Choeras ramcomarmorata Fagan-Jeffries & Austin, 2021

Fagan-Jeffries, Erinn P., Austin, Andrew D. & Investigators, Citizen Science Participants Of Insect, 2021, Four new species of parasitoid wasp (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) described through a citizen science partnership with schools in regional South Australia, Zootaxa 4949 (1), pp. 79-101 : 83-86

Choeras ramcomarmorata Fagan-Jeffries & Austin sp. nov.

( Fig. 2 )

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:233DB1DE-BF33-44B9-8E5C-878002D8851C

Material examined. Holotype: South Australia: ♀ Ramco Primary School , -34.169522 139.93407, 19.v– 2.vi.2020, E. Fagan-Jeffries and Ramco PS 5/6/7 class, M/T EFJ2020MT40, Extraction 1673 ( SAMA: 32-45151, BOLD: AUMIC550-20 ).

Paratype: Western Australia: ♂ Albany Highway, Gleneagle State Forest , 3.iv–7.v.2005, M.S. Harvey, M/T, Extraction 1491 ( WAM: WAME109656 , BOLD: AUMIC551-20 ) .

Diagnosis. This species can be separated morphologically from the other Australasian members of the genera Sathon Mason and Choeras as follows:

• From C. calacte (Nixon, 1965) , C. dissors (Nixon, 1965) , C. papua ( Wilkinson, 1936) , C. parvoculus Fagan-Jeffries & Austin, 2019, and C. zygon Fagan-Jeffries & Austin, 2019 by having a large forewing areolet.

• From C. ceto (Nixon, 1965) , C. tegularis ( Szepligeti, 1905) , S. albicoxus Austin & Dangerfield, 1992 , S. moratus ( Wilkinson, 1929) , S. naryciae Austin & Dangerfield, 1992 , S. oreo Fagan-Jeffries & Austin, 2019 , and S. resplendens ( Wilkinson, 1929) by having a complete, strong medial carina on the propodeum.

• From C. epaphus (Nixon, 1965) , and C. koalascatocola Fagan-Jeffries & Austin, 2017 by having T2 narrowing posteriorly.

• From C. helespas Walker, 1996 by T1 without strong rugose sculpturing along length and T1 much wider anteriorly than posteriorly.

• From C. bushblitz Fagan-Jeffries & Austin, 2019 by the mesosoma being completely dark

• From C. morialta Fagan-Jeffries & Austin, 2017 by the ovipositor gently curving (not strongly bent near tip).

Description. FEMALE. Colour. Head, antenna and mesosoma all dark; all tergites and most of metasoma dark other than small pale patch at posterior end of T1, non-sclerotised areas of T1–2 and anterior sternites pale; hypopygium dark laterally with pale area ventrally, ovipositor sheaths dark (fore-, mid-, hind coxa) pale, pale, dark; (fore-, mid-, hind- trochanter) pale, pale, pale; femora (fore-, mid-, hind femur) pale to light brown, pale to light brown, mostly dark with pale stripe in proximal half; tibiae (fore-, mid-, hind tibia) pale to light brown, pale to light brown, dark with pale area proximally, all tarsi dark; tegula and humeral complex orange-brown; pterostigma dark; fore wing veins dark.

Body length. Head to apex of metasoma: 4.0 mm.

Head. Antenna slightly longer than body length; OOL/POD 1.7; POL/ POD 1.6; antennal flagellomere 2 length/ width 3.5; antennal flagellomere 14 length/width 1.9.

Mesosoma. Anteromesoscutum punctulate, punctures small (space between punctures larger than their diameter, particularly in posterior two-thirds of anteromesoscutum, punctures slightly larger and closer together anteriorly); number of pits in scutoscutellar sulcus 12; scutellar disc very smooth with only tiny punctures associated with setae. Propodeum with medial carina present and complete, clearly distinguishable from surrounding rugosity. Propodeum coarsely rugose in centre, transitioning to smoother punctate areas antero-laterally.

Wings. Fore wing length 4.0 mm; length of veins r/2RS 0.8; length of veins 2RS/2M 1.0; length of veins 2M/(RS+M)b 1.9; pterostigma length/width 2.9. Forewing areolet large, four-sided with sharp angle between veins 3RSa and rs-m, vein rs-m slightly curved at distal end.

Legs. Hind tibia inner spur length/hind basitarsus length 0.4.

Metasoma. T1 length / T1 width at posterior margin 3.1; narrowing posteriorly, smooth in anterior half, punctures associated with setae in posterior half; T2 width at posterior margin / T2 length 3.5, sclerotised area well differentiated from surrounding tergite, scattered punctures associated with setae, border with T3 smooth and only just distinguishable; T3 sculpture smooth and shiny; both T2 and T3 irregularly setose for all of length; ovipositor sheaths length/hind tibial length 1.9.

MALE. Smaller in size than female, body length 3.3 mm; T1 lighter in colouration than female specimen, light brown anteriorly with dark area in centre, fading to pale posteriorly.

Etymology. Named by the 2020 year 5–7 students of Ramco Primary School, where the holotype was collected. The students chose to use the name of the school along with the epithet ‘marmorata’ from the Latin ‘marmor’, for marble, as they felt that the striking black and white colouration of the species, and variation of colours on the tergites, looked like polished marble. The species name therefore unconventionally combines a place name with a Latin adjective, and should be regarded as a noun in apposition.

Distribution. Known from only a female specimen from the Riverland region, South Australia, and from a male specimen from Gleneagle, Western Australia.

Molecular information. The species constitutes BIN: BOLD:AEF8695, and is 9.63% divergent from the nearest relative on BOLD.

Remarks. This species falls within a large clade of Australian species, all with a large forewing areolet, that morphologically are intermediate between the current definition of the genera Sathon and Choeras ( Fig. 3 ). We place this species in the genus Choeras as there appears to be some flexibility in the hypopygium which would exclude it from the strict definition of Sathon , and because it is morphologically and molecularly closely related to Choeras morialta . However, we note that this clade may end up being recognised as a new genus, which is not related to the group of species that possess a small forewing areolet. To confirm and revise the genus, phylogenetic studies that include the type species of Choeras and Sathon will need to be conducted.

Figures

FIGURE 2.Choeras ramcomarmorata A–C, E–G Holotype; D Male paratype. A) Dorsal mesosoma and T1–2 B) Fore wing C) Lateral habitus D) Male dorsal habitus E) Anterior head F) Dorsal habitus G) Dorsal head.

FIGURE 3. COI and Wingless Bayesian phylogeny showing the relationship of Choeras ramcomarmorata sp. nov. (in red) to other Australian specimens identified as either Choeras or Sathon with publicly available sequence data on the BOLD (not including the unrelated clade of Australian Choeras morphologically identified as having a small fore wing areolet). Number in brackets (n=x) represent the number of sequences in the collapsed clade. Genera identifications for the undescribed species are provided by BOLD and based on molecular data. Branch support values are posterior probabilities, with 100 represented by an asterisk.