Remarkable range extension of the previously monotypic braconid genus Wushenia Zettel (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Cheloninae), with description of a second species from Australia
Author
Kittel, Rebecca N.
Author
Austin, Andrew D.
text
Zootaxa
2013
3694
5
486
492
journal article
10.11646/zootaxa.3694.5.6
48e01311-e4d1-47aa-b41a-da7a6aaa7a98
1175-5326
222430
086FF464-409F-41FD-A561-651C86756F46
Genus
Wushenia
Zettel
Wushenia
Zettel, 1990: 186
.
Type
species
Wushenia nana
Zettel
, by original designation.
Diagnosis
. Ocelli as an equilateral triangle; eyes glabrous; occipital carina interrupted dorsally; antenna with 23– 25 antennomeres; notauli present or absent; sternaulus present or absent; fore wing with 1-SR+M present and originating from parastigma, 1-cu1 postfurcal, 2-SR+M antefurcal or postfurcal, with three radial abscissae present, R extends to apex of wing, subdiscal cell open (cu1b absent); lateral propodeal tubercles absent; mid tibia without blister; metasomal carapace with traverse sutures.
Comments
. With the description of the new species below, which differs in several respects to the
type
of the genus,
W. nana
, the morphological limits of
Wushenia
need to be expanded slightly, in particular to include the presence or absence of clypeal teeth, notauli, and sternauli, and whether vein 2-SR+M forks antefurcal or postfurcal. Even with these expanded limits, the genus can be easily separated from all other chelonine genera by the following combination of characters: subdiscal cell open (cu1b absent) and occipital carina dorsally interrupted. Based on the significant differences between the two species, we predict that they represent separate lineages of
Wushenia
for which additional species may be discovered in the future from the Oriental and Australian regions.
Clearly
Wushenia
is a member of the Phanerotomini given the transverse sutures on the metasomal carapace (Zettel 1990d), but its relationships to other members of the tribe, particularly to the highly speciose, cosmopolitan
Phanerotoma
, remain unclear. The monophyly of
Wushenia
is strongly indicated by the two putatively apomorphic states, subdiscal cell open and occipital carina dorsally interrupted. However,
Wushenia
could also be nested within
Phanerotoma
, a proposition that can only be thoroughly tested with a comprehensive molecular and morphological dataset comprising an extensive sampling of all chelonine genera. Until such time as this is possible, it will be pragmatic to maintain both as valid genera
Distribution
. Previously only known from
Taiwan
, the second species described below from coastal New South
Wales
,
Australia
extends the known distribution of the genus from the Oriental into the Australasian region, indicating either an extreme disjunct distribution or that
Wushenia
may yet be discovered on the landmasses in between, e.g. the
Philippines
,
Malaysia
,
Indonesia
and/or
Papua New Guinea
.
Biology
. The hosts of
Wushenia
are unknown.
Key to the species of
Wushenia
1 Clypeus without teeth (
Fig. 3
); notauli present (
Fig. 4
); fore wing vein 2-SR+M antefurcal (
Fig. 2
); propodeum and first metasomal tergite with obvious carinae (
Fig. 4
); metasomal carapace more convex in cross section and more obvious in lateral view
(
Fig. 1
); head, distal half of antenna and metasomal carapace except anterior part of first tergite black, rest of body yellow (
Figs 1, 4
) [
Taiwan
]........................................................................
W. nana
Zettel
– Clypeus with teeth (
Fig. 6
); notauli absent (
Fig. 9
); fore wing vein 2-SR+M postfurcal (
Fig. 8
); propodeum and first metasomal tergite rugose (without carinae) (
Figs 9, 10
); metasomal carapace flatter, without obvious lateral sides (
Fig. 5
); body completely orange (
Figs 5
,
9, 10
) [
Australia
]................................................
W. australiensis
sp. nov.