Cleruchus Enock

Huber, John T., Read, Jennifer D. & Triapitsyn, Serguei V., 2007, Paranaphoidea Girault 1913, Zootaxa 1596, pp. 1-111 : 29-30

Genus Cleruchus Enock ( Figs. 83–88 )

Cleruchus Enock, 1909: 453 . Type species: Cleruchus pluteus Enock , by monotypy.

Stenopteromymar Ferrière, 1952: 41 . Type species: Stenopteromymar biciliatus Ferrière , by monotypy. Synonymy by Viggiani (1974b: 88).

Paracleruchus Yoshimoto, 1971: 1079 . Type species: Paracleruchus pieloui Yoshimoto , by original designation. Synonymy by Viggiani (1974b: 88).

Douttiella Annecke, 1961b: 71 . Type species: Doutiella depressa Annecke , by original designation. Synonymy by Noyes & Valentine (1989: 31).

Haplochaeta Noyes & Valentine, 1989: 35 . Type species: Haplochaeta mandibularis Noyes & Valentine , by original designation. Syn. nov.

Diagnosis. Cleruchus belongs to the Cleruchus group of genera. It is distinguished from other genera in the group as follows: body dorsoventrally flattened; femora slightly swollen ( Fig. 84 ); fore wing, when present, parallel-sided, knifelike, at least about 8x as long as wide, nowhere wider than at marginal vein ( Fig. 88 ); ovipositor short and arising in apical third of gaster. Male flagellum 11-segmented ( Fig. 85 ) and genitalia as in Fig. 86 .

Haplochaeta was previously known only from New Zealand but several specimens from Australia were found, representing one species very similar to the type species. We consider that the features distinguishing Haplochaeta from Cleruchus , i.e. the large mandibles, peculiar head shape and the fore wing marginal vein with very long distal macrochaeta, are not sufficient for generic status, hence the above synonymy. The only described species (from New Zealand) is transferred here to Cleruchus as C. mandibularis , comb. nov. The head in particular can vary considerably in shape, depending on the size of the mandibles. Other genera (e.g., Anaphes ) have species with huge mandibles and consequently a peculiar head shape but otherwise are typical for their genus. At most, Haplochaeta could represent a subgenus within Cleruchus but it is probably better to treat it as a species group.

Body length. 396–683 µm.

Distribution. Worldwide.

Hosts. Unknown for Australian species. Elsewhere reported from Curculionidae and Tettigoniidae .

Important reference. Donev & Huber (2002).

Australian species (3):

C. lutulentus (Girault, 1911 [89]: 135) ( Anagrus ); Girault, 1912 [120]: 154 (type locality); Triapitsyn, 2001: 286 (generic transfer). TL: WA, Perth.

C. schilleri (Girault, 1931 [436]: 1); Dahms, 1986: 506 (types). Comb. nov. from Erythmelus . TL: NSW, Sydney.

C. tintoreti (Girault, 1922 [363]: 205); Dahms, 1986: 590 (types). Comb. nov. from Erythmelus . TL: Qld, Wynnum.

Figures

FIGURES 83–88. Cleruchus spp. Female (ACT, Piccadilly Circus, 1240m, ii.1984, J. Lawrence, T. Weir, M.-L. Johnson) 83, antenna; 84, fore leg. Male (ACT, 3 km E. Piccadilly Circus, Blundells Creek, 850m, 35.22ºS 148.50ºE, viii.1985, J. Lawrence, T. Weir, & M.-L. Johnson) 85, antenna; 86, genitalia ventral. Female of C. (Haplochaeta) sp. (same data as male above) 87, antenna; 88, fore- and hind wings.