Netelia ephippiatus (Smith)

Paniscus ephippiatus Smith, Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond., 1876, p. 478, female; Smith, loc. cit., 1878, p. 3, female; Hutton, Cat. N.Z. Diptera, etc., 1881, p. 126; Cameron. Mem. Manch. Soc., 42, pt. I, 1898, p. 35; Cameron, Trans. N.Z. Inst., 33, 1901, p. 105; Dalla Tore, Cat. Hymen., III, pt. I, 1901, p. 78.

Paniscus productus Hutton, Index Faunae Nov. Zeal., 1904, p. 102; Miller, N.Z. Journ. Agric., 19, 1919, p. 203, fig.

Paniscus smithii Dalla Torre, Cat. Hymen., III, pt. I, 1901, p. 80.

This species was first described by Smith in 1876 from a female collected in Otago, and two years later another female collected from Canterbury was described under the same name by the same author. Hutton gives both descriptions in his 1881 catalogue, but erroneously gives the locality for the 1878 specimen as Dunedin. Hutton was of the opinion that both descriptions referred to the one and the same species. Cameron records it from Greymouth (1898) and from Wellington (1901). Morley (1912) examined a specimen from Auckland. Female

Head brownish-yellow or light brown; ocular area and tip of mandibles black; ocelli and eyes nigger-brown; antennae brown, the apical 24 joints of a darker greyish-brown; pronotum pale yellowish-brown; mesonotum with three wide longitudinal bands of black, separated by the notauli; mesostern black; legs yellowish-brown; spines brown to blackish-brown; claws nigger-brown; abdomen, first tergite basally light brown darkening to brown towards apex; second tergite and basal part of third tergite brown, remaining part of third tergite and the posterior tergite dark brown shading to black; ovipositor dark brown to black; wings hyaline, veins and stigma brown to dark brown.

Ocelli large, posterior ones sub-contiguous with eyes, anterior ocellus separated from eyes by its diameter, and the same distance from antennal scrobes; frons finely but distinctly striolated, bordered by a lateral carina, running parallel with the inner border of the eyes, nearly glabrous; face slightly wider than long, weakly convex in centre, clothed with fine whitish pubescence and finely punctate; clypeus more especially along anterior border; flagellum with 53 joints and all coarsely punctate and clothed sparsely with longish white bristles, entirely clothed with short and fine pubescence, the joints becoming gradually shorter, the apical joint is about a quarter the length of the third joint. Scutellum prominent, oblong, narrowed towards apex, lateral carinae present, the whole surface punctate; propodeum finely, transversely striolated, strong carinae along the lateral posterior borders terminating anteriorly in a prominent spine-like process; mesostern with median sulcus deep; pleural sclerites distinct; all tibiae spined, the spines short, sharply jointed, and are more numerous on posterior tibiae; claws with strong pectinations; abdomen, first tergite, long and straight, gradually widening towards apex, the spiracles placed about one-third from base; second tergite slightly more than one-half the length of the first and sub-equal to the third tergite in length; apical spurs of posterior tibiae long, the outer the larger of the two; gastroeoeli shallow and minutely punctate; wings with areolet triangular, with only a small gap at the base of the outer side (Fig. 9); nervellus index 2·40 to 2·92 (Figs. 6 and 5).