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Description
Female
Head. Vertex red-brown except for a narrow ring round each ocellus which is black; impunctate with a shallow depression around each ocellus, and V-shaped impression behind the anterior ocellus. Frontal excavation deep and smooth. Face, red-brown, impunctate, orbits below antennae sub-parallel and margined. Malar space very wide, about 2X basal width of mandibles. Clypeus red-brown, sparsely punctate, about as deep as wide at base, anterior margin slightly rounded, basal suture distinct. Mandibles red-brown, teeth black, with a few minute punctures, upper tooth nearly twice as long as lower tooth. Cheeks red-brown, shining, impunctate. Antennae red-brown, sometimes darkening towards apex of flagellum, a small spot on dorsal surface of scape and pedicel which is black. Scape not excavated, swollen distally; flagellum 1st joint as long as 2nd and 3rd joints together, the latter joints sub-equal in length, remaining joints gradually decreasing in length towards apex; from 62 to 65 joints in the flagellum.
Thorax red-brown; Pronotum impunctate, shining; mesonotum, impunctate notaulis well defined, converging posteriorly and joining before reaching base of scutellum; Scutellum separated from meonotum by a deep fovea; scutellum narrowed towards apex, curved at base with lateral keels large and acute and reaching the apex; surface smooth, impunctate, flat anteriorly, sloping steeply posteriorly; Postscutellum slightly striate posteriorly, sides steep, concave and longitudinally ridged. Propleurae impunctate; mesopleurae, the top and base depressed, edges of the depressions crenulated in the middle and reaching nearly to apex in a wide, deep, slightly oblique crenulated furrow, and in the front of this on the lower side, is a short, wide, oblique depression; Metopleurae impunctate, shining.
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Propodeum red-brown, anteriorly transversely and uniformly striated, the centre flatly raised, sides keeled, the keels ending in a stout blunt knob or tooth, the apex obliquely sloped; Petiolar area smooth, convex, slightly rugulose at sides; spiracular area impunctate; spiracles elongate, 1 ¼X their length from anterior border. Coxae red-brown, sparsely and minutely punctate at least on the dorsal surface.
Legs. Stout, red-brown, with tarsi darker, tips of claws black. Posterior femor (Fig. 1) has a groove on under side, with a short somewhat triangular tooth placed beyond the middle, on the outer side of the groove. Tibiae spined, except the anterior pair, the posterior pair being more thickly spined than the middle pair. These spines are thick and short, scattered over the dorsal surface, and a whorl at the apex; the tibiae are about 2X or 3X as thick at apex as at base.
Lissopimpla excelsa (Costa). Fig. 1—Posterior leg. Fig, 2—Fore-wing. Fig. 3—Hind-wing.
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Calcaria of hind tibiae, with the inner one the longer, which is about half as long as 1st tarsal joint of same leg. Tarsi with 1st joint slightly longer than 5th joint, 2nd somewhat shorter than 5th and subequal to 3rd joint; 4th very short; all the tarsal joints are spined ventrally, the spines are usually thinner and longer than those on the tibiae, and arranged in two parallel rows ventrally, the spines of the apical joint somewhat longer than the others.
Wings. (Figs. 2 and 3) are dark smoky-brown, except at apex of forewings and posterior portion of hind-wings. Costa, stigma and veins smoky-brown. The Nervellus is slightly basad to the junction of the basal and median veins. 1st abscissa of radius straight, 2nd abscissa curved at base and joins margin well before apex of the wing; 1st recurrent has a distinct ramulus; 2nd recurrent well curved with 2 bullae; 1st abscissa of cubital and transverse cubital where it joints the cubital vein also have bullae; areolet large, sub-triangular, the transverse cubital is the longest side, not petiolate. Hind-wing (Fig. 3), abscissula longer than 2nd recurrent which has a bulla near its junction with the basal vein; nervellus joins 1st recurrent very high, practically at its junction with the basal vein, and has a bulla at its junction with anal vein.
Abdomen. First four tergites black with large triangular white spots on each of the posterior lateral angles; remaining segments red-brown, sometimes darker than that of the thorax. Smooth, shining, impunctate throughout, the base oblique not hollowed, sides of 2nd and 3rd segments obliquely furrowed. 1st segment longer than wide, sides sub-parallel, dorsal slightly convex; 2nd segment almost as long as wide posteriorly, with a lateral oblique groove extending to about ¾ of the distance from base; 3rd segment sub-equal to 2nd segment, but slightly wider, the lateral grooves shorter and more oblique; 4th, 5th and 6th segments sub-equal to 3rd segment, the 5th segment somewhat wider posteriorly and the widest part of the abdomen; 6th segment widest anteriorly and sub-equal in length to 5th segment, and has on its dorsal surface a V-shaped area, the vertex pointing anteriorly, the centre V-shaped area covered with a semi-opaque membrane; 7th segment much narrower with anterior border concave; the tip of the abdomen is truncated. The ventral folds extend to the posterior border of 2nd segment. Ovipositor is from ¾ to ½ the length of the body, the sheaths nigger-brown to nearly black at apex.
Male
Agrees generally in structure and coloration with the female. The ocellar area and upper parts of occiput, the notauli grooves on the mesonotum, sides of the scutellum and post-scutellum and the furrows and apex of mesopleura black. The scutellar keels, sometimes apex of scutellum and the post-scutellum and the propodeum spines yellowish; 1st abdominal segment is bordered with creamy-white colour, the band being narrowed in middle and the whitish-cream marks on the lateral angles extend to the 5th abdominal segment.
Type locality: Australia.
Dimension. Female, 17 mm. in total length. Ovipositor sheath 9 mm., abdomen length 9 ½ mm. Length of forewing 14 mm. Length of antennae 16 mm. Males are generally smaller than the females.