Apanteles aeternus Slater-Baker, Fagan-Jeffries, Fernandez-Triana, Portmann & Oestmann 2025, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Slater-Baker, Mollie-Rosae
name: Fagan-Jeffries, Erinn P.
name: Oestmann, Katherine J.
name: Portmann, Olivia G.
name: Bament, Tiahni M.
name: Howe, Andy G.
name: Guzik, Michelle T.
name: Bradford, Tessa M.
name: McClelland, Alana R.
name: Woodward, Alice
name: Clarke, Sylvia
name: Ducker, Nathan
name: Fernández-Triana, José
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Braconidae
Apanteles
Apanteles aeternus

description: Apanteles aeternus Slater-Baker, Fagan-Jeffries, Fernández-Triana, Portmann & Oestmann sp. nov.
Fig. 4 A (distribution), Fig. 16 (holotype)
Type material.
Holotype. Australia • ♀; QLD, roadside south of Laura; - 15.6553, 144.544; 19 Nov. 2019; E. Fagan-Jeffries, J. B. Dorey & P. Ruhr leg.; Sweeping high on Corymbia grandifolia; BOLD Process ID: AUMIC 1220-24; QM: T 261213. Paratype. Australia • ♂; WA, West Kimberley, Wunaamin Conservation Park, SSS 3; - 17.049, 125.236; 21 Jul. 2022; E. P. Fagan-Jeffries leg.; Sweeping; Bush Blitz West Kimberley; BOLD Process ID: AUHYM 012-22; WAM: 130565.
Diagnostic description.
Size: Total body length: 2.4 mm; fore wing length: 2.4 mm. Head: anterior scape colour similar or only very slightly paler than head colour; F 2 L / W ratio: 2.0; F 14 L / W ratio: 1.0. Mesosoma: scutoscutellar sulcus with 11 pits; mesoscutellar disc mostly smooth, or with very shallow scattered indentations; propodeal areola complete, or mostly so; propodeum mostly smooth posteriorly, mostly rugose anteriorly; coxae colour (pro, meso, meta): dark all; metafemur colour mostly dark. Wings: centre of pterostigma paler (more hyaline) than outer edges; fore wing r vein length / 2 RS vein length ratio: 1.8. Metasoma: T 1 shape mostly parallel, T 1 medial length / anterior width between 1–2 × longer than wide; mostly rugose; T 2 mostly smooth; ovipositor sheath length / metatibia length ratio: 1.0.
Apanteles aeternus can be separated from the other species of Apanteles in Australia which have the metacoxa and metafemur dark and the pterostigma with a paler centre by having fore wing with veins M + CU, 1 cu-a, 1 M, 1 CUa, 1 CUb, (RS + M) a, 2 RS, and 1 m-cu all unpigmented or transparent, T 1 with strong rugose sculpturing and the metatibia mostly pale. Apanteles aeternus is easily separated from A. translucentis using morphology, but the two species cluster discretely using COI and wg barcodes.
Etymology.
The species epithet is a Latin adjective meaning ‘ everlasting / eternal’.
Distribution.
Apanteles aeternus is currently known from two remote sites, one in northern WA and one in northern QLD.
Molecular information.
Sequences of Apanteles aeternus currently form BIN BOLD: AEZ 9092. The COI sequences are at least 4 % divergent from any of the other species treated here, or any available sequence on BOLD. The wg sequence of the holotype is ≥ 6 bp different to any other species. Five species delimitation methods delimited A. aeternus as a discrete species, however COI ASAP and wg PTP analyses grouped the sequences with A. translucentis and A. oenone.
description: Published as part of Slater-Baker, Mollie-Rosae, Fagan-Jeffries, Erinn P., Oestmann, Katherine J., Portmann, Olivia G., Bament, Tiahni M., Howe, Andy G., Guzik, Michelle T., Bradford, Tessa M., McClelland, Alana R., Woodward, Alice, Clarke, Sylvia, Ducker, Nathan & Fernández-Triana, José, 2025, DNA barcoding, integrative taxonomy, citizen science, and Bush Blitz surveys combine to reveal 34 new species of Apanteles (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Microgastrinae) in Australia, pp. 1-128 in ZooKeys 1227 on pages 1-128, DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1227.130467