Pristaulacus kostylevi ( Alekseyev, 1986 )

Published, First, 2007, Revision of the Palaearctic species of Pristaulacus Kieffer, 1900 (Hymenoptera: Aulacidae), Zootaxa 1433, pp. 1-76 : 50-51

Pristaulacus kostylevi ( Alekseyev, 1986)

( Figs. 15, 35, 55, 75, 105, 111, 115)

Odontaulacus kostylevi Alekseyev, 1986: 16 (♀).

Odontacolus (sic!) kostylevi: Kozlov, 1988: 244 .

Pristaulacus kostylevi: Smith, 2001: 288 .

Material examined. RUSSIA, Primorski Krai: paratype ♀ labelled “Vinogradovka, Ussur.(iyskii) Kr.(ai), Kiritschenko, 24.VII.929/ Odontaulacus kostylevi Aleks., V. Alekseyev det. 1985/ Paratypus ♀, ” Odontaulacus kostylevi Alekseyev ” (in cyrillic) ( ZIN) .

Records from literature. Alekseyev (1986), Kozlov (1988).

Type locality. “Primorskii Krai, Partizansk, Fridman” ( Alekseyev 1986).

Notes on type material. The type material consists of three ♀, including the holotype (not examined, collection of the Zoological Museum of Moscow) .

Redescription. ♀ (paratype). Length (excluding ovipositor): 11.8 mm; fore wing length: 9.0 mm.

Colour black, except: most part of mandible (except base and apex), and maxillo-labial complex dark red; antenna blackish brown, with A1 dark red; propleuron and legs dark red brown, with tibiae and tarsi red orange more or less dark; wings hyaline, without brown spot, with veins and stigma brown; metasoma extensively reddish brown with segment 1, except petiole, base and lateral parts of T2 red orange; following tergites black brown, with lateral parts lighter; valvula 3 of ovipositor brown. Setae: mainly whitish; whitish goldish along lateral margins of frons and on clypeus; yellow gold on mandible.

Head ( Figs. 15, 35) from above, 1.3x wider than long, polished and shiny; occipital margin concave; temple, from above, well developed, 1.2x longer than eye length, weakly divergent, regularly rounded posteriorly; occipital carina narrow, cerciniform, less than 0.2x diameter of an ocellus; POL:OOL= 1.0; ocellar area 2.0x wider than long; upper half of frons, vertex and temple polished with coarse, superficial, and scattered punctures (distance between punctures 5x or more diameter of a puncture); lower half of frons with coarse, superficial, and dense punctures (distance between punctures 1x or less diameter of a puncture); clypeus irregularly and finely transverse rugose, with coarse, superficial and scattered punctures; inner half of malar area dull, finely rugose, outer half shiny, with coarse, deep, and scattered punctures; occipital area polished; mandible polished and shiny with a few punctures in middle; antenna as long as fore wing length; A3 4.4x longer than wide; A4 7.1x longer than wide, and 1.6x longer than A3; A5 7.2x longer than wide, and 1.5x longer than A3; following antennomeres progressively shorter, the apical one weakly dorsoventrally compressed, weakly concave on ventral surface, with apex weakly acute, 2.1x longer than wide. Setae: mainly erect, short, and very scattered; recumbent, long, and moderately dense on latero-inferior part of frons, on clypeus, and on most part of malar area; erect and moderately long and dense on lower part of temple; semierect, short, and dense on A1; setae length of temple 0.4–0.5x diameter of an ocellus.

Mesosoma ( Fig. 55) coarsely sculptured; pronotum, polished, without sculpture on anterior part, transverse carinulate on most of lateral surface, with coarse and deep punctures between carinae on upper half, striolate punctate on lower half, with short and interrupted carinulae; each lateroventral margin of pronotum regularly rounded, without teeth; propleuron shiny, very finely sculptured, with very fine, superficial, and scattered punctures (distance between punctures 2–3x diameter of a puncture); prescutum trapezoidal, weakly concave in middle, transverse carinulate; mesoscutum transverse carinate with anterior margin, in lateral view, acute, upward curved; notaulus superficial and narrow; scutellum transverse carinate with concentric carinae on posterior half; mesepimeron transverse carinate; mesepisternum areolate rugose, except a small area on upper part, transverse carinate foveolate; metanotum punctate medially, with irregular scattered carinae on lateral parts; propodeum areolate rugose on lateral parts, irregularly transverse carinate on dorsal surface; ventral parts of mesosoma shiny, irregularly transverse carinulate; fore wing with vein 2-rs+m short; fore coxa polished, shiny, with fine, superficial, and scattered punctures; mid coxa shiny, weakly transverse carinulate on outer half, with moderately coarse, moderately deep, and scattered punctures on inner half; hind coxa ( Fig. 75) dull, transverse carinulate on dorsal surface, transverse striolate punctate on ventral surface, with coarse, superficial, and scattered punctures (distance between punctures 2–3x diameter of a puncture); trochanters weakly shiny, with coarse, deep, and dense punctures; fore and mid femora dull on dorsal surface, weakly shiny on ventral surface; hind femur dull; femora with coarse, deep, and dense punctures on dorsal surface, moderately coarse, deep, and scattered on ventral surface; hind femur extensively transverse striolate on ventral surface; spurs of mid tibia of the same length; inner spur of hind tibia slightly longer than outer spur; hind basitarsus 9.5x longer than wide, and 1.1x longer than tarsomeres 2–5; claw with two well-separated teeth, far from apex, first smaller than second. Setae: erect, short, and scattered on dorsal surface, recumbent or semierect, longer and denser on lateral parts, on anterior part of mesonotum and on ventral parts of mesosoma; erect, long, and very scattered on hind surface of propodeum; erect, and moderately long and dense on propleuron, with setae length 0.6x fore pretarsus length; semierect or erect, and moderately long and dense on coxae and trochanters; recumbent, short, and moderately dense on dorsal surface of femora, erect, short, and less dense on ventral surface.

Metasoma moderately compressed laterally, ovoidal in lateral view; petiole short, stocky, about as long as wide; segment 1 and S2, polished and shiny; T2 and following segments very finely sculptured; median part of T4–T7 with fine, superficial, and scattered punctures; T8 with coarse, superficial, and scattered punctures; S2 with a narrow median area with coarse, deep, and moderately scattered punctures; median part of S3–S5 with fine, superficial, and moderately dense punctures; S6 without punctures; S7 uniformly punctate, with coarse, deep, and dense punctures; ovipositor 1.4x longer than fore wing length; valvula 3 of ovipositor with apex rounded. Setae: segments 1 and 2 glabrous; semierect, short, and scattered on S2; semierect, short, and moderately dense on median part of S3–S6; recumbent, or semierect, long, and dense on S7; recumbent, short, and moderately dense on median part of T4–T7; semierect or recumbent, long, and dense on T8.

ď. Unknown.

Intraspecific variation. Examined: 1♀. Length: 9.3–11.5 mm (♀) ( Alekseyev 1986).

Distribution. Russia (Primorski Krai).

Remarks. This species is easily recognized by the upward projecting lateral lobes of the mesoscutum. This character is considered as specialized for an endoxylic life style (Turrisi 2004; Turrisi & Pilato 2004; Turrisi et al. submitted), and it occurs in some Oriental species, e.g., P. krombeini Smith, 1997 , some Nearctic species, e.g., P. rufitarsis (Cresson, 1864) , and in a number of Neotropical species (Smith 2006, in litteris). On the other hand, P. kostylevi shows some plesiomorphic characters within the genus Pristaulacus (Turrisi 2004) such as a narrow occipital carina, a rounded lateroventral margin of the pronotum without teeth, claw with only two well-spaced teeth, and short and stocky petiole.

The correct spelling of the name of the author of this species is “Alekseyev” (Lelej A.S. 2004, in litteris) although is spelled “Alekseev” in his publications.

Biology. Unknown.