Aulacus broadi Jennings & Austin, 2018

Jennings, John T., Parslow, Ben A. & Austin, Andrew D., 2018, Systematics of the parasitoid wasp genus Aulacus Jurine (Hymenoptera: Evanioidea: Aulacidae) from Australia, Zootaxa 4538 (1), pp. 1-113 : 27-29

Aulacus broadi Jennings & Austin , sp. nov.

Figs 12 , 57 .

Material examined. Holotype. ♀, “ AUSTRALIA, Canberra, A.C.T., 5 MAR 1978, E. McC. Callan ( ANIC). Left fore leg missing tarsomeres 2–5 and claw.

Description. FEMALE. Length. 7.3 mm, excluding ovipositor.

Colour. Head and metasoma dark brown, mesosoma black ( Figs 12A, B ), darker between ocelli, antenna pale orange except last 3 flagellomeres brown, propleura and pronotum dark brown, fore and mid legs pale orange, except coxae dark brown, hind legs dark brown, prefemur and hind tarsi lighter, metasoma and ovipositor sheaths dark brown, ovipositor orange. Wings hyaline except for brown infuscation apically on the marginal and third submarginal cells of fore wings ( Figs 12A, B ).

Head. 1.16× wider than long when viewed dorsally ( Fig. 12C ); face and frons rugose, punctate-rugose laterally, scattered short setae; distinct sub-antennal groove; frons without lateral medial carina above toruli, pubescence; vertex punctulate, with larger scattered punctures ( Fig. 12C ), with scattered short setae; gena punctulate, with larger scattered punctures, with scattered short setae, becoming denser ventrally; posterior margin of head weakly concave in dorsal view; occipital carina absent; malar space 0.3× height eye; clypeus 3.1× as wide as high, margin sinuate, distinct medial process; distance from lateral ocellus to eye margin 0.8× distance between lateral ocelli; scape 1.4× length pedicel; first flagellomere 1.1× as long as scape, 0.8× as long as second flagellomere.

Mesosoma. Propleuron rugose, pubescence long, ventro-lateral carina indistinct; pronotum rugose; mesoscutum rounded in lateral view ( Figs 12D,E ), medial and lateral lobes rugose, weakly strigate posteriorly with scattered short setae, admedial lines present; notauli distinct, carinate, narrow and deep ( Fig. 12D ); scutellum and axillae rugose, weakly strigate, scutellum with two oblique deep depressions, separated by a median carina; metapostnotum broad, carinate, posterior margin convex; mesopleuron rugose, coarser ventrally, pubescence long; mesepimeron broad, carinate; metapleuron rugose, smoother medially, pubescence long, patch anteriorly before spiracle smooth; propodeum areolate, posterior margin rugose, with a few carinae; hind coxa rugose dorsally, weakly strigate laterally, pubescence short, ovipositor guide somewhat distal ( Fig. 12F ), oblique, broad, distal fringe of long setae, no setae in guide; hind trochanter imbricate, short pubescence; prefemur on hind leg present; hind femur imbricate, short pubescence; hind tibia imbricate, pubescence short, with scattered stout emergent setae; hind femur 0.8× length hind tibia; hind tibia with ventro-apical pecten of short robust spines; hind tarsomeres 1–4 with ventro-apical pecten of short robust spines, tarsomere 1, 3.33× length tarsomere 2; tarsomere 2, 1.5× length tarsomere 3; tarsomere 3, 1.7× length tarsomere 4; tarsomere 4, 0.4× length tarsomere 5; hind tarsal claw 0.35× length tarsomere 5; fore wing veins 2r-m and 3r-m entirely spectral; hind wing venation complete, M+Cu, rm and 2-M spectral, Cu nebulous, lightly pigmented, with 3 hamuli.

Metasoma. Ovate, 1.2× length of mesosoma ( Fig. 12B ); T1 and T2 narrow, T1 smooth, T2 imbricate, T–T2 scattered short setae, T3–T8 imbricate, a few scattered punctures, short setae; ovipositor 9.7 mm.

MALE. Unknown.

Etymology. This species is named after Gavin Broad, hymenopterist, Natural History Museum, London.

Distribution. This species is known only from the type locality, Canberra, ACT ( Fig. 57 ).

Biology. Nothing is known of the biology of this species.

Comments. Aulacus broadi is in a group of three species ( A. broadi , A. boonanghiensis and A. atriceps ), all of which have the mesoscutum rounded in lateral view, ovate metasoma, and ovipositor guide oblique and distal. It is readily separated by sculpture of its face, being rugose, punctate-rugose laterally compared with rugose in A. atriceps and rugulose-reticulate in A. boonanghiensis .

Figures

FIGURE 12. Aulacus broadi sp. nov., holotype female, (A) dorsal habitus; (B) lateral habitus; (C) dorsal head; (D) lateral head and mesosoma; (E) dorsal mesosoma; (F) dorsal hind coxae.

FIGURE 57. Distribution of Aulacus boonanghiensis sp. nov., A. brabyi sp. nov., A. broadi sp. nov., and A. burnsi sp. nov.