Syngaster (Marsh, 1988)

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 : 849-851

Syngaster IJariegatus (Szépligeti)

( Figures 4a , 7 f–h)

Epitonychus υariegatus Szépligeti 1902, p 58. Syngaster υariegatus: Fahringer 1942, p 46; Shenefelt and Marsh 1976, p 1333.

Female

Length. 9.5 mm. Colour. Head and mesosoma light reddish brown. Antennae black, two basal segments dark reddish brown. Palps yellow. Legs light reddish brown, hind leg on internal and external margins distinctly darkened. Fore wing strongly infuscate. Pterostigma dark brown. Metasoma black, first tergite at most part and transverse stripes on the posterior margins of third and fourth tergites yellowish white.

Head. Width about 1.5 times its median length. Temple behind eyes weakly roundly narrowed. Transverse diameter of eye 1.4 times as long as temple in dorsal view. Ocelli small, in almost equilateral triangle; POL 0.6 times OD, 0.2 times OO. Frons rather short and weakly convex. Antennal sockets fused at their internal borders. Diameter of socket about three times distance from socket to border of eye. Eyes glabrous, 1.2 times as high as broad. Malar space height 0.4 times height of eye, 0.8 times basal width of mandible. Face width 0.9 times height of eye and almost equal to height of face and clypeus combined. Clypeus with narrow lower flange, clypeal suture distinct laterally, shallow and indistinct dorsally. Hypoclypeal depression subround, its width 0.8 times distance from edge of depression to eye, 0.45 times width of face. Occipital carina present, very shortly interrupted dorsally, obliterated below near mandibles. Hypostomal keel wide (very difficult to see on either specimen). Head below eyes convexly narrowed. Maxillary palps about 1.7 times as long as height of head. Antennal flagellum slender, weakly setiform (broken, only 47 segments present), first flagellar segment length 2.5 times width. Scape with weak constriction basally, its maximum length including lobe 2.1 times maximum width.

Mesosoma. Length 1.9 times its height. Pronotum rather short. Mesoscutum highly and almost perpendicularly raised above pronotum. Notauli deep, narrow, and finely crenulated. Prescutellar depression rather short, more or less deep, smooth, with three distinct carinae, 0.3 times as long as scutellum. Scutellum almost flat, its maximum width almost equal to median length. Metanotum with very small median tooth. Subalar depression rather deep and wide, rugose below. Sternaulus indistinct, slightly deeper medially than anteriorly, absent posteriorly, almost straight, smooth, running along entire lower length of mesopleuron. Metapleural lobe rather long and narrow. Metapleuron separated from propodeum by distinct punctate suture; propodeal and metapleural surfaces continuously rounded, not angled along suture line. Propodeum without lateral tubercles, distinctly roundly narrowed from base to apex in lateral view. Fore tibia with very small spines arranged almost in single row (16 small spines arranged in along anterior surface of fore tibia; some paired). Tarsal segments of middle leg considerably shorter compared with tarsal segments of fore and hind legs, basitarsus 3.6 times as long as wide, 2.2 times as long as second segment, fourth segment subsquare. Hind coxa without basoventral tooth, 1.6 times as long as wide. Hind femur 3.1 times as long as wide. Inner spur of hind tibia 0.9 times as long as outer spur, 0.15 times as long as basitarsus. Hind tarsus 1.1 times as long as hind tibia, basitarsus 0.9 times as long as second to fifth segments combined, second segment 0.4 times as long as basitarsus, 0.85 times as long as fifth segment (without pretarsus).

Wings. Length of fore wing 3.6 times its maximum width. Pterostigma about six times as long as wide, 0.7 times as long as R1. 3RSa 1.7 times r, 0.17 times 3RSb, 0.63 times 2RS. Second submarginal cell 1.8 times as long as wide, 0.6 times as long as first subdiscal cell. Hind wing 4.6 times as long as wide, C+Sc+R 0.8 times SC+R.

Metasoma. Metasoma 1.1–1.3 times as long as head and mesosoma combined. First tergite rather weakly convex, weakly narrowed apically, without distinct basolateral processes, with very small dorsope, with small spiracular tubercles in basal one-third, length of tergite about 1.3 times its maximum submedian width, 1.35 times its apical width, apical width 0.9 times its maximum submedian width, 1.3 times its minimum width. Second tergite with wide distinctly convex medially basal semicircular area, separated by deep crenulate furrow, median length of area 0.4 times maximum length of tergite, maximum length 0.5 times its basal width, 0.55 times length of third tergite, second suture strongly and distinctly undulate. Third tergite with distinct straight transverse crenulate furrow in basal one-quarter. 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.

Sculpture and pubescence. Vertex, frons, and temple entirely smooth. Vertex with rather long semi-erect sparse hairs. Face smooth with sparse puncturation. Sides of pronotum smooth. Mesoscutum, scutellum, and mesopleuron smooth in most part. Metapleuron almost entirely smooth, with sparse puncturation. Propodeum with sparse puncturation, smooth partly. Mesoscutum entirely with dense short semi-erect hairs. Hind coxa rugulose, hind femur almost smooth with sparse puncturation. Hind tibia dorsally with short, very dense semi-erect hairs mixed with sparse long hairs. First metasomal tergite striate in medioapical half, the rest with sparse puncturation. Basal area of second tergite smooth, the rest striate with puncturation laterally and widely smooth medially. Third and fourth tergite in basolateral one-third or two-thirds striate. Rest of metasoma smooth.

Male

Unknown.

Material examined

Holotype: female, Papua New Guinea, ‘‘N. Guinea, Biró, 1899’’, ‘‘Sattelberg, Huon Gulf.’’, ‘‘ υariegatus, det. Szépligeti’ ’, ‘‘Type Epitonychus υariegatus Szépl., det. P. Marsh, 66’’, ‘‘ Holotypus ♀ Epitonychus υariegatus Szépl. 1902, Papp’69’’, ‘‘Hym. Typ. No 1643, Mus. Budapest’’ ( HNHM) .

Other material. Papua New Guinea, one female, Wau , October 1970, P. Shanahan ( AEIC) .

Comments

The specimen of S. υariegatus identified in AEIC has allowed us to more accurately diagnosis this species. The head and mesosoma are characteristically red-brown, the first metasomal tergite is white with a distinct black apical patch, and tergites 3–6 have pale white bands similar to S. tricolor .

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 7. (a) Syngaster steυensi sp. nov., male, metasomal tergites 3–6 (dorsal view). (b–e) Syngaster tricolor sp. nov., female: (b) head (frontal view); (c) head (dorso-lateral view); (d) head and mesosoma (dorsal view); (e) metasoma (dorsal view). (f–h) Syngaster υariegatus (Szépligeti), female: (f) head (anterior view); (g) head, mesosoma and first metasomal tergite (lateral view); (h) metasomal tergites 1–4 (dorso-lateral view). Scale bars: 1 mm (a–c, f–h); 2 mm (d, e).