Discovery of a new Afrotropical genus of flat wasps Ifrika gen. n . (Hymenoptera: Bethylidae)

ABSTRACTA new Afrotropical genus (Ifrika gen. n.) and three new species (Ifrika mnyama sp. n., Ifrika nyigu sp. n. and Ifrika wadudu sp. n.) are described and illustrated. A fourth species, Ifrika pauculihirta comb. n., is transferred from Dissomphalus. The males of this genus are easily recognised among the other genera of Pristocerinae by having the following combination of characteristics: the median clypeal lobe indistinct from the lateral ones, the dorsal pronotal area very short, the hypopygium with an inner membrane and a posterior margin deeply excavated, the genitalia with the harpe strongly incurved, almost fully divided, the aedeagus with a basal cover plate, the mediodorsal fold, and the median projection ventrally curved and apodeme dorsally curved. A key to all species and some comments on the Afrotropical Bethylidae fauna are also provided.http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:76C9CD41-F991-4F4E-9E4C-C16E2F62ECC3KEYWORDS: ChrysidoideaCentral African RepublicGabonKenyaPristocerinaeUganda AcknowledgementsThe authors are grateful to the institutions and curators who provided specimens for this study. We thank Matheus de Oliveira Fernandes Adão for support with the maps. We also thank CNPq/FAPES grant #52263010/2011, Pronex Program, for providing imaging facilities. This is a contribution of INCT-Hymenoptera Parasitoides CNPq grant #8887.136354/2017-00. It was supported by FAPES PRONEX #980/2022. WDC is grateful to FAPES/CNPq PROTAX grant #224/2021 for providing a post-doctoral fellow bursary. COA is grateful for a research bursary to CNPq grant #3037482018-4. We thank the subject editor and the two anonymous reviewers who helped us to improve the quality of the contribution.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.Additional informationFundingThis work was supported by the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq): [grant INCT-Hymenoptera Parasitoides ##8887.136354/2017-00; grant #3037482018-4]2 - Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Espírito Santo (FAPES): [grant PRONEX #980/2022]3 - CNPq and FAPES: [grant PRONEX grant #52263010/2011; PROTAX #224/2021]