Aulacus smithi Jennings & Parslow & Austin 2018, sp. nov.
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 smithi

description: Aulacus smithi Jennings & Austin, sp. nov.
Figs 45, 65.
Material examined. Holotype. ♀, "Bronte Park, Tasmania, March 27" (ANIC). Right fore femur, tibia and tarsus missing. Paratype. Tasmania: 1♂, Bronte Park, 15.ii–8.iii, no collector (AEI).
Description. FEMALE. Length. 8.10 mm, excluding ovipositor.
Colour. Head and mesosoma black, scape and pedicel orange, flagellomeres 4–8 pale orange, clypeal margin orange, legs orange except coxae black-brown, metasoma orange except for small amount of black anteriorly on T1, segments 3–8 brownish, ovipositor sheaths black, ovipositor brown (Figs 44A, B). Wings hyaline except for brown spot apically on the marginal and submarginal cells of fore wing (Fig. 45B).
Head. 1.5× wider than long when viewed dorsally (Fig. 45D); face rugulose, pubescence short; with subantennal groove; frons without lateral medial carina above toruli, rugose, with scattered short setae; vertex punctate-reticulate with a few transverse striations, with scattered short setae (Fig. 45D); gena punctate-reticulate with a few striations dorsally to smooth ventrally, with scattered short setae (Fig. 45C); posterior margin of head concave in dorsal view; occipital carina absent; malar space 0.34× height eye; clypeus 3.1× as wide as high, margin sinuate, with medial process; distance from lateral ocellus to eye margin 0.7× distance between lateral ocelli; scape 1.5× length pedicel; first flagellomere 1.5× as long as scape, 0.5× as long as second flagellomere.
Mesosoma. Propleuron smooth. pubescence long, ventro-lateral carina present; pronotum rugose; mesoscutum in lateral view slightly angular antero-dorsally, medial and lateral lobes coarsely strigate (Fig. 45E), with scattered short setae, admedial lines present; notauli distinct, carinate, narrow and deep; scutellum and axillae coarsely strigate, scutellum anteriorly with a single depressions; metapostnotum scrobiculate, posterior margin convex; mesopleuron rugose, with long pubescence; mesepimeron broad, carinate; metapleuron rugose, with short pubescence; propodeum coarsely rugose, posterior margin scrobiculate; hind coxa strigate dorsally, pubescence long laterally, ovipositor guide distal, slightly oblique, ending almost at apex of coxae (Fig. 45F), distal margin fringed with long setae, no setae in groove; hind trochanter imbricate, with scattered short setae; prefemur on hind leg present; hind femur imbricate, with scattered short setae; hind tibia imbricate, pubescence short, with scattered stout emergent setae; hind femur 1.24× length hind tibia; hind tibia with ventro-apical pecten of short robust spines; hind tarsomeres 1–4 with ventro-apical pecten of short robust spines, tarsomere 1, 2.44× length tarsomere 2; tarsomere 2, 1.56× length tarsomere 3; tarsomere 3, 2.30× length tarsomere 4; tarsomere 4, 0.54× length tarsomere 5; hind tarsal claw 0.46× length tarsomere 5; fore wing veins 2r-m and 3r-m largely spectral; hind wing venation complete, R+Rs, M+Cu, r-m and 2-M spectral, Cu pale brown, with 4 hamuli.
Metasoma. Ovate, 1.15× length of mesosoma (Fig. 45B); T1 and T2 broad, glabrous; ovipositor 5.0 mm.
MALE. Similar to female except: length 9.2 mm; antenna black except scape and pedicel orange, metasomal segments 3–8 dark brown; metasoma 1.54× length mesosoma, narrow; digitus longer than basiparameres.
Etymology. This species is named after David Smith, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.
Distribution. This species is known only from Bronte Park, about 150 km north-west of Hobart, Tasmania (Fig. 65).
Biology. Nothing is known of the biology of this species.
Comments. Aulacus smithi is similar to both A. nebo and A. williamsi, all three species having the mesoscutum angular dorso-laterally in lateral view (only slightly so in A. smithi), ovate metasoma, and an oblique distal ovipositor guide on the hind coxae. The three species can be separated by the sculpturing on the face, being rugulose in A. smithi but rugulose-reticulate in A. nebo and rugose-reticulate in A. williamsi. Aulacus smithi is similar in body length to A. williamsi (8.1 mm and 8.0 mm respectively) whereas A. nebo is a smaller species (6.5 mm).There are also differences in colouration (see key for differences).
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 82-83, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4538.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/3771367