Aulacus hackeri 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 : 48-50

Aulacus hackeri Jennings & Austin , sp. nov.

Figs. 25 , 60 .

Material examined. Holotype. ♀, “ Tamborine Mountain [Queensland], H. Hacker, 27.10.[19]12 ( QM). Left antennomeres 5 to tip, right hind tarsomeres 4–5 and claw, and left ovipositor sheath missing . Paratypes. Queensland: 11♀, same data as holotype ( QM) ; 4♀, National Park, XI.1920 H. Hacker ( QM) .

Other Material examined. Queensland: 1♀, Brisbane, 1.III.1954, Y. Beri ( QM) .

Description. FEMALE. Length. 10.8 (10.0–11.5) mm, excluding ovipositor.

Colour. Dark black-brown ( Figs 25A, B ), except scape and pedicel brown, flagellomeres dark brown, coxae and trochanters dark brown, fore and mid femora and tibiae orange, fore and mid tarsomeres 1–4 cream, tarsomere 5 brown, hind femora and tibia dark brown and first two-thirds basitarsus and fifth tarsomere dark brown, apical one-third basitarsus and tarsomeres 2–4 cream, T2 brown, T3–T8 darker, almost black, ovipositor sheaths dark brown, ovipositor orange. Wings hyaline except for faint brown infuscation apically on the marginal and third submarginal cells of fore wings.

Head. 1.2 (1.1–1.5)× wider than long when viewed dorsally; face punctate-rugose, pubescence long, dense; sub-antennal groove present, imbricate; frons without lateral medial carina above toruli, rugose, scattered short setae; vertex and gena reticulate, weakly strigate, a few scattered punctures, scattered short setae; posterior margin of head not concave in dorsal view; occipital carina absent; malar space 0.24× height eye; clypeus 3.2 (2.9–3.6)× as wide as high, margin sinuate, distinct medial process; distance from lateral ocellus to eye margin 0.7× distance between lateral ocelli; scape 1.67 (1.5–1.8)× length pedicel; first flagellomere 1.5 (1.3–1.5)× as long as scape, 0.55 (0.5–0.7)× as long as second flagellomere.

Mesosoma. Propleuron rugose dorsally, pubescence long, ventro-lateral carina present; pronotum rugose; mesoscutum rounded in lateral view rounded antero-dorsally, medial and lateral lobes strigate, reticulate microsculpture, with scattered short setae, admedial lines present; notauli distinct, carinate, broad and deep; scutellum strigate, reticulate microsculpture, with two depressions on anterior margin; axillae rugose, reticulate microsculpture; metapostnotum broad, carinate, posterior margin convex; mesopleuron, rugose, a few scattered punctures ventrally, pubescence long; mesepimeron broad, carinate; metapleuron rugose, small area in front of spiracle punctate dorsally, smooth medially, reticulate microsculpture ventrally, long scattered setae; propodeum areolate, tending rugose laterally, posterior margin smooth; hind coxa strigate-imbricate, scattered long setae, denser laterally, ovipositor guide medial, transverse, broad ( Fig. 25C ); hind trochanter imbricate, pubescence short; prefemur on hind leg present; hind femur imbricate, with scattered short setae; hind tibia imbricate, pubescence short, with scattered stout emergent setae; hind femur 0.66 (0.46–0.75)× length hind tibia; hind tibia with ventroapical pecten of short robust spines; hind tarsomeres 1–4 with ventro-apical pecten of short robust spines, tarsomere 1, 2.4 (2.0–2.7)× length tarsomere 2; tarsomere 2, 1.53 (1.48–1.6)× length tarsomere 3; tarsomere 3, 3.0 (2.8–3.3)× length tarsomere 4; tarsomere 4, 0.53 (0.5–0.6)× length tarsomere 5; hind tarsal claw 0.5 (0.3–0.58)× length tarsomere 5; fore wing veins 2r-m and 3r-m largely spectral; hind wing venation complete, M+Cu, Cu, r-m and 2-M spectral, with 3 hamuli, hamuli 2 and 3 separate from 1.

Metasoma. Clavate, 1.76 (1.7–1.82)× length of mesosoma ( Fig. 22A ); T1 and T2 narrow, T1 weakly imbricate, weak rugosity medio-longitudinally, glabrous, T2 and T3 imbricate, glabrous, T4–T8 imbricate, scattered short setae; ovipositor 15.7 (15.0–16.0) mm.

MALE. Unknown.

Etymology. This species is named for Henry Hacker, collector of the holotype and most of the paratypes, who was the entomologist at the Queensland Museum 1911 to 1931.

Distribution. The holotype and most of the paratypes were collected from Tamborine Mountain, south-east Queensland ( Fig. 60 ).

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

Comments. Aulacus hackeri keys out with A. neboissi , both species having the mesoscutum angular in lateral view, metanotum clavate, brown infuscation apically on the fore wing (although less distinct or sometimes absent on the former species), and a transverse ovipositor guide on the hind coxa. The two species, however, differ in a number of characters: ovipositor guide medial, frons with lateral medial carina above toruli, and largely blackbrown colouration in A. hacker , whereas in A. neboissi , the ovipositor guide is distal, the frons lacks a lateral medial carina above the toruli, and the head is black, and the meso- and metasoma orange.

The specimen from Brisbane lacks the brown infuscation apically on the marginal and third submarginal cells of fore wings and for this reason has not been included in the type series.

Figures

FIGURE 22. Aulacus froggatti sp. nov., holotype female, (A) dorsal habitus; (B) lateral habitus.

FIGURE 25. Aulacus hackeri sp. nov., holotype female, (A) lateral habitus; (B) dorsal habitus; (C) dorsal hind coxae.

FIGURE 60. Distribution of Aulacus froggatti sp. nov., A. fuscicornis Cameron, A. glorious sp. nov., and A. hackeri sp. nov.