Aulacus umbackae 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 : 88-89

Aulacus umbackae Jennings & Austin , sp. nov.

Figs 49 , 66 .

Material examined. Holotype. ♀, " 17.28S 145.29E QLD. BS1 Longlands Gap. 30N[o] v1995 - 3Jan1996. L.Umback. 1150 m. Malaise trap." ( ANIC). Left hind leg glued to card.

Description. FEMALE. Length. 9.6 mm, excluding ovipositor.

Colour. Head black, meso- and metasoma orange ( Figs 49A, B ), scape and pedicel brown, flagellomeres 1–4 black, flagellomere 5 brown, flagellomeres 6–12 cream, mandibles largely cream, teeth dark brown, mid tarsi and hind femora dark brown, hind tibiae brown, ovipositor sheaths black, ovipositor dark brown. Wings hyaline, brownish tinge ( Fig. 49B ).

Head. 1.38× wider than long when viewed dorsally ( Fig. 49C ); face rugulose, pubescence long; shallow subantennal groove; frons without lateral medial carina above toruli, reticulate and with short pubescence near ocelli to rugulose and with longer, denser pubescence near toruli; vertex and gena smooth, with scattered short setae; posterior margin of head not concave in dorsal view; occipital carina absent; malar space 0.12× height eye; clypeus 3.7× as wide as high, margin sinuate, with medial process; distance from lateral ocellus to eye margin 0.85× distance between lateral ocelli; scape 1.5× length pedicel; first flagellomere 1.45× as long as scape, 0.7× as long as second flagellomere.

Mesosoma. Propleuron rugulose, pubescence long, ventro-lateral carina present; pronotum smooth; mesoscutum in lateral view rounded antero-dorsally ( Figs 49D, E ), medial and lateral lobes rugose, with scattered short setae, admedial lines indistinct ( Fig. 49E ; notauli distinct, carinate, narrow and deep ( Fig. 49E ); scutellum and axillae rugose, scutellum anteriorly with pair of deep depressions, separated by a weak median carina; metapostnotum scrobiculate, posterior margin rounded; mesopleuron smooth, with scattered long setae; mesepimeron broad, carinate; metapleuron rugulose dorsally to areolate ventrally, with short pubescence; propodeum areolate, posterior margin scrobiculate; hind coxa strigate, pubescence long laterally, ovipositor guide medial, oblique, fringe of long setae on distal margin, no setae in groove ( Fig. 49F ; hind trochanter imbricate, with scattered short setae; prefemur on hind leg present; hind femur imbricate, with scattered short setae; hind tibia imbricate, pubescence short, with scattered stout emergent setae; hind femur 0.75× length hind tibia; hind tibia with ventro-apical pecten of short robust spines; hind tarsomeres 1–4 with ventro-apical pecten of short robust spines, tarsomere 1, 3.0× length tarsomere 2; tarsomere 2, 1.45× length tarsomere 3; tarsomere 3, 2.25× length tarsomere 4; tarsomere 4, 0.7× length tarsomere 5; hind tarsal claw 0.7× length tarsomere 5; fore wing veins 2r-m and 3r-m largely spectral; hind wing venation complete, R+Rs, M+Cu, Cu, r-m and 2-M spectral, with 3 hamuli.

Metasoma. Ovate, 1.64× length of mesosoma ( Fig. 49B ); T1 and T2 narrow, glabrous; ovipositor 10.6 mm.

MALE. Unknown.

Etymology. This species is named after the collector, L. Umback.

Distribution. This species is known only from the holotype locality, Longlands Gap, near Herberton, Queensland ( Fig. 66 ).

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

Comments. Aulacus umbackae is similar to A. warraensis . The two species are similar in general colouration, and have a medial, oblique ovipositor guide on the hind coxae. However, the face is rugulose in A. umbackae and punctate-rugose in A, warraensis . See key for differences in body and ovipositor length.

Figures

FIGURE 49. Aulacus umbackae sp. nov., holotype female, (A) dorsal habitus; (B) lateral habitus; (C) dorsal head; (D) lateral head and mesosoma; (E) dorsal mesoscutum; (F) inner lateral right hind coxa.

FIGURE 66. Distribution of Aulacus tasmanicus sp. nov., A. tiernyi sp. nov., A. umbackae sp. nov., and A. vespiformis (Kieffer).