Ascogaster brevivena Kittel & Austin 2015, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Kittel, Rebecca N.
name: Austin, Andrew D.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2015
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Braconidae
Ascogaster
Ascogaster brevivena

description: Ascogaster brevivena sp. nov.
(Figures 4a – e, 15)
Description (female)
Body measurements. Length of body 2.3 – 2.5 mm; ratio of antenna to body 0.78 – 0.79 in females, 1.06 in males; ratio of length of fore wing to body 0.94 – 0.97 in females, 0.85 in males; ratio of length of metasoma to mesosoma 1.2.
Head. Antenna with 22 antennomeres in females, 24 antennomere in males; ratio of length of third antennomere to fourth 1.1 in females, 1.25 in males; ratio of length of third, fourth, penultimate and terminal antennomere 3.5 – 3.8, 3.3 – 3.7, 0.9 – 1.2, and 1.3 – 1.6 in females, 3, 3, 1.3 and 1.7 in males times their width, respectively; ratio of length of eye in dorsal view to length of temple 4.3 in females, 4.2 in males; ocelli equilateral; imaginary line between anterior margins of posterior ocelli is not touching the anterior ocellus; ratio of width of face in anterior view to its height 1.9 – 2.1 in females, 1.8 in males; ratio of width of clypeus to its height 1.0 – 1.1; clypeus without teeth; ratio of length of malar space to base of mandible 1.6 – 1.7 in females, 1.4 in males; face and frons punctate; eyes with sparsely minute setae; ratio posterior ocelli:distance between the two posterior ocelli (POL):distance between anterior ocellus and posterior ocellus (LOL):distance between posterior ocellus and eye (OOL) 1.0:1.0:0.7 – 0.8:2.2 – 2.6.
Mesosoma. Middle lobe of mesoscutum fine rugose; notauli absent; mesoscutellum shiny, fine punctate, weakly convex; mesopleuron shiny, smooth; precoxal sulcus present; ratio of height of mesosoma to its length 1.5 in females, 1.7 in males; hind coxa shiny, smooth; ratio of length of hind tibia to hind tarsus 1.0 – 1.1; ratio hind coxa, hind femur, hind tibia and hind tarsus 1.8 – 2.2, 3.1 – 3.5, 5.2 – 5.5 and 13.0 – 18.0 in females, 2.1, 4.2, 4.8 and 12.5 in males times their width, respectively; ratio of length of posterior spur to length of basal tarsus 0.55 in females, 0.48 in males; fore wing: 2-R1 absent; ratio of length of 1-R1 to length of pterostigma 0.9 – 1.0; ratio of width of pterostigma to its length 2.5 – 2.8; ratio r:3- SR:SR-1:r-m 1.0:1.0 – 1.3:1.1 – 2.2: 0.7 in females, 1.0:0.9:5.5: 0.8 in males; SR-1 only basally sclerotised; 1-SR+M emanating from base of parastigma; 2-SR+M antefurcal or interstitial.
Metasoma. Shape of metasoma oval in dorsal view; ratio of width of metasoma to its length 0.55; carapace broadens to posterior end in lateral view; ratio keel to metasomal length 0.1; carapace rugose.
Colour. Head brown, paler around eyes; anterior half of antenna light brown, posterior half dark brown; mesosoma black; wings with long brown hair given a smoky appearance of the wings, with a white band underneath the parastigma; legs white, with femur and apical end of tibia brown; anterior end of carapace white, extending dorsal into the posterior dark end.
Male. Head beige; antenna light brown; mesosoma black; legs as female but paler; wings infuscate; wing venation brown; metasoma anterior half white, posterior half black.
Diagnosis
Females differ from all other described Ascogaster in Australia by having a reduced SR-1 vein (not extending to the margin of the fore wing).
Specimens examined
Holotype, Australia (South Australia): 1 ♀, “ 27 October 2010, Bon Bon Station 30°25'29 “ S, 135°28'41 “ E, Bush Blitz survey, R. Kittel, at light ” (SAM). Paratypes, Australia (Queensland): 1 ♀, Mt Glorious, Hiller property, 27°20'S, 152°46'E, 12 December 1998, N. Power, MT (WINC); 1 ♀, SEQ: Enogera Res., site 3, 27°27'S, 152°55'E, 27 January – 15 March 2000, C.J. Burwell, S.G.
Evans, malaise 1000 m 50274 (QM); 1 ♂, SEQ: East Woodmillar, 250 m, 25°41'S, 151°36'E, 21 August – 10 October 1998, G.B. Monteith, vine scrub, FIT 7255 (WINC).
Biology
Unknown.
Etymology
The name ‘ brevivena ’ reflects the unusual short SR-1 vein in the fore wing of the females.
Distribution
Northern South Australia (Bon Bon Station), Queensland (Figure 15).
CO1 sequence
Genbank accession numbers for this species are KJ438547 – KJ438549.
description: Published as part of Kittel, Rebecca N. & Austin, Andrew D., 2015, New species of Australian arid zone chelonine wasps from the genera Phanerotoma and Ascogaster (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) informed by the ' Bush Blitz' surveys of national reserves, pp. 211-262 in Journal of Natural History 50 on pages 224-226, DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2015.1074747, http://zenodo.org/record/3983279