Aglaotilla micra Taylor, Murphy, Hitchen & Brothers, 2019

Taylor, Christopher K., Murphy, Mark V., Hitchen, Yvette & Brothers, Denis J., 2019, Four new species of Australian velvet ants (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae, Aglaotilla) reared from bee and wasp nests, with a review of Australian mutillid host records, Zootaxa 4609 (2), pp. 201-224 : 212-214

Aglaotilla micra Taylor, Murphy, Hitchen & Brothers , sp. nov.

Fig. 7 .

Diagnosis. Females can be distinguished by their combination of a general metallic purple gloss with black ground coloration on head and metasoma and reddish-brown on mesosoma, apical fringe of white setae on T2, head not much extended behind eyes, T2 without prominent depressions, and antenna with F1 subequal to F2. Males are unknown.

Description. Female (fig. 7). Total length 3.89–4.44 mm; mesosoma length 1.54–1.55 mm. Integument with metallic purple gloss; head and greater part of metasoma black; antenna, mesosoma, legs and first metasomal segment reddish brown; mandible mostly orange-brown with apex black; tibial spurs white. Head in frontal view subtrapezoidal, 1.2 as wide as long; width of head behind eyes 0.9 width of mesosoma; head densely punctate. Occipital carina well developed, continuing on to postgenal carina. Sides of head behind eyes converging, rear of head convex. Eye ovate, moderately protruding, margins entire; maximum diameter of eye 5.8 distance between top of eye and rear margin of head; minimum frons width 0.6 head width. Frons and vertex with white semi-decumbent simple setae and black erect, sparsely brachyplumose setae, with white erect brachyplumose setae present at lowermost margin of frons and above occipital carina. Dorsal margin of antennal scrobe with transverse carina reaching lower margin of eye. Antennal tubercles simple, smooth, closely placed medially. Malar space in frontal view 0.5 eye height; gena moderately covered with white elongate, semi-decumbent brachyplumose setae; genal and postgenal carinae weak. Clypeus densely covered with white erect, densely brachyplumose setae; raised area between antennal tubercles triangular in frontal and lateral view. Antenna with scape evenly curved, bearing white brachyplumose setae. Pedicel 1.1 as long as wide, 0.8 as long as F1; F1 1.2 as long as wide, subequal in length to F2. Mandible tapering with subapical inner tooth. Mesosoma pyriform in dorsal view, length 1.5 maximum width; sides diverging slightly to behind prothoracic spiracle and then converging towards propodeum, with propodeal spiracle protruding slightly. Dorsal profile evenly convex; propodeum evenly rounded, disc merging into declivity; dorsal sculpture coarsely punctate-reticulate; boundaries of mesonotum and propodeum obscured by sculpture. Dorsum of mesosoma with mixed black erect, sparsely brachyplumose and decumbent, simple setae, with some white erect brachyplumose setae present around margins; side and venter of mesosoma with white erect, brachyplumose setae. Anterior margin of mesosoma (excluding pronotal collar) evenly convex; humeral angle pointed, obtuse. Dorsal face of pronotum laterally margined by a carina; pronotal-mesopleural boundary mostly indistinct below prothoracic spiracle; lateral face of pronotum smooth. Anterior faces of mesopleuron and metapleuron smooth; posterior face of mesopleuron coarsely punctate-reticulate. Metapleural-propodeal boundary marked by smooth sulcus; metapleuron punctate-reticulate posteriorly. Legs: Fore leg with tarsal comb undeveloped. Mid and hind tibiae each with two spines in longitudinal row on dorsal margin. Metasoma: T1 about as wide as long, sides diverging from base, minor constriction around apical margin; T1 0.5 width of T2. Setae on T1 mostly white, erect, mostly brachyplumose except some plumose setae close to base; some black erect, sparsely brachyplumose setae present around high point of T1; apical margin with dense fringe of white decumbent, simple setae. T2 slightly flattened dorsally, moderately punctate; medially with black decumbent to semi-erect, sparsely brachyplumose setae; lateral margins with white erect, brachyplumose setae; apical margin with continuous fringe of white brachyplumose setae, becoming slightly broader at midpoint; felt line rudimentary, reduced to small patch of white setae less than 0.1 lateral length of T2. T3–T6 largely smooth; T3–T5 mostly with black erect, brachyplumose setae, with white erect, simple setae present laterally; T6 with black erect, sparsely brachyplumose setae anteriorly, white setae posteriorly. S1 with well-developed median carina. S 2 in profile with sloped anterior face in front of slightly produced anterior mound, followed by slight concavity along greater length; S2–S5 sparsely punctate with white erect to decumbent, brachyplumose setae; S2 with short felt line, 1.2 length of felt line on T2; S6 with black erect, brachyplumose setae anteriorly, shorter white setae posteriorly.

Male. Unknown.

Holotype, ♀. Western Australia: 20 km S Wagin , 3329’ S 11722 ’E, from nest of an undescribed Pison species, 13 December 2013, M. Murphy (1♀, WAM E 101573; GAN: MK 618701 ).

Paratypes, 2♀♀. Western Australia: same data as holotype (2♀♀, WAM E 101574, E 101580; GAN: MK 618692 , MK 618710 ) .

Comments. In the key to Western Australian mutillids provided by Turner (1914), this species comes closest to Aglaotilla discolor Brothers, 2018 (= Ephutomorpha aeneidorsis Turner, 1914 , a primary junior homonym of Ephutomorpha lauta var. aeneidorsis André, 1903 ), which was described on the basis of a single specimen from Yallingup, Western Australia, as having the head and metasoma bronze-green in coloration and the mesosoma rufoferruginous. The specimens described herein have a purple gloss on the head and metasoma and on the mesosoma, but match Turner’s description in many other particulars. Nevertheless, comparison with photographs of the holotype of A. discolor (B.M.Type HYM. 15-661, NHMUK 010819768) (fig. 8) show that it also differs from A. micra sp. nov. in having the antenna, mesosoma and legs entirely bright ferruginous without blue/purple reflections, the mesosoma slightly more elongate, the lateral faces of the metapleuron and propodeum smoother, T1 more bulbous and less constricted apically, and the felt line on T2 much longer and more distinct than that on S2. Turner (1914), however, erred in stating that the hind tibia of A. discolor had a single preapical dorsal spine (instead of two) and that the apical pale pubescent band on T2 was interrupted medially (this was caused by removal of the setae by rubbing and is not symmetrical on the type).

Etymology. Species name a latinized adjective, from the Greek mikros, small.

Host Record. Reared from nest of an undescribed Pison species ( Pison “species 12 in Murphy 2016) ( Hymenoptera : Crabronidae ).

Figures

FIGURE 7. Aglaotilla micra sp. nov., ♀, holotype. A: facial view; B: lateral view; C: mesosoma, dorsal view; D: metasoma, dorsal view.