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Art. VI.—Description of a New Species of Halictus (Andrenidæ) from Christchurch, New Zealand.
[Read before the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, 6th September, 1899.]
Two species of Halictus have been recorded from New Zealand. These may be separated from the species here described as follows:—
| A. Base of median segment bearing radiating striæ, Mandibles ferruginous; legs dark testaceous; abdomen fuscous; alar nervures ferruginous | sordidus, Smith. |
| Mandibles bright-yellow, black at base and apex; legs black; the knees and the greater part of the tarsi yellow; alar nervures fuscous | huttoni, n. sp. |
| B. Base of abdomen finely rugose. Mandibles black, rufo-testaceous at the apex; legs black | familiaris, Smith. |
Halictus huttoni, sp. nov.
Niger, capite thoracique dense argenteo pilosis; apice clypei, labro, medio mandibularum late, geniculis basique tarsorum late, flavis; alis hyalinis, nervis nigro-fuscis. ♂ Long. 5 mm.
The basal three joints of the antennæ black; the rest brown, black above; the scape sparsely covered with long white hair; the flagellum with a close white down. Head black; the front duller in colour; the apex of the clypeus broadly, the labrum and the mandibles broadly in the middle, bright-yellow. The vertex has a slight greenish tinge, is more shining than the front, and is closely and finely punctured; the ocellar region smooth and shining; the front is opaque, alutaceous; both parts are thickly covered with long fuscous hair; the lower orbits, the clypeus, and labrum are thickly covered with long silvery pubescence. Thorax entirely black; the mesonotum shining, finely and closely punctured; a broad,
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shallow furrow on the basal two-thirds in the middle. Scutellums finely punctured, and thickly covered with long white hair. Metathoracic area closely, irregularly striated, its apex smooth and shining; the apex has an oblique slope, is finely punctured, is widely furrowed in the middle, and is thickly covered with long white hair. Propleuræ shining, the middle furrow minutely striated; mesopleuræ alutaceous, thickly covered with long white hair; in the middle, at the base, is a shallow oblique furrow, the part above it being raised; the metapleuræ are finely rugose. Legs thickly covered with white hair; all the knees, the front tibiæ (except behind), the greater part of the anterior tarsi, and the four posterior tarsi broadly at the base bright-yellow; the spurs yellow. Wings clear hyaline; the stigma fuscous, the nervures darker; the first recurrent nervure is almost interstitial, being received immediately in front of the transverse cubital; the second recurrent nervure is received more distinctly in front of the third transverse cubital. Abdomen shining, thickly covered with a short white pubescence; aciculated; the depression on the basal segment is large, deep, triangular; the apical ventral segments have the apices testaceous; the penultimate segment is slightly normally incised; the others transverse. The pubescence on the abdominal segments does not form bands; the second and third are distinctly depressed at the base; the last is transverse at the apex; the lateral furrows are oblique, and reach near to the base.
The eyes distinctly converge below, and have, on the inner side above, a distinct semicircular curve; behind them the head is obliquely narrowed. The apex of the median segment has a distinct margin laterally, almost keeled. Mesosternum alutaceous, broadly but not deeply furrowed down the middle. The pronotum in the middle behind is depressed, and has there a short, distinct, longitudinal furrow; its base has a narrow but distinct margin.
I may take this opportunity of pointing out an important change in nomenclature. In “Notes on a Collection of Hymenoptera from Greymouth, New Zealand, with Descriptions of New Species,”* I described a new genus of Ichneumonidæ, founded on the species described by Mr. W. F. Kirby† under the name of Rhyssa semipunctata, which I called Xenopimpla. When doing so I had, however, unfortunately over-looked the fact that the genus had been already described by Dr. Kriechbaumer in “Entomologische Nachrichten,” xv., p. 309, 1889, as Lissopimpla. It is grounded on three Australian
[Footnote] * Mem. and Proc. of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, 1898.
[Footnote] † Trans. Ent. Soc. of London, 1883, p. 202.
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species, all very similar in colouration and markings to the New Zealand species. I cannot make out to my satisfaction if Dr. Kriechbaumer has described Mr. Kirby's species nor can I identify with any of them an Australian species in my own collection, this species showing considerable variation. The publication of Dr. Kriechbaumer's paper only affects the generic name, Mr. Kirby's specific name “semipunctata” being anterior by six years to the publication of the paper in which the German author described Lissopimpla. The name of the New Zealand species will therefore be Lissopimpla semipunctata, Kirby.
Captain Hutton informs me that his belief is that the species has been introduced into New Zealand from Australia. The evidence undoubtedly is that it was rare in New Zealand thirty years ago, while now it is not at all rare. At Greymouth the late Mr. Richard Helms took it commonly. It is probably, judging from its long ovipositor, a parasite on some wood-feeding insect. It varies considerably in size, as do other Pimplidæ which feed on wood-feeding insects.
The genus is, up to now at least, not known outside the Australian zoological region.