Aulacus sahyadriensis Kumar & Smith & Binoy 2019, sp. nov.

Aulacus sahyadriensis Girish Kumar, Smith & Binoy, sp. nov.

(Figs 1–11)

Type material. Holotype ♀, mounted on triangular card supported on No.2 entomological pin, India: Kerala, Idukki district, Elappara (9°38’18.1”N & 76°58’56.8”E, 1030 m), 18.v.2019, Coll. C. Binoy, ZSIK Regd. No. ZSI/ WGRC /IR/INV.12666.

Diagnosis.Vertex of head without tooth-like processes; head reddish orange with ocellar area lightly infumated; mesosoma and metasoma almost entirely black; ovipositor subequal in length to fore wing; first discal cell of fore wing very small, its length much shorter than vein 2-Rs+M.

Description. Holotype ♀. Length, 4.73 mm; ovipositor length 3.61 mm; fore wing length 3.62 mm. Antenna black with scape, pedicel and first flagellomere light orange; head reddish orange with ocellar area lightly infumated; mesosoma black with pronotal collar light orange; legs with all coxae black, all trochanters and femora dark brown with femoral apex yellowish, fore and mid tibiae and tarsi brownish yellow, hind tibia and hind tarsus yellowish brown; metasoma black with posterior margins of segments brownish; ovipositor sheath black; ovipositor reddish brown. Wings hyaline with apex of fore wing infumated as in Fig. 8, veins and stigma black.

Head. Shiny with moderately strong, sparse distinct punctures with lower half of frons rugosely punctured with irregular transverse striations (Fig. 3); fine, white pubescence densest on lower portion of inner orbit and below antennae. Vertex evenly rounded, without tooth-like processes. Antenna (Fig. 2) with scape 1.62 × longer than broad, broader than flagellomeres; length of scape: pedicel: flagellomeres as 1.7: 0.9: 1.4: 3.1: 3.0: 2.8: 2.3: 1.95: 1.65: 1.5: 1.2: 1.2: 1.1: 1.5. Eyes large, with scattered minute sparse setae, lower interocular distance 0.95 × eye height. Malar space 0.22× eye height (Fig. 4). Distances between eye and lateral ocellus and between lateral ocelli as 1.6: 2.3 (Fig. 5).

Mesosoma. Mostly strongly rugose, moderately shining, with fine white pubescence; pronotum mostly smooth except dorsal surface of pronotal collar weakly rugose; upper half of mesopleuron shiny with moderately strong striations (Fig. 6). Hind coxa elongate without ventral lobe, shiny with moderately strong irregular punctures forming irregular transverse striations. Hind coxal groove as a slight oblique depression on inner lower surface of posterior half (Fig. 7). Hind femur subequal in length to hind tibia (4.05: 4.8). Hind basitarsus slightly longer than length of remaining tarsomeres combined. Tarsal claws simple (Fig. 9). Fore wing (Fig. 8) with vein 2-Rs+M long, 1.55× longer than first discal cell. Hind wing with three hamuli.

Metasoma. Shiny, without distinct sculpture (very fine indistinct coriaceous punctures present postero-medially of first tergite and median area of remaining tergites), fine white pubescence on apical 3 segments (Fig. 10). First tergite 1.15 × greater than remaining tergites combined. Ovipositor length 1.64 × metasomal length, about equal to (0.99 ×) fore wing length.

Male. Unknown.

Etymology. The species name is derived from “Sahyadri”, the vernacular name for the Western Ghats mountain ranges.

Distribution. India: Kerala (Fig. 11)

Comments. The very small first discal cell of the fore wing, its length much shorter than vein 2-Rs+M, is unusual in Aulacus. Usually this cell is much larger and as long as or longer than vein 2-Rs+M (Jennings et al. 2018), as in the case of all other Oriental Aulacus species. Also, the ovipositor length, subequal to the fore wing in A. sahyadriensis, is unknown in other Oriental species. In A. canlaon and A. philippinensis the ovipositor is much longer that the fore wing, and in A. sinensis, the ovipositor is shorter than the fore wing. These characters, plus the lack of tooth-like protuberances on the head and the almost entirely reddish-orange head, are sufficient to separate the new species.