Thoreauella Girault

Ward, D. F., 2014, Overview and key to the New Zealand Cynipoidea (Hymenoptera), Zootaxa 3878 (6), pp. 563-579 : 573-575

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 .

Figures

FIGURE 16. Habitus of Thoreauella (Figitidae: Emargininae), arrow showing bilobed forewing. Scale 0.5 mm.