Syngaster quadricolor (Cameron)

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 : 844-846

Syngaster quadricolor (Cameron)

( Figures 4a , 6 b–e)

Hecabolus quadricolor Cameron 1911, p 243 ; Shenefelt and Marsh 1976, p 1356. Syngaster quadricolor Cameron : van Achterberg 1980, p 213.

Female

Length. 13.0 mm.

Colour. Head red-yellow. Frons in most part and face black. Scape dark red-brown. Palps yellow. Mesosoma light red-brown. Metapleuron and propodeum black. Fore and middle legs brown-yellow, but middle coxa almost black, hind leg dark red-brown, hind coxa and trochanters almost black, hind femur and tarsus lighter. First metasomal tergite yellow, with small black medio-apical spot, remaining tergites black, third to sixth tergites with rather narrow submedian transverse yellow stripes.

Head. Width 1.4 times its median length, 1.1 times width of mesoscutum. Head behind eyes weakly convex in anterior half, roundly narrowed in posterior half. Transverse diameter of eye 1.1 times as long as temple in dorsal view. Ocelli medium size, in triangle with base 1.2 times its sides, POL 0.7 times OD, 0.2 times OOL. Frons short and weakly convex. Diameter of antennal sockets 1.8 times distance from socket to border of eye. Eyes glabrous, 1.2 times as high as broad. Malar space height 0.55 times height of eye, almost equal to basal width of mandible. Face width 1.1 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 0.6 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 flange wide. Head below eyes distinctly and convexo-roundly narrowed. Maxillary palps about 1.5 times as long as height of head. Antennal scape more or less distinctly compressed, its maximum length including lobe 2.3 times maximum width (antennal flagella missing).

Mesosoma. Length 1.8 times its height. Pronotum very short, with distinct submedian pronotal keel. Mesoscutum high and almost perpendicularly raised above pronotum, its median lobe weakly protruding forward. Notauli deep, narrow, complete, and strongly crenulated. 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 1.2 times median length. Metanotum with very small median tooth. Subalar depression shallow and wide, rugose-reticulate. Sternaulus very shallow, straight, smooth, running ventrally along anterior two-thirds of mesopleuron; metapleural lobe short and wide. Metapleuron separated from propodeum by distinct punctate suture along which these sclerites meet at an angle (i.e. propodeal and metapleural surfaces not continuously rounded). 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 elongate, basitarsus 2.5 times as long as wide, 1.8 times as long as second segment, fourth segment subsquare. Hind coxa without basoventral tooth, but with distinct basoventral corner, 1.5 times as long as wide. Hind femur 3.3 times as long as wide. Inner spur of hind tibia 1.6 times as long as outer spur, 0.2 times as long as basitarsus. Hind tarsus 1.1 times as long as hind tibia, 0.8 times as long as segments 2–5 combined, second segment 0.4 times as long as basitarsus, 0.9 times as long as fifth segment (without pretarsus).

Wings. Missing.

Metasoma. Metasoma 1.4 times as long as head and mesosoma combined. First tergite distinctly and almost linearly widened basally, then weakly and roundly widened, but weakly narrowed apically; with short and 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 0.7 times its basal width, 0.8 times length of third tergite, second suture weakly and distinctly undulate. Third tergite with distinct straight transverse crenulate furrow in basal one-third. Ovipositor almost as long as body, 3.3 times as long as metasoma, 1.7 times as long as mesosoma (ovipositor sheaths missing).

Sculpture and pubescence. Vertex, frons, and temple entirely smooth. Vertex with rather long semi-erect sparse hairs laterally, broad median area glabrous. Entire face densely and rather coarsely transversely striate. Sides of pronotum widely and distinctly rugulose. Mesoscutum and scutellum smooth. Mesoscutum with two distinct striae medioposteriorly. Mesopleuron smooth in most part. Metapleuron sparsely and distinctly punctulate, almost smooth anteriorly, rugulose-striate posteriorly. Propodeum almost entirely with deep and rather sparse puncturation, with distinct median carina in basal twothirds. 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 tergite rugulose-punctulate in apical two-thirds, smooth in basal one-third. Basal area of second tergite sparsely punctulate, almost smooth basally, rest of tergite striate, but punctulate medially. Third and fourth tergites in basolateral two-thirds striate. Remaining tergites smooth.

Male

Unknown.

Material examined

Holotype: female, Irian Jaya (without wings and flagellum), ‘‘Z. Nieaw, Lorentz 1909–10, Heuvel Bivak, XI.09, 750 m’’ [5 ° 23 9 S 138 ° 04 9 E], ‘‘ Hecabolus quadricolor Cam. type’’, ‘‘ Hecabolus quadricolor Cam., C. van Achterberg, 1980 , Holotype’’ (ZMAN).

Comments

This species has not been collected since the holotype in 1909. It can be separated from other members of the genus by its dark brown propodeum, the yellow first metasomal tergite which has a small black apical patch, and the notauli which are deep and weakly crenulated.

Figures

Figure 4. (a) Distribution map of Syngaster species in New Guinea: (m) S. crypticus; (´) S. hirtus; (*) S. neoguineensis; (w) S. quadricolor; (&) S. steυensi; (>) S. tricolor; (S) S. υariegatus. (b) Distribution map of Syngaster species in Australia: (>) S. lepidus; arrow, S. polychromus. Map for S. lepidus modified from Austin et al. (1994).

Figure 6. (a) Syngaster polychromus sp. nov., female, propodeum and metasoma (lateral view). (b–e) Syngaster quadricolor (Cameron), female: (b) head and mesosoma (lateral view); (c) head (anterior view); (d) propodeum and first tergite to third tergite (dorsal view); (e) body (lateral view). (f–h) Syngaster steυensi sp. nov., male: (f) head (dorso-lateral view); (g) head (frontal view); (h) propodeum and metasomal tergites 1–2 (lateral view). Scale bars: 2 mm (a, c); 1 mm (b, d–h).