Pseudidarnes cooki Farache & Rasplus

Farache, Fernando Henrique Antoniolli & Rasplus, Jean-Yves, 2014, Revision of the Australasian genus Pseudidarnes Girault, 1927 (Hymenoptera, Agaonidae, Sycophaginae), ZooKeys 404, pp. 31-70 : 47-51

Pseudidarnes cooki Farache & Rasplus sp. n. Figures 11-14

Pseudidarnes sp. ex Ficus obliqua ; Cruaud et al. (2011a) BMC Evolutionary Biology, 11: 15pp. [phylogenetic position]

Pseudidarnes sp. ex Ficus obliqua ; Cruaud et al. (2011b) Journal of Biogeography, 38: 209-225. [biogeography]

Pseudidarnes sp.; Segar ST, Cook JM (2012) Ecological Entomology, 37(5), 342-349. [ecology]

Material examined.

Holotype. ♀, AUSTRALIA: Queensland: Cairns, Rex Lookout, -16.65°, 145.56°, 100m, 13.I.1999, Rasplus J.Y., ex Ficus obliqua (CBGP).

Paratypes. AUSTRALIA: Queensland: Cairns, Rex Lookout, -16.65°, 145.56°, 100m, 7♀, 1♂, 13.I.1999, Rasplus J.Y., ex. Ficus obliqua (CBGP), North of Cairns, Costal road, -16.65°, 145.56°, 100m, 1♀, 27.X.2005, Jousselin E. & Coeur d’Acier A., ex Ficus obliqua , n° JRAS01422 (CBGP), Port Douglas, -16.483230°, 145.464058°, 10m, 3♀, 28.X.2005, Jousselin E. & Coeur d’Acier A., ex Ficus obliqua , n° JRAS01429 (1 ♀ CBGP, 1 ♀ BMNH, 1 ♀ SAMC).

Diagnosis.

Metallic tinge present at least in some body regions. Mesosoma sculpture mostly reticulate. Propodeum with a crenulated median sulcus extending to the posterior margin. Postmarginal vein shorter than stigmal vein. Ovipositor sheaths short, about as long as the metasoma.

Description.

Female. Body length 2.3 mm. Ovipositor sheaths length 0.9 mm. Metallic tinge present at least in some body regions. Predominantly dark green. Antennae brown. Coxae almost concolorous with mesosoma. Femora brown. Tibiae and tarsi predominantly yellow. Metatibia proximally yellow brown. Metasoma predominantly brown.

Head. Antennae inserted just above the middle line of compound eyes. Scape nearly 3 × as long as pedicel. Pedicel almost as long as wide, pyriform, and shorter than first funicular segment. Anelli transverse. First funicular segment approximately 1.5 × as long as wide. Distal antennomeres forming a distinctive clava. Face sculpture reticulate. Face pilosity short and sparse, becoming longer near oral margin and eyes. Supraclypeal area wide, its delimiting sulci not converging near epistomal groove, and its sculpture mostly smooth. Lateral ocelli 1 × its own diameter far from the eye margin.

Mesosoma. Pronotum short, nearly as long as high in lateral view. Mesoscutum strongly reticulate. Mesoscutellum reticulate. Frenal sulcus densely crenulated. Mesepimeron sculpture reticulate. Metascutellum longer than frenum, reticulate. Propodeum with a well delimited and carinulated median sulcus, extending to the posterior margin of the sclerite. Propodeum sculpture reticulate, smooth near the proximal region of median line of propodeum. Wings hyaline, with sparse pilosity. Marginal and postmarginal vein not particularly widened. Postmarginal vein shorter than stigmal vein.

Metasoma. Petiole rugose, 1.5 × as long as high in lateral view. Petiole dorsally with a longitudinal median sulcus. Ovipositor sheaths long, distinctly protruding beyond metasoma apex. Ovipositor sheaths length 2.25 × hind tibia length, 0.4 × body length.

Male. Body length 2.4 mm. Characters agreeing with the females, except the following. Body slender. Antenna more yellow and inserted at the middle line of compound eyes or slightly below. Ocelli larger. Body sculpture fainter. Petiole more brown. Wings more pilose.

Etymology.

The specific name is dedicated to our friend and colleague Dr. James Cook, in recognition of his amazing contribution to our knowledge of fig wasps.

Biology.

This species is strictly associated with Ficus obliqua G. Forst. and was studied by Segar and Cook (2012) (referred as Pseudidarnes sp.). It was reared in low abundance (0.1 ± 0.05, mean ± SE) and there were rarely more than four wasps in the same syconium.

Molecular data.

GenBank sequences: COI HM770642; Cytb HM770596; EF-1a HM770545; rRNA 28S HM770704 ( Cruaud et al. 2011a; Cruaud et al. 2011b).