Syngaster hirtus, Iqbal & Austin & Belokobylskij, 2006

Iqbal, M., Austin, A. D. & Belokobylskij, S. A., 2006, Systematics of the Australasian endemic wasp genus Syngaster Brullé (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Doryctinae), Journal of Natural History 40 (13 - 14), pp. 819-853 : 830-832

Syngaster hirtus sp. nov.

( Figures 2 d–g, 4a)

Female

Length. 11–12 mm.

Colour. Head red-yellow. Scape dark red-brown, flagellum dark brown, almost black. Palps yellow. Mesosoma light red-brown. Legs brown-yellow, hind femur and tarsus darker. First metasomal tergite yellow in basal one-third and on sides, black in medio-apical two-thirds. Rest of tergites black, third to sixth tergites with rather narrow submedian transverse yellow stripes.

Head. Width 1.2 times its median length, 1.1 times width of mesoscutum. Head behind eyes weakly convex. Transverse diameter of eye 0.9 times as long as temple in dorsal view. Ocelli medium size, in triangle with base 1.2 times its sides, POL 1.1 times OD, 0.25 times OOL. Frons short and weakly convex. Diameter of antennal sockets 1.8 times distance from socket to border of eye. Eyes glabrous, 1.3 times as high as broad. Malar space height 0.54 times height of eye, almost equal to basal width of mandible. Face width 1.3 times height of eye and almost equal to height of face and clypeus combined. Clypeus without distinct lower flange, clypeal suture distinct laterally, almost absent dorsally. Hypoclypeal depression round, its width 0.7 times distance from edge of depression to eye, 0.4 times width of face. Occipital carina complete, curved ventrally and fused with hypostomal carina. Hypostomal keel wide. Head below eyes distinctly and convexly narrowed. Maxillary palps about 1.5 times as long as height of head. Antennal flagellum slender, 59–64-segmented, first segment length four times width. Scape more or less distinctly compressed, its maximum length including lobe three times maximum width.

Mesosoma. Length two times its height. Pronotum very short, with distinct submedian pronotal keel. Mesoscutum highly and almost perpendicularly raised above pronotum, its median lobe weakly protruding forward. Notauli shallow, narrow, and smooth. Prescutellar depression rather short, more or less deep, smooth, with five strong carinae, 0.3 times as long as scutellum. Scutellum flat, its maximum width 1.5 times median length. Metanotum with very small median tooth. Subalar depression shallow and wide, rugose-reticulate. Sternaulus very shallow, straight, smooth, running along anterior two-thirds of lower length of mesopleuron; metapleural lobe short and wide. Metapleuron separated from propodeum by distinct punctate suture; propodeal and metapleural surfaces continuously rounded, not distinctly angled along suture. Propodeum without lateral tubercles, distinctly roundly narrowed from base to apex (lateral view). Fore tibia with very small spines arranged almost in single row. Tarsal segment of middle leg not elongate, basitarsus 3.7 times as long as wide, 2.3 times as long as second segment, fourth segment subsquare. Hind coxa without basoventral tooth, but with distinct basoventral corner, 1.6 times as long as wide. Hind femur 3.4 times as long as wide. Inner spur of hind tibia 1.6 times as long as outer spur, 0.1 times as long as basitarsus. Hind tarsus 1.1 times as long as hind tibia, hind basitarsus 1.1 times as long as second to fifth segments combined, second tarsal segment of hind leg 0.3 times as long as basitarsus, 0.9 times as long as fifth segment (without pretarsus).

Wings. Length of fore wing 3.6 times its maximum width. Pterostigma 4.6 times as long as wide, 0.8 times as long as R1. 3RSa 1.4 times r, 0.19 times 3RSb, 0.63 times 2RS. Second submarginal cell 1.8 times as long as wide, 0.86 times as long as first subdiscal cell. Hind wing about 4.35 times as long as wide, C+Sc+R 1.2 times SC+R.

Metasoma. Metasoma 1.1–1.3 times as long as head and mesosoma combined. First tergite distinctly and almost linearly widened basally, weakly convex and weakly narrowed apically, with short wide basolateral processes, with very small dorsope, without spiracular tubercles, length of tergite 1.3 times its maximum submedian width, 1.45 times its apical width, apical width 0.9 times its maximum submedian width, 1.4 times its minimum width. Second tergite with wide and distinctly convex medially basal semicircular area, separated by deep crenulate furrow, median length of area 0.6 times maximum length of tergite, maximum length 0.6 times its basal width, 0.8 times length of third tergite, second suture distinctly undulate. Third tergite with distinct straight transverse crenulate furrow in basal one-third. Ovipositor sheaths almost as long as body, two times as long as metasoma, 2.8 times as long as mesosoma; tip of sheaths slightly clavate in shape.

Sculpture and pubescence. Vertex, frons, and temple entirely smooth. Vertex with rather long semi-erect sparse hairs. Face densely and rather coarsely transversally striate entirely. Sides of pronotum smooth. Mesoscutum and scutellum smooth, mesoscutum with two distinct striae medio-posteriorly. Mesopleuron smooth in most part. Metapleuron sparsely and distinctly punctulate, almost smooth anteriorly, rugulose-striate posteriorly. Propodeum almost entirely smooth with sparse puncturation. Mesoscutum entirely with dense short semi-erect hairs. Hind coxa almost entirely smooth. Hind femur almost smooth. Hind tibia dorsally with very short dense semi-erect hairs. First metasomal tergite striate in apical twothirds, smooth in basal one-third. Basal area of second tergite sparsely punctulate, almost smooth basally, rest of tergite striate. Third and fourth tergites striate in basolateral twothirds. Rest of metasoma smooth.

Male

Unknown.

Material examined Holotype: female, Papua New Guinea, 10 ° 03 9 S, 149 ° 27 9 E, Amazon Bay Area , Keria, 1650

ft, 29 June to 22 July 1962, W. W. Brandt (ANIC). Paratype: one female, 6 ° 44 9 S,

Figures

Figure 2. (a–c) Syngaster crypticus sp. nov., male: (a) body (dorsolateral view); (b) head and pronotum (lateral view); (c) propodeum and metasomal tergites 1–4 (lateral view). (d–g) Syngaster hirtus sp. nov., female: (d) head and mesosoma (dorsal view); (e) head and mesosoma (lateral view); (f) propodeum and metasomal tergites 1–2 (dorsal view); (g) head (anterior view); (h) Syngaster lepidus Brulle´, female, head and pronotum (dorsal view). Scale bars: 2 mm (a, e, f, h); 1 mm (b–d, g).