Aulacus nebo 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 : 66

Aulacus nebo Jennings & Austin , sp. nov.

Figs 35 , 63 .

Material examined. Holotype. ♀, " Mt. Nebo , Qld. 500m. Australia. March 20." ( ANIC)

Description. FEMALE. Length. 6.5 mm, excluding ovipositor.

Colour. Orange-brown, except for flagellomeres 1–4 and basal half of flagellomere 5 black, apical half of flagellomere 5 and flagellomeres 6–10 white ( Figs 35A, B ). Wings hyaline except for a distinct brown spot apically on the marginal and submarginal cells of fore wing ( Figs 35A, B ).

Head. 1.55× wider than long when viewed dorsally; face rugose-reticulate pubescence long; indistinct subantennal groove; frons without lateral medial carina above toruli, rugose-reticulate, with long pubescence; vertex punctate-reticulate near ocelli to rugose-reticulate and with scattered punctures posteriorly, with scattered short setae; gena rugose-reticulate with scattered punctures tending to punctate-reticulate near malar space, with scattered short setae; posterior margin of head slightly concave in dorsal view; occipital carina absent; malar space 0.25× height eye; clypeus 5.0× as wide as high, margin sinuate, with medial process; distance from lateral ocellus to eye margin 0.55× distance between lateral ocelli; scape 1.7× length pedicel; first flagellomere equal to length scape, 0.52× as long as second flagellomere.

Mesosoma. Propleuron reticulate, pubescence long, ventro-lateral carina present; pronotum rugose; mesoscutum in lateral view angular antero-dorsally, medial and lateral lobes strigate, with scattered short setae, admedial lines present; notauli distinct, carinate, narrow and shallow; scutellum and axillae strigate, scutellum anteriorly with pair of deep depressions, separated by a weak median carina; metapostnotum areolate, posterior margin convex; mesopleuron rugose, with long pubescence; mesepimeron broad, carinate; metapleuron rugose dorsally to areolate ventrally, with long pubescence; propodeum areolate, posterior margin smooth; hind coxa strigate dorsally, pubescence long laterally, ovipositor guide somewhat distal, oblique ( Fig. 35D ), distal fringe long, denser ventrally, no setae in groove; 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 0.76× 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, 3.1× length tarsomere 2; tarsomere 2, 1.5× length tarsomere 3; tarsomere 3, 2.2× length tarsomere 4; tarsomere 4, 0.55× length tarsomere 5; hind tarsal claw 0.33× 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.

Metasoma. Ovate, 1.24× length of mesosoma ( Fig. 35B ); T1 and T2 broad, glabrous; ovipositor 3.7 mm.

MALE. Unknown.

Etymology. This species is named after the type locality, Mt. Nebo, Queensland.

Distribution. This species is known only from the type locality, Mt. Nebo, about 30 km west northwest of Brisbane, Queensland ( Fig. 63 ).

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

Comments. Aulacus nebo keys out with A. williamsi . Both species have the mesosoma angular in lateral view, ovate metasoma, apical spot on apex of fore wing, complete hind wing venation, and a distal, oblique ovipositor guide on the hind coxa. They can be readily distinguished by colouration; A. nebo has an orange-brown head, meso- and metasoma, whereas the head and mesosoma are black and metasomal T1 and T2 are largely orange with remaining segments blackish brown in A. williamsi .

Figures

FIGURE 35. Aulacus nebo sp. nov., holotype female, (A) dorsal habitus; (B) lateral habitus; (C) dorso-lateral head, pronotum and mesoscutum; (D) dorsal hind coxae.

FIGURE 63. Distribution of Aulacus minutus Crosskey, A. naumanni sp. nov., A. nebo sp. nov., and A. neboissi sp. nov.