Elissoma ichneumonoides Winterton 2023, sp. n.
Creators: name: Winterton, Shaun L.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Stratiomyidae
Elissoma
Elissoma ichneumonoides

description: Elissoma ichneumonoides sp. n.
(Figs 13A, B; 20; 25I; 28I; 32H; 36)
Zoobank. urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 4D4D53E3-B144-4793-9B2D-8307EC502C7F
Diagnosis. Antennae extremely long, flagellum white apically, flagellomere VII slightly longer than combined length of flagellomeres V–VI; scutellum yellow, black laterally; hind tarsus black; scutellar spines well developed.
Description. Body length = 14.0 mm. Head. Female frons flat, rounded, black with yellow marking along eye margin; face rounded, yellow, with sparse setae; parafacial yellow; ocellar tubercle black; occiput black, carinate postocular ridge yellow, covered with fine dark setal pile; antenna greatly elongate (length = 8.5 mm), black with apical part of flagellomere VIII white; flagellomere VII slightly longer than combined length of flagellomeres V–VI, ratio of length of flagellomere VII to VIII is 1: 42, flagellomere VIII elongate and shallowly plumose with microtrichia. Thorax. Female thorax predominantly black with yellow markings on postpronotal lobe, posterodorsally on anepisternum, on scutum as triangular dorsocentral markings, laterally along transverse suture and on postalar callus; scutellum yellow medial, black laterally, scutellar spines well developed and slightly upturned, equal to 1/2 scutellum length; coxae and legs yellow, hind femur and hind tibia black distally; basitarsus black, slightly elongate and thickened, remaining hind tarsomeres pale; haltere yellow; wing hyaline, venation and pterostigma dark brown; wing vein M 3 present. Abdomen. Female abdomen narrowed slightly at base but not petiolate, segment 4 widest and slightly wider than scutum; segment 1 with lateral flange weakly developed; abdomen yellow, paired black markings on tergites 1–2, segments 3–5 predominantly black with whitish margin laterally. Female genitalia. Not dissected.
Etymology. The species epithet is derived from this species remarkable similarity to wasps in the family Ichneumonidae.
Comments. Elissoma ichneumonoides sp. n. is the largest species of the genus, with females reaching 14 mm body length, in addition to extremely elongate antennae (8.5 mm). This species is known only from two female individuals collected in dense montane rainforest in southeastern Queensland. The extraordinary length of the antennae, white apex of the flagellum, and the distinctive scutellum markings are diagnostic for this species.
Type material— Holotype female, AUSTRALIA: Queensland: Mt. Tamborine [-27.9181, 153.1911], XI.1977, Agard, Malaise trap (QM).
Paratype. AUSTRALIA: Queensland: 1 female, Lamington NP, Binna Burra, off Caves Circuit, severe burn site [-28.198, 153.186], 25–30.XI.2020, C. Lambkin, 785m, 39991, Malaise trap in rainforest (QM) (Reg. # T250605).
description: Published as part of Winterton, Shaun L., 2023, Wasp-mimicking soldier flies of the Australian Region: revision of Ampsalis Walker, Elissoma White and Lagenosoma Brauer (Stratiomyidae: Clitellariinae), pp. 1-63 in Zootaxa 5246 (1) on page 25, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5246.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/7673215