Clystopsenella australiana sp. nov. (Hymenoptera: Scolebythidae): first species of the genus found outside the Neotropical region

Abstract

AbstractClystopsenella Kieffer, 1911 is one of four extant genera included in the family Scolebythidae. This wasp family is the smallest within Chrysidoidea with six extant species described so far. To date, there are only two described species in the genus Clystopsenella—the extant Clystopsenella longiventris Kieffer, 1911 and the fossil C. mirabilis Engel, 2015, from Miocene Dominican amber. The extant species is found throughout the neotropics and has been recorded from Brazil, Costa Rica, Colombia, Panama and Belize. Besides this, Clystopsenella had already been recorded in the Australian fauna, indicating that the genus is not strictly Neotropical. In the present work, Clystopsenella australiana sp. nov. is described based on the single specimen ever recorded, which was collected over 100 years ago in Bribie Island, Queensland. The presence of Clystopsenella in Australia adds to the intricate scenario of disjunct distributions within the family and agrees with the restriction of Scolebythidae to warm areas.