Bathyaulax ruber ( Bingham 1902 )

Kaartinen, Riikka & Quicke, Donald L. J., 2007, A revision of the parasitic wasp genus Bathyaulax Szépligeti (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Braconinae) from Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, Journal of Natural History 41 (1 - 4), pp. 125-212 : 196-197

Bathyaulax ruber ( Bingham 1902) – complex

( Figures 13 , 101–104 ) Iphiaulax ruber Bingham 1902 Bathyaulax ruber, Shenefelt, 1978 Bathyaulax rufer [sic.] Quicke 1980 Bathyaulax ruber ‘‘Smith’’; Quicke, 1980 [incorrect attribution: see Achterberg and O’Toole (1990)]

Material examined

Holotype: Female ( HECO): Iphiaulax ruber Bingham 1902 . Zimbabwe, Salisbury, Mashonaland, 1900, G.A.K. Marshall.

Additional specimens examined

Iυory Coast: 1 female, Ferkessédougou, 10.– 20.5.1964, J. Decelle ( RMCA) .

Kenya: Tsavo East National Park , nr. Voi Gate, VII-1977, D. Quicke ( BMNH) .

Malaaei: 1 female, Lake Malawi National Park, Cape McClear, 22.11.2003, R.J. Murphy (to be deposited in Malawi Collection) .

Saudi Arabia: 1 female, Taif, 17.6.1934, J.B. Philby ( BMNH) .

Sudan: 1 female, W. Darfur, W. Jebel Murra, Karanga, 20.6.1932, M. Steele ( BMNH) . Uganda: 1 female, Kibale, Bugwere, 30.10.1933, H.B. Johnston ( BMNH) .

Description

Female: Length of body 20 mm, of fore wing 18 mm, of ovipositor 23 mm.

Antennae with 75 flagellomeres (antennae broken). Height of clypeus:inter-tentorial distance:tentorio-ocular distance51.0:4.1:3.5. Width of face:width of head:height of eye51.3:2.3:1.0. Height of face:width of face51.0:2.0. Sculpture on face granulate to pustulate, on clypeus similar. Over clypeus a small smooth area. Frons weakly depressed, smooth, with medial longitudal groove. POL:transverse diameter of posterior ocellus: shortest distance between posterior ocellus and eye51.1:1.0:3.8. Length of eye in dorsal view:distance of occiput and posterior margin of eye51.8:1.0.

Mesosoma approximately 1.6 times longer than maximally deep.

Fore wing: length of veins r:3-SR:SR151.0:2.2:3.4. Length of veins 2-SR:3-SR:r-m5 1.0:2.0:1.3. Length of veins m-cu:2-M51.0:2.4. Length of veins 1-CU1:2-CU151.0:8.3. Shape of vein 1-SR+M weakly S-shaped. Swelling in vein 3-CU1 1.5 times thicker than the other part of the vein.

Legs: Length of fore femur:tibia:tarsus51.9:2.2:1.0. Fore basitarsus 4.6 times longer than deep. Length of hind femur:tibia:tarsus52.2:3.1:1.0. Hind basitarsus 4.2 times longer than deep.

First metasomal tergite 1.5 times longer than wide; raised median area smooth with posterior margin strigated. Second tergite 3.2 times wider than long; raised median area strigated, antero-medial triangular area raised and smooth. Semicircular areas on posterior sub-lateral margins. Third tergite 2.1 times wider than long; with strigated transverse furrows on anterior and posterior margins, raised median area longitudinally strigose. Antero-lateral areas raised and smooth. Tergites four and five similar, but tergite five raised median area smooth. Tergites six to eight smooth.

Orange-brown except for the following which are black: face, frons, vertex, temples, apex of mandibles, antennae and ovipositor sheets. Wings evenly darkened, with a weakly paler area below pterostigma. Apical quarter of pterostigma darkened, basal part yellowishorange. Hind wing darkened with pale area on base of marginal cell.

Figures

Figures 8–13. Features of the second and third metasomal tergites of Bathyaulax species. (8) B. lucidus, (9) B. monteiroii, (10) B. nigroconus, (11) B. perspicax, (12) B. raunoi, (13) B. ruber.

Figures 100–105. Automontageș images of Bathyaulax species. (100) B. raunoi, head (lateral view). (101)–(104) B. ruber, head (lateral view), faces to show variation in colour pattern, and head (dorsal view). (105) B. rufa, wing.