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

  

Ctenostegus hansoni

Rodriguez & Evangelista, 2022

DOI: 10.1111/aen.12616 

twitter.com/Juanita_Rodr

 

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

 twitter.com/Juanita_Rodr/status/1564081816818298881

[Entomology • 2021] Maurillus argenticapitis, Maurilloides nigrisoma & Evansiclavelia poecilopteryx • Systematics and Convergent Evolution in Three Australian Genera of Pepsinae Spider Wasps (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae)

  

Evansiclavelia poecilopteryx Pitts, Rodriguez & Shimizu 

in Shimizu, Pitts, Rodriguez, et al., 2021. 

DOI: 10.1111/aen.12530

 twitter.com/Juanita_Rodr 

 Abstract

We treat the Australian spider wasp ‘Ctenocerini’, revising the systematics of Maurillus Smith, adding a new species Maurillus argenticapitis Pitts & Shimizu sp. nov. and describing two new monobasic genera Maurilloides Pitts & Shimizu gen. nov. based on Maurilloides nigrisoma Pitts & Shimizu sp. nov. and Evansiclavelia Pitts, Rodriguez & Shimizu gen. nov. based on Evansiclavelia poecilopteryx Pitts, Rodriguez & Shimizu sp. nov. We further discuss the phylogenetic position of Maurillus and the convergent evolution of the modification in head and pronotal structures occurring in the above three genera, as well as in pompilids from other subfamilies, that parasitise trapdoor spiders.

Keywords: Evansiclavelia, Maurilloides, Maurillus, parasitoid, taxonomy, trapdoor

Maurillus argenticapitis Pitts & Shimizu sp. nov.

Etymology: The species name is derived from the greater part of the head covered with silvery-white pubescence.

Maurilloides Pitts & Shimizu gen. nov.

Etymology: The generic name is derived from a morphological similarity to Maurillus. The name is considered masculine in gender.

Maurilloides nigrisoma Pitts & Shimizu sp. nov.

Etymology: The species name is derived from the wholly black body.

Evansiclavelia poecilopteryx sp. nov., holotype female.
(a) Head, anterior view (arrow, frontal bridge); (b) head and anterior part of mesosoma, dorsal view; (c) head and mesosoma, lateral view; (d) head and mesosoma, dorsolateral view (arrow, occipital suture); (e) posterior part of mesosoma, dorsolateral view; (f) apical part of right fore tibia, medial view (arrow, apicomedial spine); (g) apical part of left fore tibia, lateral view (arrow, apicolateral spine); (h) body, legs and wings, lateral view; (i) body, part of legs and wings, dorsal view; (j) fore and hind wings; and (k) head, anteroventral view.

Scale bars: 0.1 mm for (f) and (g) and 1 mm for others.

Evansiclavelia Pitts, Rodriguez & Shimizu gen. nov.

Etymology: The generic name is in honour of the late entomologist Dr H. E. Evans, who was an authority on systematics and behaviour of solitary wasps, especially of spider wasps; and ‘Clavelia’ a generic name in the subfamily Ctenocerinae. The name is considered feminine.

Evansiclavelia poecilopteryx Pitts, Rodriguez & Shimizu sp. nov.

Etymology: The species name is derived from the transparent fore wing with subapical broad dark brown fascia.

Akira Shimizu, James P Pitts, Juanita Rodriguez, Raymond Wahis and Jin Yoshimura. 2021. Systematics and Convergent Evolution in Three Australian Genera of Pepsinae Spider Wasps (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae). Austral Entomology.  60(2); 301-316. DOI: 10.1111/aen.12530

 twitter.com/Juanita_Rodr/status/1372549768451297285

[Entomology • 2018] First Record of Epipompilus excelsus (Hymenoptera, Pompilidae) As A Koinobiont Ectoparasitoid of Ariadna mollis (Araneae, Segestriidae)

  Adult female of Ariadna mollis (Holmberg, 1876) (Segestriidae) 
parasitized by Epipompilus excelsus (Bradley, 1944) (Pompilidae).

in Villanueva-Bonilla, Brescovit, Santos & Vasconcellos-Neto, 2018. 

DOI:  10.3897/jhr.66.28915

Abstract 

Epipompilus Kohl comprises 52 species of wasps that are parasitoids of spiders; 16 species occur in the Neotropical region and 36 species occur in the Australian region. The biological knowledge of this genus is limited and its interactions and host spiders are still incipient. Here, we report some behavioural and biological characteristics of E. excelsus, a parasitoid of the tube-dwelling spider Ariadna mollis. We observed an E. excelsus female attacking an adult female of A. mollis in São Paulo, Brazil. We photographed daily the larval development of the wasp, from the egg stage to adult emergence. The entire developmental cycle of the wasp took 24 days. This period was shorter than the developmental periods of wasps belonging to other genera of Pompilidae. Although all species within Pompilidae use spiders as host, they present great behavioural diversity, characterized by different ethological sequences. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that the Neotropical species of Epipompilus exhibit biological characteristics similar to the Australian species, acting as a koinobiont ectoparasitoid, but displays differences in larval morphology. Studies on other species could elucidate the extent of these differences and similarities, contributing to our understanding of the evolutionary history of Epipompilus, and consequently of Pompilidae.

Keywords: Egg-wasp development, Neotropical, Parasitoid, Tube-dwelling spider

Figure 1. Adult female of Ariadna mollis (Segestriidae) parasitized by Epipompilus excelsus (Pompilidae).
A) Wasp on the back of the spider (the arrow indicates the position of the egg in the abdomen). B) A. mollis moving slowly minutes after being paralyzed. C) Larval I instar of the wasp adhered to the abdomen of the spider.
D) Larval II instar. E) Larval III instar. F) Larval IV instar feeding from the abdomen of the spider.
G) Larva eating the remains of the legs and abdomen of the spider. H) The cocoon containing the meconium (red arrow). I) Adult female of E. excelsus.

 German Antonio Villanueva-Bonilla, Antonio Domingos Brescovit, Eduardo dos Santos and João Vasconcellos-Neto. 2018. First Record of Epipompilus excelsus (Bradley, 1944) (Hymenoptera, Pompilidae) As A Koinobiont Ectoparasitoid of Ariadna mollis (Holmberg, 1876) (Araneae, Segestriidae). Journal of Hymenoptera Research. 66: 15-21.  DOI:  10.3897/jhr.66.28915