CrabronidaeKerri-Lee HarrisBatch 5

Pseudoturneria (CRABRONINAE: Crabronini) - males

CrabronidaeKerri-Lee HarrisBatch 5
Pseudoturneria (CRABRONINAE: Crabronini) - males
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Workbook

Last year, during spring and early summer, I discovered this small species nesting in the gravel alongside a forest track. They look very like tiny Rhopalum as they bob about low to the ground, often with legs dangling. But I was rather excited to discover they were Pseudoturneria – a genus not often recorded if the paucity of online images is any indication.

Here is the full story from last December

Although I first noticed the wasps during October 2024, it wasn’t until December that I took a close look. And hence I missed out on the males! It is not uncommon for males to be present for just a short period. So this season I decided to get in early. I’ve been monitoring the patch where they nested last season – and sure enough they’re at it again!

Within days of their first appearance this year, I was in the field with camera in hand – and quickly convinced I was seeing males. In addition to those wasps seen investigating burrows and returning with prey, there were swarms of much smaller insects hovering in the ditch adjacent to the nesting bank. They would occasionally land, but not often. All the hallmarks of males seeking emergent females. Unfortunately I didn’t witness any couplings … but perhaps I’ll try again in the coming days. Although I had best not wait too long, as I predict the males will soon disappear.

Confirmation that those swarms of small wasps were indeed males! Out of the six I collected [Specimen IDs: 2511A-F], five were males … and they are indeed much smaller than the females. Let me introduce them.

The gallery below illustrates features of the genus, and in some cases the species. More details regarding species-level identification is on the page describing the females from last year.

The annotations are derived from Leclercq’s descriptions (1974, 1998).

Featured
distinguishing the sexes
2511C, male
distinguishing the sexes
2511C, male

In addition to the slender shape, males are identified by the number of visible tergites: 7, rather than the 6 of females.

2511C, male
distinguishing the sexes
2511C, male, live
distinguishing the sexes
2511C, male, live

The number of antennal segments also differs between the sexes. Males have a total of 13 segments (cf females 12). However, as the flagellomeres are particularly short in these wasps, counting segments in field photos will prove challenging.

2511C, male, live
size comparisons
size comparisons

Males closely resemble females but are smaller and more slender-bodied.

Forewing length (a commonly used indicator of body size):
female 2412B= 5mm
male 2511B = 3.5mm
male 2511F = 4mm

size
2511B, male
size
2511B, male

This is the smallest of the males collected, with an overall length of around 5mm.

2511B, male
size
2511F, male
size
2511F, male

2511F was the largest male collected, with an overall length around 6mm.

2511F, male
forewing venation
2511F, male
forewing venation
2511F, male

Pseudoturneria have:

Forewing:
- marginal cell largely truncated
- basal segments of the submarginal cell in a ratio close to 5:4 (ie just slightly beyond the midpoint)

Hindwing:
- jugal lobe (solid arrow) as long or longer than the submedian cell (broken arrow)

2511F, male
head shape & ocellar triangle
2511B, male
head shape & ocellar triangle
2511B, male

Pseudoturneria have:

- ocelli in a moderately high triangle, the anterior ocellus smaller
- subrectangular head
- naked eyes
- relatively short flagellomeres … males with 11 flagellomeres and withour remarkable deformations
- pronotal collar non-keeled, short, well-rounded

2511B, male
frons & scapal basin shape
2511C, male
frons & scapal basin shape
2511C, male

Pseudoturneria have:

- scapal sinus smooth, shiny, moderately concave, without lateral or dorsal carina; separated from eyes by a narrow, pubescent space

2511C, male
face & clypeus shape
2511F, male
face & clypeus shape
2511F, male

Pseudoturneria have:

- inner orbits converge towards the clypeus
- zero or minimal eye-antennal insertion distance; short inter-insertion distance

2511F, male
genae & propleuron
2511F, male
genae & propleuron
2511F, male

Pseudoturneria have:

- genae simple
- propleuron simply conical

2511F, male
mesopleural architecture
2511C, male
mesopleural architecture
2511C, male

Pseudoturneria have:

- - wide, flat perpectus forming a perpendicular plane to flat omaulal area
- omaulus strong
- episternal sulcus wide & crenulate
These features distinguish Pseudoturneria from those Rhopalum species that have a much reduced peduncle.

2511C, male
mesopleural architecture
2511F, male
mesopleural architecture
2511F, male

Pseudoturneria have:

- wide, flat perpectus forming a perpendicular plane to flat omaulal area
- omaulus strong
- episternal sulcus wide & crenulate
- verticaulus (precoxal carina) absent

2511F, male
propodeum structure
2511F, male
propodeum structure
2511F, male

Pseudoturneria have:

- anterior furrow wide & deep, strongly crenate
- dorsal surface sculpted, sometimes strongly reticulate
- dorsal & lateral surfaces separated by keel, evident from the stigmata

Pseudoturneria territorialis have:
- propodeum enclosure (dorsal surface) entirely reticulate-areolar
- scutum & scutellum not glossy (regularly punctate, without large intervals)

2511F, male
metasoma/gaster shape
2511F, male
metasoma/gaster shape
2511F, male

Pseudoturneria have:

- very thin lateral carina on tergite I
- tergite II basally depressed
- following segments regular, more of less oblong in male (oval in female) (presume this refers to dorsal view)

2511F, male
metasoma/gaster shape
2511B, male, legs II-III on left removed
metasoma/gaster shape
2511B, male, legs II-III on left removed

Pseudoturneria have:

- gaster subsessile due to a very clear constriction between segments I and II of metasoma
- segment I thick, relatively short

Pseudoturneria territorialis have:
- gaster largely black, but at least one segment mainly orange
- in the type and most examples, TI is orange while TII-TVI are deep black
- there is a tendency towards blackening at the base of TI
- note that some males have more extensive orange on the gaster (e.g. a series from SA)

2511B, male, legs II-III on left removed
pygidium
2511C, male
pygidium
2511C, male

Pseudoturneria have:

- pygidial area of male trapezoidal, well edged, very flat, punctated

2511C, male
metasomal sternites (+ leg III) colouration
2511F, male
metasomal sternites (+ leg III) colouration
2511F, male

In Pseudoturneria turneria males:

- sternites TII to TVI are generally black, but in some they may be ‘thinned’ and vaguely ferruginous
- tarsomeres II-IV of leg III are darkened (cf. P. couloni)

2511F, male

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 via Wikispecies

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.