Austroclimaciella Handschin, 1961

Genus Austroclimaciella Handschin, 1961 View in CoL

Austroclimaciella Handschin, 1961: 287 View in CoL .

Type species. Mantispa quadrituberculata Westwood, 1852 View in CoL , by original designation.

Diagnosis [modified from Snyman et al. (2018)]. Austroclimaciella can be distinguished from all other Oriental and Palaearctic mantispid genera by the following combination of characters: pronotum, well-rounded prozone, conspicuously and regularly corrugated midzone; wing apices always with distinct pigmentation; small pores on the posterior margins of tergites IV–VIII.

Austroclimaciella quadrituberculata (Westwood, 1852) [Japanese name: Tsumaguro-kamakirimodoki] ( Figs 1A View Fig , 3–5 View Fig View Fig View Fig )

Mantispa quadrituberculata Westwood, 1852: 264 , pl. 18, fig. 1 (as 4-tuberculata; incorrect original spelling) [type locality: Northern India ( India)] .

Climaciella habutsuella Okamoto, 1910: 542 View in CoL [type locality: Okinawa – Yakushima Island ( Japan)]. syn. rev. [N.B.: Previously synonymised once by Kuwayama (1962).]

Climaciella miyakei Okamoto, 1910: 541 View in CoL [type locality: Kyoto ( Japan)].

Climaciella subfusca Nakahara, 1912: 562 View in CoL , figs 1–2 [type locality: Kuzaki , Harima ( Japan)]. syn. nov.

Climaciella satsumensis Yazaki, 1927: 361 View in CoL , figs 1–6 [type locality: Ibusuki , Kagoshima ( Japan)].

Climaciella tanegashimensis Yazaki, 1927: 363 View in CoL , figs 7–14 [type locality: Tanegashima , Kagoshima ( Japan)].

Type material examined. Climaciella habutsuella Okamoto, 1910 : holotype, male, “ Japan /Matsumura//Ryukyu, Yakushima [backside of the previous label, handwritten in Japanese]// HOLOTYPE / Climaciella / habutsuella /det. H. OKAMOTO/1910 [handwritten on red paper card]// Climaciella /4- tuberculata / WESTWOOD/Det. SATORU KUWAYAMA/1960 [handwritten, except “Det. SATORU KUWAYAMA”]// Austroclimaciella / q uadrituberculata /(Westwood, 1852)/Det. Bao-Cheng Lai [handwritten]” (SEHU-Neur2-No1).

Material examined. Honshu: 1 male, 19 June 2001, Kasugayama, Nara-shi, Nara, M. Yagi leg . (OMNH- N000009459); 1 male, 22 August 2019, Wakakusayama, Nara-shi , Nara, R . Matsumoto leg . ( OMNH-N000009460 ); 1 male, 16 July 2020, same locality and collector (OMNH- N000009461) . Kyushu: 1 male, 3 July 2023, Motooka, Nishiku, Fukuoka-shi , Fukuoka, S . Yagi leg . (MPIM-HN-001); 1 female, 14 August 1933, Takeoka, Kagoshima-shi , Kagoshima, R . Tanaka leg. ( OMNH). Nansei Islands: 1 female, 19 September 1978, Onoaida, Yakushima Is ., Kagoshima, T. Saito leg . ( MPIM-N001 ); 1 female, 6 August 1991, Mugio, Yakushima Is ., Kagoshima, S . Yamane leg . (OMNH- N000009462).

Redescription. Head. Labrum orange. Clypeus, frons and vertex generally yellow except two black transverse stripes at front region ( Fig. 3C View Fig ) and one black transverse stripe at posterior margin of vertex ( Fig. 3D View Fig ). Some specimens with two black longitudinal stripes along eyes ( Fig. 3E View Fig ). Antennae: scape yelow, pedicel and flagellum dark orange to brown with 25–29 articles covered with short setae.

Thorax. Prothorax 3.4–4.8 mm long in males, 3.8–5.1 mm long in females, elongate, generally blackish red to black except black stripe at anterior margin and yellow stripe at broad section ( Fig. 3B, D, E View Fig ). Mesonotum generally dark brown to black except yellow scutellum. Metanotum generally dark brown to black except pale yellow region at anterior part of scutum and yellow scutellum.

Legs. Foreleg: coxa and trochanter dark reddish brown. Femur with posterior surface dark reddish brown to deep yellow with distorted triangular black spot in medial region, anterior surface dark reddish brown with black spot in medial region. Dark reddish brown femoral major process at proximal tow-fifths of femur length, dark reddish brown posteroventral row of processes present on distal three-fifths of femur length. Tibia to protarsus dark reddish brown to deep yellow ( Fig. 3B View Fig ). Midleg: femur to tarsus dark reddish brown, pretarsal claws with four to six apical teeth, arolium present. Hindleg: femur dark reddish brown, tibia dark yellow except proximal one-third dark reddish brown region, tarsus reddish brown, pretarsal claws with four to six apical teeth, arolium present.

Wings. Forewing 13.5–17.0mm long in males, 13.5– 18.1 mm long in females, elongate, anterior half, wing base, and distal one-third region pale brown, venation brown. Pterostigma dark orange. Radius Anterior (RA) and Radius Posterior (RP) veins partially fused at wing apex ( Fig. 3F View Fig ). Media (M) and Radius (R) veins fused along approximately basal one-quarter of wing length and M vein posteriorly retracted to Cubitus (Cu), forming radial triangle (rt) ( Fig. 3F View Fig ). Media Anterior (MA) proximally fused to first RP stem for a short distance ( Fig. 3F, H View Fig , indicated arrowhead) or connected to it through short crossvein ( Fig. 3I View Fig ). Hind wing 12.0–15.0 mm long in males, 12.0– 16.1 mm long in females, elongate, anterior half and distal one-third region pale brown, venation brown. Pterostigma dark orange. RA and RP veins partly fused at wing apex ( Fig. 3G View Fig ). Cubitus Posterior (CuP) and First anal vein (A1) partly fused at distal portion ( Fig. 3G View Fig ).

Abdomen. Tergite I generally blackish brown to black. Anterotergite of tergite II generally blackish brown to black with dark yellow spot at center and posterotergite yellow to dark yellow with some brown spots at anterior half, blackish brown to black spot at posterior half with yellow margin. Tergites III and IV yellow at anterior half, and blackish brown to black at posterior half. Tergites V to VIII entirely yellow. All sternites generally black with yellow stripe at posterior margin.

Male terminalia ( Fig. 4A–F View Fig ). Ectoproct ellipsoid, covered with fine setae. Ventromedial lobe directed medially, with short and thick setae. Sternite IX semicircular, apex broadly projected and slightly concave at centre in ventral view, covered with fine setae. Gonostyli X sclerotised, long and thin, spine-like apex, with a pair of small sclerites at base of gonostyli X membrane. Gonocoxites X slightly wide with a small notch at apex in ventral view. Median lobe of gonocoxites XI acuminate. Hypandrium triangular in dorsal view.

Female terminalia ( Fig. 4G–I View Fig ). Gonocoxites VIII narrow, elongate, setose. Gonapophyses VIII slightly protruding, setose. Ectoproct ellipsoid, covered with thin setae. Gonocoxites IX ellipsoid, covered with thin setae. Spermatheca strongly coiled, fertilisation canal duct base narrow and curved, diverticulum (dv) present.

Distribution. JAPAN: Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, Nansei Islands (Yakushima Is., Tanegashima Is.); TAIWAN; P. R. CHINA; INDONESIA; INDIA.

Comments. Okamoto (1910) described C. habutsuella (= A. habutsuella ) based on a single male specimen collected from Yakushima Island, Southwestern Japan ( Fig. 5A–H View Fig ). This species can be distinguished from C. quadrituberculata (= A. quadrituberculata ) by the number of antennal segments, prothorax colouration, and the number of branches in anterior radial cell 3 (rarp3) ( Okamoto 1910). Subsequently, Kuwayama (1962) synonymised A. habutsuella with A. quadrituberculata , suggesting that these morphological features are individual variations. Nevertheless, Ohl (2004) and Snyman et al. (2018) recognised A. habutsuella as a distinct species. Snyman et al. (2018) presented additional figures (Snyman et al. 2018: fig. 4) and noted the absence of a broad black band on the posterior margin of the vertex. In contrast, the holotype specimen of A. habutsuella exhibits a black stripe on the posterior margin of the vertex ( Fig. 5D View Fig ). Therefore, we recommend the synonymisation of A. habutsuella with A. quadrituberculata .

Climaciella subfusca (= A. subfusca ), another Japanese species, requires careful taxonomic examination. Nakahara (1912) described this species on the basis of wing venation, wing colour, and body length, using a single female specimen from Harima, Honshu. Unfortunately, efforts to locate type specimens deposited at the National Museum of Nature and Science, Tsukuba, Japan ( Nakamura 2011), have been unsuccessful. The only references to the morphological attributes of this species are the original descriptions ( Fig. 5I, J View Fig ). Notably, this species exhibits pale brown pigmentation along the branches of RP veins in the forewing ( Fig. 5J View Fig ; Kuwayama 1925b, 1962). However, we believe that this morphological trait is subject to individual variation, suggesting that this species is a synonym for A. quadrituberculata .