Ampsalis wallacei, Winterton, 2023

Winterton, Shaun L., 2023, Wasp-mimicking soldier flies of the Australian Region: revision of Ampsalis Walker, Elissoma White and Lagenosoma Brauer (Stratiomyidae: Clitellariinae), Zootaxa 5246 (1), pp. 1-63 : 16

Ampsalis wallacei sp. n.

( Figs 1 ; 7E–H ; 10B ; 20 ; 25C, D ; 28B ; 32A ; 35 )

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Diagnosis. Wing brown infuscate except at base; head predominantly black with yellow patches; scutum black with small yellow patches laterally anterior to transverse suture and on postalar callus (blue when alive); scutellum black with pale margin and relatively small spines; abdominal tergites black with translucent window in segment 2; legs predominantly black.

Description. Body length = 10.5–13.0 mm. Head. Black and yellow, female frons slightly rounded, black with narrow yellow patches along eye margin; face protruding, black with extensive pile of white setae; parafacial black; ocellar tubercle black; female with narrowly carinate postocular ridge, black suffuse with yellow medially; occiput black, covered with white setal pile; antenna (length = 4.0 mm) with scape and pedicel dark brown; flagellum black, flagellomeres VI–VII slightly longer than combined length of flagellomeres V–VI, ratio of length of flagellomere VII to VIII is 1:23, flagellomere VIII elongate and deeply plumose with microtrichia. Thorax. Black with small pale areas (white or blue when alive) on antepronotum, postpronotum, anterior to transverse suture extending onto posterodorsal margin of anepisternum and on post alar callus; scutellum black with whitish-green or yellow margin, scutellar spines small; coxae dark yellow to black; legs black, pale basally on tibiae, hind tibia with silver reflective microtrichia, tarsi yellow to black; haltere blue to green; wing dark infuscate, hyaline at base; pterostigma brown; venation black. Abdomen. Black, narrowed at base, but not strongly petiolate and not strongly sexually dimorphic, segment 1 with lateral flange well developed; segment 2 with quadrangular, yellow-hyaline, translucent window, small in female, very large in male. Genitalia. Not dissected.

Etymology. This species is named in honour of Alfred Russel Wallace OM, FRS, the British naturalist, geographer, biologist and collector, who independently conceived of the theory of evolution through natural selection. Alfred R. Wallace formulated much of this theory during his time in the Indonesian archipelago, including collecting the type material of the two Ampsalis species described by Walker (1859) while staying in Makassar (Ujung Pandang). Gender is male.

Comments. The body and wing colouration is predominantly black, while pale areas are bluish in living individuals ( Fig. 1 ), which become drab and pale when dried. The large translucent window in segment 2 is similar to that found in many Hermetiinae . This appears to be a coastal species in central and northern Queensland. Ampsalis wallacei sp. n. is differentiated from other Ampsalis species by the mostly black and blue body, dark infuscate wings, black femora and translucent windows in abdominal segment 2.

Type material— Holotype male, AUSTRALIA: Queensland: [Great] Palm Island [-18.730, 146.582], Bancroft ( QM).

Paratype. AUSTRALIA: Queensland: 1 female, Arcadia Magnetic Island [-19.148, 146.864], 17–19.XI.1998, R . W. Matthews, Malaise trap ( CSCA) .

Other material examined. Queensland: 1 female, Glen Eden, Gladstone [-23.8968, 151.2631], digital image ( Fig. 1 ) .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Ampsalis wallacei sp. n., female, Tondoon, Queensland (image copyright: Teale Britstra).

FIGURE 7. Ampsalis spp.A. Ampsalis acta sp. n., male, lateral view; B. Ampsalis acta sp. n., female, lateral view; C. Ampsalis acta sp. n., male, oblique view; D. Ampsalis acta sp. n., female, oblique view; E. Ampsalis wallacei sp. n., female, lateral view; F. Ampsalis wallacei sp. n., male, lateral view; G. Ampsalis wallacei sp. n., female, oblique view; H. Ampsalis wallacei sp. n., male, oblique view.

FIGURE 10. Heads. A. Lagenosoma dispar Brauer, male; B. Ampsalis wallacei sp. n., male; C. Lagenosoma varigatum sp. n.

FIGURE 20. Stylised illustrations of the antenna of Eudmeta, Ampsalis, Elissoma and Lagenosoma.

FIGURE 25. Heads of Ampsalis and Elissoma. A. Ampsalis acta sp. n., male; B. Ampsalis acta sp. n., female; C. Ampsalis wallacei sp. n., male; D. Ampsalis wallacei sp. n., female; E. Elissoma australis sp. n., female; F. Elissoma gilva sp. n., female; G. Elissoma danielsi sp. n., male; H. Elissoma danielsi sp. n., female; I. Elissoma ichneumonoides sp. n., female; J. Elissoma hespera sp. n., male; K. Elissoma brunnea Hardy, male; L. Elissoma brunnea Hardy, female; M. Elissoma minuta sp. n., male; N. Elissoma lauta White, male.

FIGURE 28. Ampsalis and Elissoma scutellums.A. Ampsalis acta sp. n.; B. Ampsalis wallacei sp. n.; C. Elissoma australis sp. n.; D. Elissoma brunnea Hardy; E. Elissoma danielsi sp. n., F. Elissoma gilva sp. n.; G. Elissoma hespera sp. n.; H. Elissoma hauseri sp. n.; I. Elissoma ichneumonoides sp. n.; J. Elissoma lauta White.

FIGURE 32. Ampsalis and Elissoma abdomens. A. Ampsalis wallacei sp. n., male; B. Elissoma australis sp. n., female; C. Elissoma brunnea Hardy, male; D. Elissoma lauta White, male; E. Elissoma minuta sp. n., male; F. Elissoma gilva sp. n., female; G. Elissoma hespera sp. n., male; H. Elissoma ichneumonoides sp. n., female; I. Lagenosoma clitellum sp. n., male; J. Lagenosoma clitellum sp. n., female.

FIGURE 35. Distribution of Australasian Ampsalis species.