Rugosothynnus houstoni Brown, 2015, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Brown, Graham
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2015
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Tiphiidae
Rugosothynnus
Rugosothynnus houstoni

description: Rugosothynnus houstoni sp. nov.
(Figs 28, 32–34, 46)
Diagnosis. Male. Vertex and pronotum rugose; carinae on frons including antennal prominence, obscure; frons S1 raised and sagittally carinate; clypeus truncate. Female. Dorsum of head and body deeply punctate to deeply rugosely punctate; black with small transverse orange spot mesad to eye and less than half area of eye.
Description. Male. Head. Rounded, emarginate posteriorly, produced and subparallel behind eyes; clypeus truncate, flat, sagittal carina short, branches obscure, closely punctate becoming rugosely punctate medially; antennal prominence with obscure V-shaped carina, produced below carina to antennal insertions; frons obscurely transversely carinate, discontinuous medially, rugosely punctate, sagittally carinate to mid ocellus, weakly depressed below transverse carina; vertex rugosely punctate, obscurely sagittally carinate posterior to hind ocelli; gena rugosely punctate.
Mesosoma. Pronotum as wide as head, rugose, anterior margin emarginate, raised, carinate, acutely produced laterally; mesoscutum rugose; tegulae rugose basally; mesoscutellum rugose, flat, subtriangular, narrowly rounded posteriorly; metanotum rugose, below level of mesoscutellum; propodeum oblique posteriorly, not transversely carinate, rugose anteriorly, transversely rugose posteriorly; fore coxae closely punctate; mesopleura rugose.
Metasoma. T1–6 rugosely punctate, sparsely punctate posteriorly; S1 rugosely punctate, S2–7 closely punctate to rugosely punctate; gradulus curved and impunctate on T2, straight and impunctate on T3–6,straight and scrobiculate on S3–4, straight and punctate on S5, broadly medially discontinuous on S6, absent on S7; T1 truncate anteriorly, not tuberculate; S1 medially raised and strongly carinate; S2 subtuberculate anteromedially; hypopygium with angulate basal angles; cuspis bifid; paracuspis short.
Colour. Black; tibiae and tarsi black to brown; ocellar macula orange; wings hyaline.
Length. Body 15–20 mm; fore wing 9–13 mm; hind wing 7–10 mm.
Female. Head. Subrectangular, posterior angles rounded; clypeus narrowly truncate, sagittally carinate; frons longitudinally rugosely punctate, obscurely sagittally sulcate; vertex longitudinally rugosely punctate, not medially depressed; gena closely punctate to rugosely punctate; eyes large and elliptical; mandibles weakly bidentate.
Mesosoma .. Pronotum weakly convex, not depressed near posterior angles, anterior angles not produced, rugosely punctate; mesoscutellum weakly convex, narrowed posteriorly, rugosely punctate; propodeum flat, not laterally depressed, punctate posteriorly, not densely setose, rugosely punctate dorsally, impunctate laterally, closely and finely punctate posteriorly.
Metasoma. T1–5 rugosely punctate; S1–5 closely punctate and reticulate; T1 truncate, anterior angles rounded; T5 and S5 not produced; pygidium subtriangular, not spinose, sparsely punctate, not tuberculate.
Colour. Black with small, transverse, yellow spot mesad to eye and less than half area of eye.
Length. Body 12–13 mm.
Distribution. Coast and ranges of south-western Western Australia from Yalgoo west of Geraldton to Grass Patch.
Etymology. This species is named after the collector of the holotype, Dr T.F. Houston.
Remarks. Males resemble R. tristis which has an inverted Y-shaped clypeal carina, the clypeus depressed in profile and the apical margin weakly convex, S1 with two sagittal blade-like projections, R. neocorrugatus sp. nov. and R. corrugatus which do not have S2 tuberculate and R. brunneus sp. nov. and R. schichai sp. nov. which have the carinae on the frons including the antennal prominence, well developed. It differs from R. corrugatus by: punctation closer and deeper, rugose on head, mesosoma and S1; antennal prominence with V-shaped carina discontinuous medially; frons sagittally carinate to mid ocellus; pronotum with anterior margin acutely produced laterally; mesoscutellum flat; propodeum oblique posteriorly; T1 obliquely truncate anteriorly, not tuberculate; S2 subtuberculate anteromedially; cuspis truncate; tibiae dark reddish brown, tarsi lighter.
Females resemble R. confusus sp. nov. which has the vertex orange, R. monteithae sp. nov. which has pygidium closely punctate, and R. tristis which has the frontal maculae occupying almost the entire frons. Differs from R. corrugatus by: head subrectangular clypeus narrowly truncate; frons longitudinally rugosely punctate, obscurely sagittally sulcate; vertex longitudinally rugosely punctate; gena closely punctate to rugosely punctate; mandibles weakly bidentate; pronotum rugosely punctate; mesoscutellum rugosely punctate; propodeum flat, rugosely punctate dorsally; T1–5 rugosely punctate; S1–5 closely punctate and reticulate; pygidium subtriangular, not spinose, sparsely punctate; black with frontal maculae yellow.
The holotype is mounted with a female of R. tristis.
Material examined. Western Australia: Holotype ♂ 5.5–6.5 km SW of McDermid Rock, 32o 01'S, 120o 44'E, 27.ix.–3.x.1978, T.F. Houston et al., (WAM); paratypes: 1♂, same data as holotype, (NTM); 1♂, 18 km S by W of Grass Patch, 33o 23'S, 121o 41'E, 19.ix.1981, I.D. Naumann and J.C. Cardale, (ANIC); 1♂, 1♀, 28 km W of Yalgoo, 2.ix.1981, G.A. Holloway, (AM).
description: Published as part of Brown, Graham, 2015, Rugosothynnus gen. nov. (Hymenoptera: Tiphiidae: Thynninae: Rhagigasterini), a newly recognised Australian genus, pp. 361-386 in Zootaxa 3925 (3) on pages 376-378, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3925.3.3, http://zenodo.org/record/237434