Syngaster tricolor, Iqbal & Austin & Belokobylskij, 2006

Iqbal, M., Austin, A. D. & Belokobylskij, S. A., 2006, Systematics of the Australasian endemic wasp genus Syngaster Brullé (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Doryctinae), Journal of Natural History 40 (13 - 14), pp. 819-853 : 848-849

Syngaster tricolor sp. nov.

( Figures 4a , 7 a–e)

Female

Length. 9.7 mm.

Colour. Head and mesosoma pale red-brown. Two basal segments of antenna yellowbrown, most part of flagellum dark brown. Palps brown-yellow. Legs yellow-brown. Hind tibia in apical two-thirds and hind tarsus dark red-brown to black. Wings faintly infuscate, pterostigma dark brown. First tergite of metasoma milky white, rest of tergites dark brown, third to sixth tergites with wide milk-white bands posteriorly. Ovipositor sheath dark brown.

Head. Width 1.2 times its median length, 1.1 times width of mesoscutum. Head behind eyes weakly convex. Transverse diameter of eye 1.3 times as long as temple in dorsal view. Ocelli medium size, in triangle with base 1.3 times its sides, POL 1.2 times OD, 0.2 times OOL. Frons short and weakly convex. Diameter of antennal sockets two times distance from socket to border of eye. Eyes glabrous, 1.1 times as high as broad. Malar space height 0.5 times height of eye, almost equal to basal width of mandible. Face width 1.1 times height of eye and almost equal to height of face and clypeus combined. Clypeus with narrow lower flange, clypeal suture distinct. Hypoclypeal depression round, its width 0.8 times distance from edge of depression to eye, 0.4 times width of face. Occipital carina absent. Hypostomal keel wide. Head below eyes convexly narrowed. Maxillary palps about 1.5 times as long as height of head. Antennal flagellum slender (missing apically, only 35 segments present), first segment length three times width. Scape length including lobe 2.7 times maximum width.

Mesosoma. Length 2.16 times its height. Pronotum short. Mesoscutum highly and almost perpendicularly raised above pronotum. Notauli shallow, narrow, and smooth. Prescutellar depression rather short, more or less deep, smooth, with five strong carinae, 0.2 times as long as scutellum. Scutellum slightly convex, its maximum width almost equal to median length. Metanotum with very small median tooth. Subalar depression shallow and wide, rugose-reticulate. Sternaulus very shallow, straight, smooth, running along anterior twothirds of lower length of mesopleuron. Metapleural lobe short and wide. Metapleuron and propodeum fused and surfaces evenly rounded (i.e. propodeal–metapleural suture absent). Propodeum with lateral tubercles, distinctly roundly narrowed from base to apex (lateral view). Fore tibia with very small spines arranged almost in single row. Tarsal segment of middle leg not elongate, basitarsus 4.5 times as long as wide, 2.4 times as long as second segment, fourth segment subsquare. Hind coxa without basoventral tooth, but with distinct basoventral corner, 1.5 times as long as wide. Hind femur 3.5 times as long as wide. Inner spur of hind tibia 0.86 times as long as outer spur, 0.1 times as long as basitarsus. Hind tarsus 1.1 times as long as hind tibia, basitarsus 1.2 times as long as second to fifth segments combined, second tarsal segment of hind leg 0.36 times as long as basitarsus, 1.8 times as long as fifth segment (without pretarsus).

Wings. Length of fore wing 4.5 times its maximum width. Pterostigma four times as long as wide, 0.8 times as long as R1. 3RSa 1.8 times r, 0.17 times 3RSb, 0.46 times 2RS. Second

submarginal cell 1.3 times as long as wide, 0.63 times as long as first subdiscal cell. Hind wing about five times as long as wide, C+Sc+R 1.17 times SC+R.

Metasoma. Metasoma 1.23 times as long as head and mesosoma combined. First tergite distinctly and almost linearly widened basally, then weakly and roundly convex, but weakly narrowed apically; with short and wide basolateral processes, with very small dorsope, with spiracular tubercles; length of tergite 1.3 times its maximum submedian width, 1.53 times its apical width, apical width 0.9 times its maximum submedian width, 1.4 times its minimum width. Second tergite with wide and distinctly convex medially basal semicircular area, separated by deep crenulate furrow, median length of area 0.55 times maximum length of tergite, maximum length 0.8 times its basal width, 0.88 times length of third tergite, second suture weakly and distinctly undulate. Third tergite with distinct straight transverse crenulate furrow in basal one-third. Ovipositor sheaths 1.3 times body length, 2.43 times as long as metasoma, 3.9 times as long as mesosoma; tip of ovipositor straight, not clavate.

Sculpture and pubescence. Vertex, frons, and temple entirely smooth. Vertex with rather short semi-erect sparse hairs. Face smooth with sparse puncturation. Sides of pronotum, mesoscutum, and scutellum smooth. Mesopleuron smooth in most part. Metapleuron almost smooth anteriorly, rugulose-striate posteriorly. Propodeum almost entirely smooth with sparse puncturation. Mesoscutum entirely with dense short semi-erect hairs. Hind coxae rugulose. Hind femur almost smooth. Hind tibia dorsally with very short, dense semi-erect hairs. Metasomal tergites mostly smooth.

Male

Unknown.

Material examined

Holotype: female, Papua New Guinea, 6 ° 13 9 S, 146 ° 01 9 E, Kassam Pass , 1300 m, 10–23 January 1979, J. Sedlacek ( AEIC).

Comments

Like other Syngaster , this is a distinctive species based on the lack of an occipital carina, and its yellow-brown colour pattern, namely mesosoma yellow-brown with distal mid and hind legs darker; first metasomal tergite white, and white bands on tergites 3–6. This species is named after its distinctive colour pattern.

Figures

Figure 4. (a) Distribution map of Syngaster species in New Guinea: (m) S. crypticus; (´) S. hirtus; (*) S. neoguineensis; (w) S. quadricolor; (&) S. steυensi; (>) S. tricolor; (S) S. υariegatus. (b) Distribution map of Syngaster species in Australia: (>) S. lepidus; arrow, S. polychromus. Map for S. lepidus modified from Austin et al. (1994).

Figure 7. (a) Syngaster steυensi sp. nov., male, metasomal tergites 3–6 (dorsal view). (b–e) Syngaster tricolor sp. nov., female: (b) head (frontal view); (c) head (dorso-lateral view); (d) head and mesosoma (dorsal view); (e) metasoma (dorsal view). (f–h) Syngaster υariegatus (Szépligeti), female: (f) head (anterior view); (g) head, mesosoma and first metasomal tergite (lateral view); (h) metasomal tergites 1–4 (dorso-lateral view). Scale bars: 1 mm (a–c, f–h); 2 mm (d, e).