FNZ 58 - Alysiinae (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Braconidae) - Materials and methods
Berry, JA 2007. Alysiinae (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Braconidae). Fauna of New Zealand 58, 95 pages.
(
ISSN 0111-5383 (print),
;
no.
58.
ISBN 978-0-478-09390-2 (print),
).
Published 07 Sep 2007
ZooBank: http://zoobank.org/References/07C9F5B3-C83B-4D1F-8792-D356E96CFECE
Materials and methods
Format of descriptions
A generic diagnosis is given for each genus, with references. Species descriptions conform to the following format:
Name: Current valid name with authority; figure(s) and distribution map; original name and either a full synonymy or, for northern hemisphere species, a reference to a full synonymy; references to important works.
Holotype details: Sex and deposition are stated. If the type specimen has not been seen this is explicitly stated.
For new species, label details are quoted verbatim. All information on one label is enclosed by quotation marks, and the information on each line of the label is separated by a slash (/). Publication details are given for described species.
Paratypes: The number, sex, and deposition of all paratypes of newly described species are given. All label data are given for paratype specimens, in abbreviated form, including collector(s), date of collection, and hosts.
Non-type specimens: label data are given for non-type material, in abbreviated form, in Appendix 3.
Female: Females for all species are described or redescribed in the same format. Unless otherwise stated (e.g., n=4), 10 specimens were measured for quantitative characters. Microsculpture terms follow Harris (1979).
Male: Only character states which differ from those found in the female are listed.
Diagnosis: diagnostic character states for the species are given.
Material examined: the number of male and female specimens examined and details of their deposition are listed.
Collection localities: all specimens examined are grouped geographically by area code. Details of the New Zealand system of area codes are given in Crosby et al. (1998). Areas are cited geographically, i.e., north to south, for the North Island, South Island, offshore islands, and any extralimital material. The order of citation is as follows:
North Island: ND, AK, CL, WO, BP, TK, TO, HB, GB, RI, WI, WN, WA.
South Island: SD, NN, MB, KA, BR, WD, NC, MC, SC, MK, OL, CO, DN, FD, SL.
Offshore islands: KE, TH, CH, SN, BO, AN, AU, CA.
Biology: Data are given for the months of the year adults have been collected and the earliest recorded collection date. All host records are given.
Remarks: Any remaining points of interest are noted, along with derivation of the species epithet for newly described species.
Taxonomic features
Morphological terms generally follow Sharkey & Wharton (1997). The major anatomical terms used are defined briefly below and illustrated in Figures 1–4.
Head
Vertex: top of head.
Occiput: area between vertex and foramen.
Temple: upper part of gena posteriad the eye (measured in dorsal view).
OOL: (ocular-ocellar line) shortest distance between posterior ocelli and eye.
Face: front of head, merging dorsally with vertex and delimited ventrally by clypeal margin and genal carina.
Frons: part of the face between the median ocellus and the antennal sockets.
Face length: length from vertex to genal carina with head in full facial view.
Face width: measured at widest point with head in full facial view.
Clypeus: medial sclerite of the head lying immediately above the labrum.
Malar space: minimum distance between eye and mouth margin.
Anterior tentorial pits: pair of pits at lateral edges of clypeus, may extend all the way to eye margin. Wharton (1985, 2002) provides a thorough discussion of this and associated characters.
Malar groove: more or less vertical groove running from lower margin of eye to mouth margin.
Genal carina: carina delimiting postgena posterior to base of mandible.
Subocular sulcus: oblique groove running below eye.
Antennal toruli: antennal insertions or sockets, distance between toruli and clypeal margin is measured from ventral margin of torulus.
Antennal scrobes: more or less depressed area above toruli; may be margined dorsally by a weak or strong carina.
Antennae
Sensilla: sense organs occurring on some or all flagellar segments.
Antennal scape: 1st antennal segment, jointed in the socket (torulus) by the radicula (not counted as a segment).
Pedicel: 2nd antennal segment.
Flagellum: remaining segments of antenna; F1 = 1st flagellar segment (i.e. 3rd antennal segment). Number of antennal segments quoted in the descriptions includes the scape and pedicel.
Mesosoma (median part of the body, including the propodeum)
Pronotum: tergum of the prothorax.
Mesonotum: divided into several parts: anterior to transcutal line is the mesoscutum, in turn subdivided into a middle lobe and two lateral scapulae by the notauli, when present. Posterior to transcutal line are the scutellum and laterally the axillae.
Metanotum: divided into a medial dorsellum and dorsellar fovea and a lateral metanotal furrow.
Mesopleuron: lateral sclerite of the mesosoma.
Sternaulus: groove running from near the anterior margin of the mesopleuron to the ventral-posterior cornery; may be sculptured or smooth. Some workers do not accept the homology of this structure in ichneumonids and braconids, or even within different groups of braconids, and refer to this structure as the precoxal sulcus (Wharton 2002).
Propodeum: 1st segment of the abdomen, incorporated into mesosoma.
Wings
The terminology used for wing veins and cells in this work is a modified Comstock–Needham system, followed by Sharkey & Wharton (1997). Veins and cells are illustrated and labeled in figures 2–4.
Legs
From the base, the legs are made up of the coxa, the trochanter, the trochantellus, the femur, the tibia, and the tarsus.
Metasoma (all abdominal segments excluding the first (propodeum)
T1: 1st dorsal segment (tergite) of metasoma.
S1: 1st ventral segment (sternite) of metasoma.
Genitalia: the length of the ovipositor is measured from the end of the hypopygium.
Institutions
AMNZ Auckland Museum, Auckland, New Zealand
BMNH The Natural History Museum, London, England
MONZ Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, New Zealand
NZAC New Zealand Arthropod Collection, Auckland, New Zealand
RMNH Nationaal Natuurhistorisch Museum, Leiden, Netherlands
TAMU Texas A&M University Insect Collection, College Station, Texas, U.S.A.