Cladobethylus cruciger Kieffer, 1922

Kimsey, Lynn S., 2019, Revision of the south Asian amisegine genus Cladobethylus Kieffer, 1922 (Hymenoptera, Chrysididae, Amiseginae), Journal of Hymenoptera Research 70, pp. 41-64 : 41

Cladobethylus cruciger Kieffer

Figs 10 , 11

Cladobethylus cruciger Kieffer 1922: 69. Syntype males; Philippines: Mindanao, Butan; Luzon, Laguna, Mt. Maquiling (Lost?).

Cladobethylus cruciger var. antennalis Kieffer 1922: 71. Holotype male; Philippines: Luzon, Tayabas, Mt. Banahao (Lost?). Synonymized by Kimsey and Bohart 1991.

Cladobethylus coeruleus Kieffer 1922: 71. Holotype female; Philippines: Mindanao, Butan (Lost?), syn. nov.

Diagnosis.

Cladobethylus cruciger males most closely resemble male Cl. darlingi based on the cylindrical apical flagellomeres, nearly impunctate metasomal tergum II, and flagellomere I less than 3.5 × as long as broad. It can be distinguished from Cl. darlingi and other Cladobethylus species by the combination of the male least interocular distance equal to the eye width in front view, postocular distance one midocellar diameter wide, brown antenna and body with bluish highlights dorsally. There are insufficient characters given by Kieffer to distinguish female " Cl. coeruleus " from other female Cladobethylus .

Male description.

Body (Figs 10 , 11 ): length 4.0 mm. Head. frons punctures 0.2-0.5 puncture diameters apart; scapal basin primarily smooth with short strip of cross-ridges on either side of broad medial stripe; clypeus long and truncate apically in front view, subantennal distance 1 MOD; malar space 3.6 MOD long; head 1.1 × as long as wide in front view, interocular distance equal to eye width in front view; midocellus 2 MOD from ocular margin; ocelli arranged in nearly equilateral triangle; hindocelli separated from ocular margin by 1 diameter; postocular distance 1 MOD; flagellomere I 3.3-3.5 ×, setae half as long as flagellomere breadth; flagellomere II 2.7-3.0 ×; flagellomere IX 6 ×; apical flagellomeres cylindrical. Mesosoma. Pronotum about as long as scutum; mesopleural punctures 0.5-1.0 puncture diameters apart; metapleuron smooth, impunctate; propodeum laterally smooth and impunctate, with posteromedial enclosure parallel-sided, subrectangular. Metasoma. Tergum I essentially impunctate; tergum II with few, tiny, widely scattered punctures; terga III-V with dense, contiguous to narrowly separated tiny punctures, with impunctate apical rim. Color. Body black, except dorsum of head, pronotum, scutum and scutellum with faint metallic blue highlights; legs including coxae yellow; antenna brown; wing membrane brown tinted; veins dark brown.

Female description

(based on Kieffer’s description of Cl. coeruleus ). Body length 4.0 mm. Head. Flagellomere I 2.5 × as long as broad; flagellomere II 1.5 × as long as broad; flagellomere X more than twice as long as broad. Metasoma. Third tergum closely and rather finely punctured. Color. Body black, except mesosomal dorsum with metallic blue highlights; legs including coxae yellow.

Distribution.

Philippines: Mindanao: Misamis Or., Dinawehan Gingoong, 26 km e Gingoong City, 100-300m, 12/viii/1965, L. Torrevillas; Butan; Luzon, Laguna, Mt. Maquiling; one non-type male has been seen (BPBM).

Discussion.

The description above is based on Kieffer’s descriptions of Cl. coeruleus and Cl. cruciger , plus a single male specimen from the island of Mindanao that fits Kieffer’s description.

Kieffer’s Cladobethylus coeruleus is synonymized here with Cl. cruciger as his description of Cladobethylus coeruleus matches the shared characteristics between male and female Cladobethylus seen in other species where both sexes are known. Both specimens are from Mindanao. In the female description, Kieffer refers to punctation of the third tergum, but it is not clear whether he counted the propodeum as the first tergum.

The subspecies Cl. antennalis might be a valid species based on the differences in flagellomere dimensions and collection location on a separate island. In Kieffer’s description flagellomere I is 3.5 × along as broad and flagellomere II 3 × as long as broad in Cl. cruciger s. s., but in Cl. antennalis flagellomere I is 3 × as long as broad and II twice as long as broad. However, without access to the types it is impossible to be certain.

Figures

Figures 4 - 11. 4, 5, 8 - 11 Male Cladobethylus 6, 7 Female Cladobethylus 4, 6, 8, 10 Lateral view 5, 7, 9, 11 dorsal view.