Thoreauella Girault

(Fig. 16)

This is the first record of Emargininae from New Zealand. Emargininae are characterised by having a deeply bilobed forewing. The only other cynipoid genus in New Zealand with a bilobed forewing is Kleidotoma . Thoreauella has a narrow, rhomboid scutellum with prominent lateral carinae, whereas the scutellum in Kleidotoma is tear-drop shaped.

Only ten specimens of Emargininae exist in the NZAC, but these are from widespread locations. North Island: AK, GB, HB, ND, WI. South Island: NN. Six specimens were collected as part of a large scale survey of pasture (Cumber 1959) but had been misidentified as Kleidotoma . It is uncertain if these specimens represent an adventive or a native species. Thoreauella are associated with ants, and are probably parasitoids of dipteran larvae in ant nests or refuse deposits (Ronquist 1999). The New Zealand ant fauna is very small (Ward 2009) and ants have been very well collected, so it surprising not to have more records of Thoreauella .