Monday, August 29, 2022

[Entomology • 2022] Ctenostegus hansoni • A New Species of Spider Wasp (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae) endemic to Lord Howe Island, Australia

  

Ctenostegus hansoni
Rodriguez & Evangelista, 2022

 
Abstract
Lord Howe Island is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with a highly endemic biota and a history of recent species extinction. During the 2017 and 2018 Australian Geographic Society expeditions to Lord Howe Island, spider wasps in the genus Ctenostegus Haupt, 1930 were collected from various sites. A new species – C. hansoni sp. nov. – is described based on this material. The external morphology and male genitalic features are illustrated for all constituents of the C. immitis species-group, for which an identification key is provided. New distribution data for the Hymenoptera of Lord Howe Island include an additional genus of Pompilidae (Fabriogenia sp.) and the first record for the family Mutillidae (Ephutomorpha sp.). Ctenostegus hansoni sp. nov. is one of the few spider wasps restricted to an oceanic island and constitutes an intriguing new record of long-distance dispersal from mainland Australia followed by speciation.

Keywords: pompilid, solitary wasp, systematics, taxonomy
 
Ctenostegus hansoni sp. nov., holotype female (ANIC 32-111497)
in (a) frontal, (b) lateral, and (c) dorsal view, (d) close-up of head in frontal view.

Ctenostegus hansoni sp. nov.

Etymology: This species is described in honour of Luke Hanson, who, along with his family and the Australian Geographic Society, made the Lord Howe Island expeditions possible.

Distribution: This species is known from AUSTRALIA: New South Wales: Lord Howe Island.


Juanita Rodriguez and Olivia Evangelista. 2022. Ctenostegus hansoni sp. nov., A New Species of Spider Wasp endemic to Lord Howe Island (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae). Austral Entomology. DOI: 10.1111/aen.12616