Pseudoturneria (CRABRONINAE: Crabronini)
Workbook
These wasps have been attracting my attention for several months. Their bobbing flight with legs dangling is reminiscent of Rhopalum, and indeed that is what I initially assumed them to be. But when I finally collected a few for a closer look I got a real surprise!
Pseudoturneria is a little known genus of crabronid … so rarely seen that until 1974 the genus was known from a single species (Pseudoturneria perlucida), the description based upon just three specimens from Mackay, QLD.
Leclercq (1974, 1998) went on to describe another four species from various states including NSW, Vic, SA and WA. But evidence of them in Australian collections remains scant, and I’ve been unable to locate any images online.
Hence my excitement to find an active nesting aggregation nearby – just 1km from home, in a ditch alongside a gravel road.
I’m now confident these are Pseudoturneria territorialis.
OK, it turns out that this is perhaps the most common species. By 1998, Leclercq had 45 specimens of P. territorialis available for study. And twenty of them were collected in the southeast corner of NSW (1998) not so very far from here (!) – a single male from Brown Mountain (1961) was among the paratypes, and 19 females were later collected on or near Clyde Mountain (1981).
As the latter were collected by Ian D. Naumann, most are probably lodged with CSIRO/ANIC, and so not currently listed on ALA. Hopefully that will change in the future, as ANIC records are digitised and made publicly available.
How my local collection can help
Although my local collection of six females is not entirely novel, I’d still argue that it makes a useful contribution to what is currently known and published on this species. In addition to insights into the species’ biology, the images will assist in identifying future observations on iNaturalist.
I’ve yet to find any sightings of Pseudoturneria on iNaturalist. Indeed, the genus has yet to be added to the taxonomy (but we’ll fix that soon!). Of course, it’s possible that there are observations of this genus lurking in the dataset somewhere, unidentified or misidentified. Pseudoturneria can easily be mistaken for several other Crabronini, particularly Rhopalum, Podagritus, or Notocrabro (Leclercq 1998), and the diagnostic features will be difficult to discern in field photos.
So, my aim with this page is to provide detailed, annotated images as an example, and to develop a summary of diagnostics for each of the five known species. This should help us uncover any existing sightings on iNaturalist and facillitate recognition in the future.
Specimen numbers in my collection are: 2411F, G, H, I (all collected 24th Nov. 2024) & 2412B, C (both collected 19th Dec. 2024). I plan to lodge most of them with museums, for the reference of future researchers. All six are females. I suspect that males were active during spring. Next year I will be on the lookout for them.
Step 1: tribe Crabronini
The wasps are quite obviously Crabronini … the characteristic ‘silver-moustache’, eye shape and forewing venation are the most obvious clues.
The full set of features that distinguish the tribe Crabronini from all other Crabronidae genera is summarised on the crabronid hub page, and in the matrix in particular.
The wasps I collected display each of these features:
Step 2: genus Pseudoturneria
There are 13 genera among Australian Crabronini, and distinguishing between them can be a challenge. In some cases, the combination of gaster shape and forewing venation suffices … but usually more information is needed. Of particular importance is the structure of the thorax, laterally.
Refer to Crabronidae Hub for generalised diagram of mesopleural architecture & terminology.
The matrix and notes on the page for Crabronini summarise the differences between the genera in this tribe.
The wasps I collected match the most current description and diagnosis for the genus Pseudoturneria (Leclercq 1998):
Step 3: Pseudoturneria territorialis
There is no doubt in my mind that my local wasps are Pseudoturneria territorialis. They match Leclercq’s descriptions perfectly (Leclercq 1974, 1998). Adding to my confidence is the fact that by 1998 Leclercq had a reasonable sized set of specimens to work from. This is not the case for the other species, however, so the summary of their features should be treated with some caution. Until more examples of each species are found, the degree of intraspecific variation remains unknown … yet another way in which the iNaturalist dataset will help into the future.
click table to open/download latest version as pdf (<100kb)
A quick word about mandible shape
For most crabronids, this is a very tricky character – care is needed to accurately interpret the shape of the mandibles from a photo. For example, to see the shape of the tips you need to look directly at their outer surface.
Bits & pieces
A collection of genus and species descriptions for Pseudoturneria, for easy reference. Note that all Leclercq’s publications are in French. Alongside each I have included a English translation. These are probably imperfect, relying very much upon Google Translate.
References
Leclercq, J. 1974. Crabroniens d'Australie (Hymenoptera Sphecidae and Crabroninae). Bulletin et Annales de la Société Royale Belgique d'Entomologie 110: 37-57
Leclercq, J. 1998. Hyménoptères Sphécides Crabroniens d'Australie du genre Pseudoturneria Leclercq, 1954. Lambillionea, Revue Internationale d'Entomologie 98: 299-303 …open access
Turner, R.E. 1908. Notes on the Australian fossorial wasps of the family Sphegidae, with descriptions of new species. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1908: 457-535 pl. xxvi
This is a workbook page … a part of our website where we record the observations and references used in making species identifications. The notes will not necessarily be complete. They are a record for our own use, but we are happy to share this information with others.