Apanteles ferripulvis Slater-Baker, Fagan-Jeffries, Fernández-Triana, Portmann & Oestmann, 2025

Slater-Baker, Mollie-Rosae, Fagan-Jeffries, Erinn P., Oestmann, Katherine J., Portmann, Olivia G., Bament, Tiahni M., Howe, Andy G., Guzik, Michelle T., Bradford, Tessa M., McClelland, Alana R., Woodward, Alice, Clarke, Sylvia, Ducker, Nathan & Fernández-Triana, José, 2025, DNA barcoding, integrative taxonomy, citizen science, and Bush Blitz surveys combine to reveal 34 new species of Apanteles (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Microgastrinae) in Australia, ZooKeys 1227, pp. 1-128 : 1-128

Apanteles ferripulvis Slater-Baker, Fagan-Jeffries, Fernández-Triana, Portmann & Oestmann sp. nov.

Fig. 4 C ( distribution), Fig. 35 (holotype )

Type material.

Holotype. Australia • ♀; QLD, 4 km SSE HS [homestead] Noonbah Station (NB 3 M); - 24.142, 143.196; 19 Jan. – 7 Feb. 2009; A. Emmott leg.; Malaise trap; Sandy Plain, ghost gums; BOLD Process ID: AUMIC 403-18 ; QM: T 208351 .

Diagnostic description.

Size: Total body length: 2.1 mm; fore wing length: 2.2 mm. Head: anterior scape colour similar colour or only very slightly paler than head colour; F 2 L / W ratio: 3.7; F 14 L / W ratio: 1.4. Mesosoma: scutoscutellar sulcus with eight pits; mesoscutellar disc mostly smooth, or with very shallow scattered indentations; propodeal areola complete, or mostly so; propodeum mostly smooth posteriorly, mostly rugose anteriorly; coxae colour (pro, meso, meta): dark all; metafemur colour mostly dark. Wings: centre of pterostigma pigmented to same degree as the outer edges; fore wing r vein length / 2 RS vein length ratio: 1.4. Metasoma: T 1 shape mostly parallel, T 1 medial length / anterior width between 1–2 × longer than wide; mostly rugose; T 2 mostly smooth; ovipositor sheath length / metatibia length ratio: 0.9.

Apanteles ferripulvis can be diagnosed from the other species with a dark metacoxa and metafemur, the outer side of metatibia mostly dark with a paler area in the proximal 1 / 3, antennae of similar length to the body, an ovipositor> 0.6 × metatibia length, the pterostigma uniformly pigmented (no hyaline centre or large pale spot), and the metatibia mostly dark with proximal pale band discrete, by infuscation on fore wing that covers most of membrane, and T 3 – T 6 with setae not reduced to a single row, instead irregularly arranged.

Etymology.

The species epithet was formed from the Latin ferrous (made of iron) and pulvis (dust) and reflects both the red dust of the collection locality and the rusty-brown colour of the wings. The epithet is a noun in apposition.

Distribution.

Apanteles ferripulvis is currently only known from a single specimen from central QLD.

Molecular information.

Apanteles ferripulvis contains sequences currently in BIN BOLD: ADL 4706. The COI sequences are at least 6 % divergent from any of the other species treated here, or any available sequence on BOLD. The wg sequence of the holotype is ≥ 3 bp different to any other species. The molecular delimitation methods other than wg ASAP separated A. ferripulvis as a discrete species; wg ASAP grouped the species with the QLD individuals of A. lamingtonensis .

Figures

Figure 4. Known distribution of the Apanteles species in Australia A A. adustus, A. aeternus, A. allapsus, A. amicalis, A. apricus B A. alatomicans, A. apollo, A. aurantius, A. auroralis, A. banrock C A. artemis, A. breviflagellarius, A. brockhedgesi, A. ethanbeaveri, A. fenestrinus, A. ferripulvis, A. hades, and A. insulanus. Maps include examined material and public DNA barcode records, see Suppl. material 3 for full details.

Figure 35. Apanteles ferripulvis (holotype AUMIC 403-18) A lateral habitus B dorsal propodeum and T 1–3 C anterior head D dorsal head E fore wing F dorsal habitus.