Aulacus minutus Crosskey 1953
Creators: name: Jennings, John T.
name: Parslow, Ben A.
name: Austin, Andrew D.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Aulacidae
Aulacus
Aulacus minutus

description: Aulacus minutus Crosskey 1953
Figs 33, 63.
Aulacus minutus Crosskey 1953: 764.— Smith 2001: 273; Jennings 2010 [on-line checklist].
Material examined. Holotype. ♀, " Tamborine Mountains, S.E. Queensland. 1.9.1935. R.E. Turner B.M. 1935– 240" (BMNH–3 a.326).
Other Material examined. Queensland: 1♀, Bundaberg, R. Moller, 14.ix.1948 (QM); 1♀, The Pinnacles, Mt. Walsh National Park, 11.v.1976, H. Frauca (ANIC). NSW: 1♀, nr. Braidwood, 27.ii.1953, Z. Liepa (ANIC). Australia: 1♀, no data label (BMNH–3 a.316).
Description. FEMALE. Length. 6.4 (5.5–7.0) mm, excluding ovipositor.
Colour. Metasoma dark brown, head, scape, pedicel, flagellomere 1 and propodeum reddish brown, legs and metasoma brown. Wings hyaline, brown spot apically on the marginal and submarginal cells of fore wing.
Head. 1.62 (1.57–1.67)× wider than long when viewed dorsally (Fig. 33C); face imbricate, with scattered short setae; frons, rugose-punctate, with scattered short setae, but rugose and with rounded transverse carina above toruli; vertex and gena punctate-imbricate, slightly rugose towards occiput, with scattered short setae (Fig. 33C); posterior margin of head concave in dorsal view; occipital carina absent; malar space 0.36× height eye; clypeus 3.90× as wide as high, with short median process anteriorly; distance from lateral ocellus to eye margin 0.63× distance between lateral ocelli; scape 1.8× length pedicel; first flagellomere 0.75× as long as scape, 0.7 (0.54– 0.90)× as long as second flagellomere.
Mesosoma. Propleuron rugulose-punctate, pubescence long, ventro-lateral carina prominent (Fig. 33F); pronotum rugose-punctate, dorsal part separated from ventral part by broad carinate groove (Fig. 33F); mesoscutum in lateral view angular antero-dorsally (Fig. 33F), medial and lateral lobes broadly strigate with scattered short setae, admedial lines inconspicuous; notauli distinct, carinate, broad and deep (Fig. 33E); scutellum broadly strigate, scutellum anteriorly with pair of deep depressions, separated by a weak median carina; axillae strigate; metapostnotum scrobiculate, posterior margin convex; mesopleuron rugose, with short pubescence; mesepimeron broad, carinate; metapleuron and propodeum coarsely rugose, with short pubescence; posterior margin of propodeum scrobiculate; hind coxa weakly strigate, pubescence short; ovipositor guide somewhat distal, oblique (flange-like ventrally when viewed laterally (Figs 33G,H), distal fringe of long setae, no setae in the groove; hind trochanter, hind femur and hind tibia imbricate, pubescence short; hind femur 0.9× length hind tibia; hind tibia with ventro-apical pecten of short robust spines; hind tarsomeres without ventro-apical pecten of short robust spines, tarsomere 1, 2.1× length tarsomere 2; tarsomere 2, 1.6× length tarsomere 3; tarsomere 3, 1.4× length tarsomere 4; tarsomere 4, 0.8× length tarsomere 5; hind tarsal claw 0.7× length tarsomere 5; fore wing veins 2r-m and 3r-m complete, spectral; hind wing venation complete, spectral, with 3 hamuli.
Metasoma. Ovate, 1.05 (1.0–1.1)× length of mesosoma (Figs 33A, B); T1 and T2 broad, glabrous, except for several shallow punctures anteriorly; ovipositor 4.4 (3.6–5.5) mm.
MALE. Unknown.
Distribution. This species is known from a number of localities in Queensland and also Braidwood, NSW (Fig. 63).
Biology. Nothing is known of the biology of this species.
Comments. It should be noted that the specimen in the BMNH (3a.316) is labelled as a holotype and with a label by Kieffer, but the name on the label is a manuscript name that was not published and therefore has no status. The specimen is identical in appearance to other specimens of A. minutus Crosskey.
Aulacus minutus can be distinguished from other species by the characters in the key, viz., mesosoma angular in lateral view, metasoma ovate, hind wing venation complete, ovipositor guide on hind coxae oblique, and lateral medial carina on frons absent. As well, the posterior margin of the head is distinctly concave in dorsal view (Fig. 33C).
description: Published as part of Jennings, John T., Parslow, Ben A. & Austin, Andrew D., 2018, Systematics of the parasitoid wasp genus Aulacus Jurine (Hymenoptera: Evanioidea: Aulacidae) from Australia, pp. 1-113 in Zootaxa 4538 (1) on pages 62-64, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4538.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/3771367