Research Article |
Corresponding author: Kazuhiko Konishi ( konishi@agr.ehime-u.ac.jp ) Academic editor: Matthew Yoder
© 2016 Keita Kuroda, Namiki Kikuchi, Kazuhiko Konishi.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Kuroda K, Kikuchi N, Konishi K (2016) A new species of Aulacus (Hymenoptera, Aulacidae) from Hokkaido, Japan. Journal of Hymenoptera Research 53: 171-180. https://doi.org/10.3897/jhr.53.11027
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Aulacus machaerophorus sp. n. is described from females collected in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. This new species has some interesting characteristics such as a very short ovipositor, absence of a ventral lobe and ovipositor guide on hind coxa, and smooth and shiny axillula, and is considered to be closely related to Nearctic species, A. schiffi. A key to three Japanese species of Aulacus is given.
Aulacidae , Aulacus , Evanioidea , Hymenoptera , new species, taxonomy
Aulacus Jurine, 1807 is composed of 78 extant species and has been recorded from all biogeographical regions except Antarctica and the Afrotropical (
Seven species of Aulacus have been recorded from the Palaearctic Region, with two from Japan, A. japonicus Konishi, 1990 from Iwate, Tohoku and A. uchidai
Specimens used in this study are dried except one which is preserved in 99% ethanol. They are deposited as follow: Hokkaido University Museum, Sapporo, Japan (SEHU); the Ehime University Museum, Matsuyama, Japan (EUM); and National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA (
Aulacus Jurine, 1807: 89.
Aulacus striatus Jurine, 1807. By monotypy.
See
♀ “43°2.85'N, 141°18.96'E, Mt. Maruyama, Chuo-ku, Sapporo-shi, Hokkaido, Japan”, labelled “JPN: Hokkaido, Sapporo-shi, Chuo-ku, Mt. Maruyama, 1. Aug. 2016, Keita Kuroda leg.” (EUM). Paratypes. Same location as holotype but different dates and collected by Namiki Kikuchi: 1 ♀, 27 July, 2015: 1 ♀, 10 August, 2015: 6 ♀, 31 July, 2016: 5 ♀, 1 August, 2016: 7 ♀, 2 August, 2016 (SEHU). 6 ♀, same data as holotype (3 ♀ in EUM and 3 ♀ in
Length: 4.1–6.5 mm
Color: Black; median portion of mandible yellowish brown; apical 1/3 to entire scape yellowish brown; apical portion of pedicel yellowish brown; trochanter yellowish brown to black; basal and apical portions of femora yellowish brown; fore tibia yellowish brown; mid tibia yellowish brown, sometimes black with basal and apical portions yellowish brown; hind tibia with basal and apical portions yellowish brown; fore and middle tarsi yellowish brown to light yellowish brown; hind tarsus yellowish brown, sometimes dark yellowish brown; wings hyaline, stigma and veins black; setae silver, setae on mandible gold.
Head glossy (Figs
Mesosoma glossy (Fig.
Legs: Coxae setose and trans-strigate; hind coxa (Fig.
Wings: Fore wing (Fig.
Metasoma glossy (Fig.
Unknown.
Japan (Hokkaido).
All specimens used in this study were collected on the tree trunk of a blighted broad leaf tree in a broad-leaved forest.
From the Latin machaerophorus, meaning bearing a short sword. This new species has a short ovipositor like a short sword.
This new species possesses the following peculiar features: frons without transverse carina and rugulose sculpture; axillula smooth, shiny; hind coxa without ventral lobe and ovipositor guide; ovipositor very short (0.2–0.3 times as long as fore wing); apical portion of ovipositor with some short setae.
In Aulacus species so far described, a Nearctic species, A. schiffi Smith, 1996 is considered to be most closely related to A. machaerophorus. They share the short ovipositor; hind coxa without projecting ventral lobe and ovipositor guide; smooth frons without transverse carina; and ovipositor with setae (Smith, personal communication). Among these characteristics, the presence or absence of setae on ovipositor has not been reported in other Aulacus species and therefore needs further examination. Aulacus machaerophorus can be separated from A. schiffi by the absence of diagonal carinae on the axillula, the shorter ovipositor (ovipositor is 0.5 times as long as fore wing in A. schiffi) and wing venation (A. schiffi has a longer discal cell, 2Rs+M between the discal and submarginal cells is much shorter, and 2r-m is absent). This relationship of A. machaerophorus and A. schiffi is suggest close relationships of some of the fauna and flora of eastern Asia and eastern North America. For example, relationship of North American and eastern Asian species of Strongylogaster (Tenthredinidae) (
Other Palaearctic species have rugulose frons with transverse carina judging from figures in
This new species can be distinguished from two Japanese species by the following key.
1 | Frons without transverse carina, smooth (Fig. |
A. machaerophorus sp. n. |
– | Frons with transverse carinae, rugulose-foveolate or rugulose; axillula reticulate rugose; fore wing without anterior part of 2r-m; hind coxa with ventral lobe | 2 |
2 | Ovipositor 0.6–0.9 times as long as fore wing length; frons less extensively sculptured and weakly rugulose-foveolate | A. uchidai Turrisi & Konishi |
– | Ovipositor 0.4 times as long as fore wing length; frons rugulose | A. japonicus Konishi |
We would like to express our sincere thanks to Dr David R. Smith (