The common name refers to the fact that males are known to pollinate the orchid Cryptostylis leptochila by attempting to mate with the flowers (Coleman, 1928), which have presumably evolved to imitate Lissopimpla excelsa females.
Gauld (1984) states "This is one of the commonest and most conspicuous of Australian ichneumonids" (page 275), but we have only seen it once in Woodlands Historic Park.
Classification
from Australian Faunal Directory
Order Hymenoptera - Wasps, Ants, Bees and Sawflies, 12202 named species in Australia
Family Ichneumonidae - parasitic wasps, 472 named species in Australia
Subfamily Pimplinae - 60 named species in Australia
Genus Lissopimpla
Species Lissopimpla excelsa
Description
Abridged from Parrott (1952), pages 157-163. See original document for:
- Figure 1 Posterior leg.
- Figure 2 Fore-wing.
- Figure 3 Hind-wing.
Female
Head. Vertex red-brown except for a narrow ring round each ocellus which is black; impunctate with a shallow depression around each ocellus, and Y-shaped impression behind the anterior ocellus. Frontal excavation deep and smooth. Face, red-brown, impunctate, orbits below antennae sub-parallel and margined. Malar space very wide, about 2X basal width of mandibles. Clijpeus red-brown, sparsely punctate, about as deep as wide at base, anterior margin slightly rounded, basal suture distinct. Manddbles red-brown, teeth black, with a few minute punctures, upper tooth nearly twice as long as lower tooth. Cheeks red-brown, shining, impunctate. Antennae red-brown, sometimes darkening towards apex of flagellum, a small spot on dorsal surface of scape and pedicel which is black. Scape not excavated, swollen distally; flagellum 1st joint as long as 2nd and 3rd joints together, the latter joints sub-equal in length, remaining joints gradually decreasing in length towards apex; from 62 to 65 joints in the flagellum.
Thorax red-brown; Pronotum impunctate, shining; mesonotum, impunctate notaulis well defined, converging posteriorly and joining before reaching base of scutellum; Scutellum separated from meonotum by a deep fovea; scutellum narrowed towards apex, curved at base with lateral keels large and acute and reaching the apex; surface smooth, impunctate, flat anteriorly, sloping steeply posteriorly; Postscutellnm slightly striate posteriorly, sides steep, concave and longitudinally ridged. Propleurae impunctate; mesopleurae, the top and base depressed, edges of the depressions crenulated in the middle and reaching nearly to apex in a wide, deep, slightly oblique crenulated furrow, and in the front of this on the lower side, is a short, wide, oblique depression; Metopleurae impunctate, shining.
Propodeum red-brown, anteriorly transversely and uniformly striated, the centre flatly raised, sides keeled, the keels ending in a stout blunt knob or tooth, the apex obliquely sloped; Petiolar area smooth, convex, slightly rugulose at sides; spiracular area impunctate; spiracles elongate, 1.25X their length from anterior border. Coxae red-brown, sparsely and minutely punctate at least on the dorsal surface.
Legs. Stout, red-brown, with tarsi darker, tips of claws black. Posterior femor (Fig. 1) has a groove on under side, with a short somewhat triangular tooth placed beyond the middle, on the outer side of the groove. Tibiae spined, except the anterior pair, the posterior pair being more thickly spined than the middle pair. These spines are thick and short, scattered over the dorsal surface, and a whorl at the apex; the tibiae are about 2X or 3X as thick at apex as at base Calcaria of hind tibiae, with the inner one the longer, which is about half as long as 1st tarsal joint of same leg. Tarsi with 1st joint slightly longer than 5th joint, 2nd somewhat shorter than 5th and subequal to 3rd joint; 4th very short; all the tarsal joints are spined ventrally, the spines are usually thinner and longer than those on the tibiae, and arranged in two parallel rows ventrally, the spines of the apical joint somewhat longer than the others.
Wings. (Figs. 2 and 3) are dark smoky-brown, except at apex of forewings and posterior portion of hind-wings. Costa, stigma and veins smoky-brown. The Nervellus is slightly basad to the junction of the basal and median veins. 1st abscissa of radius straight, 2nd abscissa curved at base and joins margin well before apex of the wing; 1st recurrent has a distinct ramulus; 2nd recurrent well curved with 2 bullae; 1st abscissa of cubital and transverse cubital where it joints the cubital vein also have bullae; areolet large, sub-triangular, the transverse cubital is the longest side, not petiolate. Hind-wing (Fig. 3), abscissula longer than 2nd recurrent which has a bulla near its junction with the basal vein; nervellus joins 1st recurrent very high, practically at its junction with the basal vein, and has a bulla at its junction with anal vein.
Abdomen. First four tergites black with large triangular white spots on each of the posterior lateral angles; remaining segments red-brown, sometimes darker than that of the thorax. Smooth, shining, impunctate throughout, the base oblique not hollowed, sides of 2nd and 3rd segments obliquely furrowed. 1st segment longer than wide, sides sub-parallel, dorsal slightly convex; 2nd segment almost as long as wide posteriorly, with a lateral oblique groove extending to about | of the distance from base; 3rd segment sub-equal to 2nd segment, but slightly wider, the lateral grooves shorter and more oblique; 4th, 5th and 6th segments sub-equal to 3rd segment, the 5th segment somewhat wider posteriorly and the widest part of the abdomen; 6th segment widest anteriorly and sub-equal in length to 5th segment, and has on its dorsal surface a Y-shaped area, the vertex pointing anteriorly, the centre V-shaped area covered with a semi-opaque membrane ; 7th segment much narrower with anterior border concave; the tip of the abdomen is truncated. The ventral folds extend to the posterior border of 2nd segment. Ovipositor is from .5 to .75 the length of the body, the sheaths nigger- brown to nearly black at apex.
Male
Agrees generally in structure and coloration with the female. The ocellar area and upper parts of occiput, the notauli grooves on the mesonotum, sides of the scutellum and post-scut ellum and the furrows and apex of mesopleura black. The scutellar keels, sometimes apex of scutellum and the post-scut ellum and the propodeum spines yellowish; 1st abdominal segment is bordered with creamy- white colour, the band being narrowed in middle and the whitish-cream marks on the lateral angles extend to the 5th abdominal segment.
Dimensions
Female, 17 mm. in total length. Ovipositor sheath 9 mm., abdomen length mm. Length of forewing 14 mm. Length of antennae 16 mm. Males are generally smaller than the females.
Variability of L. excelsa
Colour: Although some individuals are rather darker than others, this species is remarkably constant in colour and pattern,
Size: This species varies considerably in size, especially in the case of the males. The following table gives the minimum, maximum and average total length of 82 specimens, taken at various localities at different times of the year.
| Minimum | Maximum | Average | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Males | 10.0 | 17.0 | 14.7 |
| Females | 15.5 | 19.0 | 17.2 |
The males, on an average, are smaller, and showed a greater variation in size than the females. It has been shown by Clausen (1939) that in an allied species the males usually developed from smaller hosts, and the females from larger hosts; if this is the case with the present species, some significance may be attached to the above figures.
Length of Forewing: The forewing was measured from the base of the tegulae to the extreme apex, and this measurement is expresed as a percentage of the total body length. The results were: Females: Average forewing length was 85.7% of body length. Males: Average forewing length was 77.5% of body length. The above figure would indicate that the forewing is relatively shorter in the males than in the females.
Antennae: The total length of the antennae was found to be generally approximately equal to the length of the body. However, the number of joints in the flagellum showed some variation
Ovipositor Length:
The length of the ovipositor was measured from the base to the apex of the sheaths, and this measurement expressed as
relative length of ovipositor = Length of Body/Length of ovipositor
For the 40 females
measured the ratio was Minimum 1.30, Maximum 2.40, Average 1.83.
Host Records
From Gauld (1984), page 275.
Anthelidae: Anthela denticulata (Newman) (Cameron, 1912). Noctuidae: Achaea Janata (L.) (Morley, 19130); Mythimna convecta (Walker) (Chadwick & Nikitin, 1976); M. separata (Walker) (Tryon, 1900); Spodoptera exempta (Walker) (ANIC); 5. mauritia (Boisduval) (Tryon, 1900); Tiracola plagiata Walker (Temperley, 1930). Pyralidae: Cactoblastis sp. (Chadwick & Nikitin, 1976).
References
- Gauld, I.D. (1984) The Pimplinae, Xoridinae, Acaenitinae, Lycorinae (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae) of Australia. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Entomology 49: 235-339
- Parrott, A.W. 1952. New Zealand Ichneumonidae II. Tribe Echthromorphini (Pimplini). Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand 80: 155-170