Pristaulacus lanyuensis Turrisi, Yeh, Lu, 2025

Turrisi, Giuseppe Fabrizio, Yeh, Wen-Chi & Lu, Sheng-Shan, 2025, Taxonomic review of the Aulacidae of Taiwan (Hymenoptera: Evanioidea) with description of a new species, Zootaxa 5618 (4), pp. 584-594 : 589-591

Pristaulacus lanyuensis Turrisi, Yeh, Lu , sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:68C5E833-B5AF-4F7B-BB3E-163454F4764E

( Figure 3 )

Type material. TAIWAN: holotype ♀ labelled “ Hongtou Lanyu , Taitung Co., 30.IV.2015, S.S. Lu leg./ Pristaulacus lanyuensis Turrisi, Yeh, Lu sp. nov., 2023 ♀ Holotypus [red label]” ( TFRI) .

Diagnosis. Medium sized, body length around 12.0 mm; fore wing length: 9.2 mm. Colour mostly black with legs extensively brownish; hind tarsus dark brown; wings hyaline to weakly infuscated at base and apex with irregular dark brown spots at base and a narrow and long dark brown substigmal spot; setae whitish. Head, from above, 1.2 × wider than long; gena from above, well developed, 0.9 × eye length, almost straight and strongly convergent behind eye, rounded posteriorly; occipital margin deeply emarginated with a very wide and deep U-shaped medial groove; occipital carina wide, lamelliform, 0.6 × diameter of an ocellus; vertex with moderately coarse, deep and moderately dense punctures (distance between punctures 2.0–3.0 × punctures diameter). Mesosoma moderately elongate, 1.9 × longer than high, coarsely sculptured; pronotum at lateroventral margin with one well developed, acute and straight anterior tooth protruding forward, posterior margin weakly angulate, without process; mesoscutum transverse-carinate, anterior margin, in lateral view, widely rounded, not overhanging pronotum; fore wing with vein 2-rs+m short; hind coxa elongate, subcylindrical, 2.5 × longer than broad, transverse-carinate on dorsal surface [ventral surface obscured by glue]; hind basitarsus 8.5 × longer than broad and 1.2 × longer than tarsomeres 2–5; tarsal claws with four tooth-like processes. Metasoma moderately compressed laterally; petiole moderately elongate, 2.3 × as long as broad; ovipositor length slightly less than fore wing length.

Description. Holotype ♀ ( Fig 3A, 3B ). Body length: 12.1 mm; antenna length: 6.0 mm; fore wing length: 9.2 mm; ovipositor length: 8.9 mm. Colour mainly black, except: mandible (except teeth) dark reddish orange, maxillo-labial complex dark brownish; A1 dark reddish-orange; wings hyaline to weakly infuscated at base and apex with an irregular dark brown spot on cells B and SD1 and a narrow dark brown substigmal spot, about half of stigma length, extended posteriorly to the end of SM2; fore leg, except trocanther, brownish, mid and hind tibiae and tarsi dark brown; setae: goldish on the ventral margin of mandible, whitish otherwise. Head from above 1.2 × wider than long, cuticle shiny; vertex with moderately coarse, deep and moderately dense punctures (distance between punctures 2.0–3.0 × punctures diameter); frons with moderately coarse, deep and very dense punctures (distance between punctures 0.5–1.0 × punctures diameter); clypeus confused-punctate to rugulose; gena with fine to moderately coarse, deep and scattered punctures (distance between punctures 3.0–4.0 × punctures diameter), coarser, deeper and denser behind eye margin; malar area with moderately coarse, deep and dense to very dense punctures (distance between punctures 0.5–1.0 × punctures diameter); malar distance 0.3 × eye height; gena, from above, well developed, 0.9 × eye length, nearly straight behind eye and strongly convergent posteriorly; lower interocular distance 1.1 × eye height; inner margin of eyes subparallel; eye 1.2 × longer than broad; POL/OOL: 1.1; ocellar area 2.1 × as broad as long; occipital margin strongly convex, occipital groove well developed, Ushaped, very wide and deep ( Fig. 3C ); occipital carina broad, lamelliform, 0.6 × as broad as diameter of an ocellus; antenna length 0.7 × fore wing length; A3 5.3 × longer than broad; A4 8.1 × longer than broad; A5 7.7 × long than broad; A3/A4 length: 0.7; A3/A5 length: 0.8; A4/A5 length: 1.2; A14: 2.0 × longer than broad; setae: erect and scattered on vertex; erect and moderately dense on upper frons; recumbent and dense on lower frons and clypeus; semierect, dense and moderately long on gena (length of setae 0.7 × diameter of anterior ocellus); recumbent and moderately dense to dense on malar area. Mesosoma moderately elongate, 1.9 × as long as high, coarsely sculptured, shiny; pronotum transverse-carinate to areolate-rugose, rugose-punctate along lateroventral margin, anterior margin straight, without processes, lateroventral margin almost straigth with one well developed, acute and straight anterior tooth-like process protruding forward, posterior margin weakly angulate, without process; propleuron polished and shiny with fine to moderately coarse, superficial and scattered punctures (distance between punctures 3.0–4.0 × punctures diameter), punctures coarser and denser laterally and dorsally; prescutum triangular, well defined, with narrow base, weakly concave, transverse-carinate; mesosocutum transverse-carinate with 11 raised carinae, anterior margin, in lateral view, widely rounded, not overhanging pronotum; notauli well defined, deep and wide, meeting each other at transscutal articulation; scutellum weakly convex, transverse-carinate, with 6 raised carinae on disc, longitudinally-carinate on sides, areolate-rugose on posterior half; mesopleuron areolate-rugose, subalar area rugulose-punctate; metanotum areolate-rugose; propodeum areolate-rugose, anterior margin longitudinally-carinate; ventral parts of mesosoma transverse-carinulate; fore wing vein 2-rs+m short; fore and mid coxae polished-punctate; hind coxa transverse-carinate on dorsal surface [ventral surface obscured by glue] moderately elongate, subcylindrical, 2.5 × longer than broad; hind coxal guide transverse, narrow, subapical; inner and outer spurs of mid tiba subequal, inner spur of hind tibia longer than outer spur; hind basitarsus slender, 8.5 × longer than broad and 1.3 × as tarsomeres 2–5; tarsal claw with four tooth-like processes along inner margin; setae: erect, short and scattered on dorsal surface, semi erect to recumbent, short and moderately dense on sides and ventral surface; erect, moderately long and moderately dense on hind surface of propodeum; erect, moderately long and dense on propleuron (length of setae 0.6 × fore pretarsus). Metasoma pyriform in lateral view, moderately compressed laterally, long and slender, 1.3 × mesosoma length; petiole slender and moderately elongate, 2.5 × as long as broad; metasoma very finely microsculptured; metasomal segments 1+2 shiny, with sparse puncture on T2; remaining segments dull with fine, deep and moderately dense punctures on tergites; S7 shiny with very sparse fine and superficial punctures; ovipositor length slightly less fore wing length; setae: glabrous on metasomal segments 1+2, recumbent, short and dense on remaining tergites, recumbent, long and moderately dense on sternites.

Distribution. Taiwan (Lanyu Island).

Remarks. The new species is most allied to P. comptipennis in the habitus, body size, the colour pattern, the deep and wide U-shaped occipital groove. It is readily distinguished from the latter by the shape of the head strongly narrowed on posterior half, with gena strongly convergent behind eyes and ovipositor slightly shorter than fore wing length.

Biology. The species has been observed in April. Host not known.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Pristaulacus lanyuensis Turrisi, Yeh, Lu, sp. nov., holotype ♀ (TFRI). A Habitus, dorsal view. B Habitus, lateral view. C Head, dorsal view.