''Cryptoxilos thorpei'' is a species of parasitoid wasp belonging to the family

Braconidae The Braconidae are a family of parasitoid wasps. After the closely related Ichneumonidae, braconids make up the second-largest family in the order Hymenoptera, with about 17,000 recognized species and many thousands more undescribed. One analysis ...

. The species was first described by Scott R. Shaw and Jocelyn A. Berry in 2005, and is endemic to New Zealand.

Taxonomy

The species was identified by Scott R. Shaw and Jocelyn A. Berry in 2005, based on a holotype collected by Stephen E. Thorpe from the

Symonds Street Cemetery Symonds Street Cemetery is a historic cemetery and park in central Auckland, New Zealand. It is in 5.8 hectares of deciduous forest on the western slope of Grafton Gully, by the corner of Symonds Street and Karangahape Road, and is crossed by t ...

in central

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, New Zealand in 2003. The holotype was discovered on a dead species of ''

Pittosporum ''Pittosporum'' ( or The first pronunciation is that expected for traditional English pronunciation of Latin, Anglo-Latin; the second is common in nurseries. ''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995:606–607) is a genus of about 250 species of flow ...

'' infested by adult '' Chaetoptelius mundulus'' beetles. Shaw and Berry named the species after Thorpe.

Description

Females of the species have a body length of , and a forewing length of . The species has wider eyes compared to '' C. convergens'', and due to the

propodeum Propodeum labelled within the alitrunk of an ant worker The propodeum is a term that can refer to unrelated structures in insects or in mollusks. Insects The first abdominal segment in Apocrita Hymenoptera (wasps, bees and ants) is known a ...

of ''C. thorpei '' being covered with lacunose foveae.

Behaviour

The species has a long

ovipositor The ovipositor is a tube-like organ used by some animals, especially insects, for the laying of eggs. In insects, an ovipositor consists of a maximum of three pairs of appendages. The details and morphology of the ovipositor vary, but typica ...

, which it uses to insert eggs directly forwards into host beetles. The species is also potentially

protandrous Sequential hermaphroditism (called dichogamy in botany) is one of the two types of hermaphroditism, the other type being simultaneous hermaphroditism. It occurs when the organism's sex changes at some point in its life. A sequential hermaphrodit ...

, as males were observed emerging earlier than females.

Distribution and habitat

The species is endemic to New Zealand, found in the vicinity of

, New Zealand. Most specimens have been found in the vicinity of the

Auckland City Centre The Auckland Central Business District (CBD), or Auckland city centre, is the geographical and economic heart of the Auckland metropolitan area. It is the area in which Auckland was established in 1840, by William Hobson on land gifted by ''ma ...

, with some found in

Kelston Kelston is a small village and civil parish in Somerset, north west of Bath, and east of Bristol, on the A431 road. It is situated just north of the River Avon, close to the Kelston and Saltford locks. The parish has a population of 248. ...

on the banks of the

Whau River The Whau River () is an estuarial arm of the southwestern Waitemata Harbour (rather than a river) within the Auckland metropolitan area in New Zealand. It flows north for from its origin at the confluence of the Avondale Stream and Whau Stream ...

in West Auckland.

References

{{Authority control Insects described in 2005 Euphorinae Endemic insects of New Zealand Hymenoptera of New Zealand