna, fig. 2. First segment of tarsus I (fig. 9) with ten subventral, conical spines; second to fourth segments with one apical spine each. Projecting part of the ovipositor nearly as long as the abdomen.