Parrott, Arthur W.

Pacific Science

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Australian Species of Poecilocryptus Cameron(Ichneumonidae: Hymenoptera) 1ARTHUR W. PARROTTCAMERON ESTABLISHED a new genus for aspecies of Australian Ichneumonidae, Poeci-locryptus nigromaculata, in 1901. He gave agood description of the type and a clear gen-eric diagnosis. The locality, however, is givenvaguely as "Australia." Turner and Waterston(1920) described another species, from Tas-mania, under the name P. nigripectus, and alsorecorded and figured Cameron's species fromTasmania.Morley, in 1914, proposed a new name forCameron's genus, because Kriechbaumer inthe same year used Poecilocryptus for an entirelydifferent insect from South America. Cush-man (1936) has shown that Morley's actionwas not correct as Cameron's name was pub-lished in June, whereas Kriechbaumer's namewas published later in the same year. Cush-man further points out (1936: 465) that, inproposing Poecilopimpla for the supposedlypreoccupied Poecilocryptus Cameron, Morleyoverlooked the fact that Cameron (1903: 140)had already used that name. Cushman hasfurther pointed out that it is not necessaryto rename Poecilocryptus Kriechbaumer, as thesame genus was redescribed by Viereck underthe name Photocryptus.The systematic position of Poecilocryptus isnot clear: it shows definite affinities to thepimplinids but also is somewhat allied to the., Manuscript teceived February 25, 1953.cryptinids. Morley (1914: 35), who examinedthe type, states, "If not truly pimplid, at leastvery far removed from any known form ofcryptid." Cameron (1901: 527) connected itwith Phygadeuonini, though he remarks, "It .has no relationship with any other genus."Turner and Waterston (1920: 24) state, "Cam-eron was probably correct in connecting thegenus with the Phygadeuonini." Cushman(1936: 465) considered this genus to belongto the Cryptinae.Genus POECILOCRYPTUS CameronPoecilocryptus Cameron, Ann. and Mag. Nat..Hist. 7(7): 527, 1901. (Nee Kriechbaumer,1901.)Poecilopimpla Morley, Rev. ·Ichneum. Brit.Mus., Pt. 3: 35, 1914. (Nee Cameron, 1903.)Poecilocryptus Turner and Waterston, Zool.Soc. London, Proc. 1920: 24, figs. 8a, 11b.Poecilocryptus Cushman, Wash. Acad. Sci.,Jour. 26(11): 465, 1936.Type species: P. nigromaculatus Cameron.Morley (1914: 37) described P. inftexa from"Eastern Australia" which, judging from hisdescription, is not correctly placed in. thisgenus. Until the type is examined, the trueposition of P. inftexa will remain doubtful.Morley himself remarks that it probably mer-its generic rank, because of its vertically muchnarrower head, basally not discrete and api-cally truncate clypeus, prominent mandibles,239240 PACIFIC SCIENCE, Vol. VIII, July, 1954small and subpunttiform notauli, large andelongate metathoracic spiracles, the prom-inent petiolar spitacles, more deplanate ab-domen, very large but slightly curved tarsalclaws, straight discocubital nervure, centrallystrongly incurved second recurrent and gen-icular nervellus, which emits a very stronglysinuate nervure to apex of the wing. I willnot include P. inflexa Morley in PoecilocryptusCameron.Morley (1914: 36) describes some smallspecimens reared by Froggatt in 1892 fromthe swollen stems of Acacia leaves at Sydney,a male from Agrizon galls, Rose Bay, and athird specimen taken by French at Melbournein 1900.These specimens Morley considered a va-riety of P. nigromaculata, as he states: "I can-not regard as distinct a much smaller, clearstramineous form with the black markingsvery much sparser, the sides of the abdomen.alone spotted and the legs immaculate: thesemodifications lend the insects a very differentaspect, and the length is but 6-7 mm.; butthe structjJre is in every way identical, and Iwill simply term it Vat. straminea."I have examined a series of a dozen spec-imens of this small form which Morley con-sidereda variety of P. nigromaculata Cameron,and consider it to be without doubt a distinctspecies.Although Morley stated that in structureit is in every way identical with P. nigromacu-lata, the specimens I have examined may beseparated structurally from Cameron's speciesthus:P. nigromaculata Cameron-Postocellar space widerthan rhe ocellocular spaceAntennae longer thanfore-wing, with less than30 joints in flagellumOvipositor not as long asthe abdomenLength 9-10 mm.P. straminea MorleyPostocellar space equalto ocellocular spaceAntennae shorter thanfore-wing, wirh more than30 joints in flagellumOvipositor always longerrhan the abdomen, some-times nearly 1Y;, times aslongLengrh 5-7 mm.On 'the above differences in structural char-acters, together with the constant differencesih the distribution of the black markings onthe abdomen, Morley's variety straminea isgiven specific rank.KEY TO SPECIES ofpoecilocryptus1. Radial side of areolet about twice as longas upper inner side of areolet and as longas or longer than lower outer side 2Radial side of areolet equal to upper inner. side and shorter thanl lower out~r side ofareolet. A crest or tooth at apex of denti-paral area. Spiracles of petiole before mid-die P. nigripectus2. Antennae with over 30 joints in flagellum,shorter than length of fore-wing. Second,third, fourth, and fifth tergites of abdomenwith lateral spots, more or less discrete.Ovipositor as long as or longer than ab-domen P. stramineaAntennae with less than 30 joints in flag-ellum, and longer than length of fore-wing. Second, third, and fourth tergites ofabdomen with wide basal transverse bandsof black, sometimes strongly incised me-dially, but usually not separated into dis-crete dorsolateral spots. Fifth tergite hasa broad transverse band not incised me-dially. Ovipositor not as long as abdomen................... P. nigromaculatusPoecilocryptus nigromaculatus CameronPoecilocryptus nigromaculatus Cameron, Ann.and Mag. Nat. Hist. 7(7): 528 9, 1901.Poecilopimpla nigromaculata (Cameron) Mor-ley, Rev. Ichneum. Brit. Mus., Pt. 3: 36,1914.Poecilocryptus nigromaculatus Cameron, Turnerand Waterston, Zoo1. Soc. London, Proc.1920: 26, 1920.Poecilocryptus nigromaculatus Cameron, Cush-man, Wash. Acad. Sci., Jour. 26(11): 465,.1936.Australian Species of Poecilocryptus - PARROTTCameron (1901: 528) vaguely records thisspecies from "Australia." He later (1911: 335)states that Froggatt bred this species fromreddish (Eucalyptus) berry-shaped galls in Sep-tember near Inverall, New South Wales. Mor-ley records it from Melbourne, Victoria, dur-ing August and September. Turner andWaterston (1920: 26) record it from Mt.Wellington, and Eaglehawk Neck, Tasmania,in January and March.Material Studied2 Warrendyte, Victoria, October, 1925.CoIl. G. F. Hill. (D.S.I.R.O.Collections.)2 Warrendyte, N. D. Coll. G. F. Hill.(D.S.I.R.O. Collections.)4 Warrendyte, Victoria, collected July,1925, "emerged August 1928." CoIl. G.F. Hill.Poecilocryptus straminea MorleyPoecilopimpla nigromaculata var. straminea Mor-ley, Rev. Ichneum. Brit. Mus., Pt. 3: 37,1914.This species may be briefly characterized asfollows:As P. nigromaculatus Cameron but smaller(5-7 mm.), with the posterior ocelli abouttheir diameter apart, the same distance sep-arating them from the dorsal margin of eyeson either side; antennae subequal to lengthof fore-wing, and with under 30 joints inflagellum; ovipositor as long or longer thanthe abdomen; second, third, fourth, and fifthabdominal tergites having dorsolateral spotsgenerally well separated medially; apex ofposterior tibiae not infuscated. Morley, whofirst recognized this species as a vanety ofP. nigromaculatus, only noted the reduction ofthe black markings of the abdomen and thesmaller size.Morley (1914: 37) recorded this speciesfrom swollen stems of Acacia leaves at Sydney.In 1892 Froggatt bred the typical female anda male labeled "Agrizom. galls, Rose Bay."241FIG. 1. Fore- and hind,wing of Poecilocryptus stram-inea MorleyA third specimen was captured by French atMelbourne during August, 1900.Material Studied1d" (Holotype) Sydney. CoIl. W. W.Froggatt. (D.S.I.R.O. Collection.)1d" (Paratype) Ourimbah, N.S.W., onAcacia galls, Dec., 1925. Coil. W.W. Froggatt. (D.S.I.R.O. Collec-tion.)1d" (Paratype) No. 2055, leaf-stem gall.(D.S.I.R.O. Collection.)1 <;;1 1d" (Holotype: allotype) Box Hill, Vic-toria. "Bred from Galls with Gall-flies." No. 16747 (identified by L.F. Graham as P. nigromaculatus Cam-eron). On the same card are a speciesof Chalcidoidea. (D.S.I.R.O. Col-lection.)2 <;;1 1d" "Blukistan"; gall on E. obliques,May-June, 1888, Smeatin. (S.A.M.Collection.) [The writing on theselabels is very indistinct, but the lo-cality, I think, is "Blukistan. "]2 <;;1 Botanical Gardens (No. 2080), Dec.,1930. Coll. W. W. Froggatt. (D.S.I.R.O. Collection.) ,1 <;;11d" "Malli." Coll. W. W. Froggatt.The material on which this paper is basedwas kindly lent by Dr. A. J. Nicholson, Chief,------------_._----------242Division of Entomology, D.S.I.R.O., Can-berra, and Mr. Herbert M. Hale, Director ofthe· South Australian Museum, Adelaide, towhom I extend my very sincere thanks forthe loan of this interesting material.REFERENCESCAMERON, P. 1901. Descriptions of seventeennew genera of Ichneumonidae from Indiaand one from Australia. Ann. and Mag. Nat.Hist. 7(7): 523-551.--- 1903. Descriptions of new genera andspecies of Hymenoptera taken by Mr. Rob-ert Shelford at Sarawak, Borneo. Roy. AsiaticSoc., Straits Branch, Jour. 39: 89-181.PACIFIC SCIENCE, Vol. VIII, July, 1954--- 1911. Parasitic Hymenoptera (chieflybred) from N. S. W., Australia, with de-scriptions of new genera and species. Part1. Linn. Soc. N. S. Wales, Proc. 36(2): 333-346.CUSHMAN, R. A. 1936. Poecilocryptus and Poe-cilopimpla. (Hymen. Ich.) Wash. Acad. Sci.,Jour. 26(11): 464-466.MORLEY, C. 1914. Revision ofthe Ichneumonidaein the British Museum. Part III (1914). ix+ 148 pp. London.TURNER, R. E., and). A. WATERSTON. 1920.A revision of the ichneumonid genera La-bium an,d Poecilocryptus. Zool. Soc. London,Proc. 1920: 1-26.

Australian Species of Poecilocryptus Cameron (Ichneumonidae: Hymenoptera)

Parrott, Arthur W

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Australian Species of Poecilocryptus Cameron (Ichneumonidae: Hymenoptera)

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