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Sceliotrachelus karooensis van Noort

(Life: Kingdom: Metazoa (animals); Phylum: Arthropoda; Class: Hexapoda; Order: Hymenoptera; Superfamily: Platygastroidea; Family: Platygastridae; Subfamily: Sceliotrachelinae; Genus: Sceliotrachelus)

Sceliotrachelus karooensis van Noort, 2021. Holotype ♀ in Iziko South African Museum, Cape Town (SAMC). Type locality: SOUTH AFRICA, Western Cape, Anysberg Nature Reserve, 5.8 km west of Vrede; 785m; 33°28.658'S, 20°31.572'E; 8 Dec 2014 - 8 Jan 2015; S. van Noort; yellow pan trap; Succulent Karoo; ANY14-SUC1-Y19; SAM-HYM-P086434.


Holotype female SAM-HYM-P086434 (SAMC)


Paratype male SAM-HYM-P049534 (SAMC)


A–C female paratype (SAMC) (SAM-HYM-P086435) D–F male paratype (SAMC) (SAM-HYM-P084755) A head, mesosoma, lateral view B head, mesosoma, dorsal view C mesoscutum, propodeum, T1,2, dorsal view D habitus, dorsal view E head, mesosoma anterolateral view F habitus, ventral.


Female paratype SEM photos (SAMC) (SAMHYM-P084755) A clypeus, mandibles, ventroanterior view B clypeus, mandibles, anterior view C occiput, pronotum, mesoscutum, lateral view D occiput, pronotum, lateroposterior view E mesopleuron, ventral view F mesopleuron, propodeum, ventrolateral view G mesopleuron, propodeum in part, lateral view H hind tibial spurs.


Distribution

South Africa: Eastern Cape Province.

 

Additional material.

SOUTH AFRICA • 1♀; same data as holotype, except SAM-HYM-P086435 (SAMC) • 1♂; Anysberg Nature Reserve; 5.8 km west of Vrede; 785m; 33°28.658'S 20°31.572'E; 8 January - 23 February 2015; S. van Noort; yellow pan trap; Succulent Karoo; ANY14-SUC1-Y28; SAM-HYM-P095115 (SAMC) • 1♂; idem except for SAM-HYM-P095116 (SAMC) • 1♂; idem except for SAM-HYM-P095117 (SAMC) • 1♂; idem except for SAM-HYM-P095118 (SAMC) • 1♂; idem except for SAM-HYM-P095119 (SAMC) • 1♀; idem except for SAM-HYM-P095120 (SAMC) • 1♀; Anysberg Nature Reserve, 5.8 km west of Vrede; 785m; 33°28.658'S 20°31.572'E; 23 February - 6 May 2015; S. van Noort; yellow pan trap; Succulent Karoo; ANY14-SUC1-Y30; SAM-HYM-P086436 (SAMC) • 1♀; idem except for SAM-HYM-P086437 (SAMC) • 1♀; Anysberg Nature Reserve, 6.4km west of Vrede; 775m; 33°28.548'S 20°31.264'E; 23 September – 29 October 2015; S. van Noort; yellow pan trap; Succulent Karoo; ANY14-SUC7-Y49; SAM-HYM-P086438 (SAMC) • 1♂; Anysberg Nature Reserve, 5.8 km west of Vrede; 785m; 33°28.658'S 20°31.572'E; 23 Feb – 6 May 2015; S. van Noort; pitfall trap; Succulent Karoo; ANY14-SUC1-P11; SAM-HYM-P086439 (SAMC) • 1♀; Anysberg Nature Reserve, 5.8 km west of Vrede; 785m; 33°28.658'S 20°31.572'E; 8 Oct – 3 Nov 2014; S. van Noort; pitfall trap; Succulent Karoo; ANY14-SUC1-P03; SAM-HYM-P049531 (SAMC) • 1♂; Anysberg Nature Reserve, 5.8 km west of Vrede; 785m; 33°28.658'S 20°31.572'E; 8 Dec 2014 – 8 Jan 2015; S. van Noort; pitfall trap; Succulent Karoo; ANY14-SUC1-P07; SAM-HYM-P049534 (SAMC) • 1♂; Anysberg Nature Reserve, 5.8 km west of Vrede; 785m; 33°28.658'S 20°31.572'E; 23 September – 29 October 2015; S. van Noort; yellow pan trap; Succulent Karoo; ANY14-SUC1-Y48; SAM-HYM-P084755 (SAMC) • 1♂; idem except for SAM-HYM-P084756 (SAMC) • 1♂; idem except for SAM-HYM-P084757 (SAMC) • 1♂; Gamkaberg Nature Reserve; 33°44.090′S 21°55.654′E; 997m; 19 Feb - 30 Mar 2010; S. van Noort; Malaise trap; Rooiberg Sandstone Fynbos; GB09-FYN2-M35; SAM-HYM-P038481 (SAMC) (van Noort et al. 2021).

Diagnosis

This species is immediately identifiable by the appearance of the fore wings which are of normal shape, and uniformly fuscous, without dark patches or strong microtrichiae, in contrast to the elongate and chromatically modified fore wings in the other two species. An additional diagnostic character is the presence of an occipital pit, which is absent in the other two species. The mesosoma is correspondingly less longitudinally compressed, with the mesocutum and mesopleuron being more normal in proportions. The pronotum and occiput are glabrous without the long setae present in the other two species. The acetabular and mesopleural epicoxal sulci do not converge as in the other two species, and, correspondingly, the fore and mesocoxae are separated by more than one fore coxal width (separated by less than the fore coxal width in other two species) (van Noort et al. 2021).

Etymology

Named after the Karoo area wherein both main collection localities fall (van Noort et al. 2021).

Biology

Unknown.

References

Brues, C.T. 1908. Hymenoptera. Fam. Scelionidae. Genera Insectorum 80: 1-59.

Masner. L. 1964. Remarks on Sceliotrachelus Brues and allied genera (Hymenoptera, Platygasteridae). Psyche, 71: 8-11.

Masner L. & Huggert, L. 1989. World review and keys to genera of the subfamily Inostemmatinae with reassignment of the taxa to the Platygastrinae and Sceliotrachelinae (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae). Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada, 147: 1-214.

van Noort S, Lahey Z, Talamas EJ, Austin AD, Masner L, Polaszek A, Johnson NF 2021. Review of Afrotropical sceliotracheline parasitoid wasps (Hymenoptera, Platygastridae). In: Lahey Z, Talamas E (Eds) Advances in the Systematics of Platygastroidea III. Journal of Hymenoptera Research 87: 115–222. https://doi.org/10.3897/jhr.87.73770

Credits

Photographs and map illustration © Simon van Noort (Iziko Museums of South Africa), or  © Elijah Talamas (Florida).


Web author Simon van Noort (Iziko South African Museum)

 

Citation: van Noort, S. 2024. WaspWeb: Hymenoptera of the World. URL: www.waspweb.org (accessed on <day/month/year>).

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