Clitemnestra

Clitemnestra guttatulus, copyright Jean and Fred Hort.

Belongs within: Bembicidae.

Clitemnestra is a genus of smaller wasps found in Australia and South America, members of which provision their nests (when known) with Auchenorrhyncha (Bohart & Menke 1976).

Characters (from Bohart & Menke 1976): Medium small to small wasps; frons broad to narrow, sometimes broader below than above, least interocular distance usually a little above antennal sockets, width of frons as great or greater at level of mid-cellus as a little below, inner eye margins rather strongly convex; last four male flagellomeres not specially modified; mandible with an inner subtooth; labrum normally visible; frons with a distinctly impressed line from midocellus to interantennal area; pronotal collar elevated, distinct from scutum; prescutellar sulcus efoveate; females of some species without a foretarsal rake; female arolia nearly equal in size; no posterolateral oblique scutal carina; episternal sulcus curving forward to upper end of omaulus, scrobal sulcus ending on episternal sulcus at a right angle; no acetabular carina nor sternaulus; midtibia with two apical spurs; tarsomere V curved beneath and more than twice as long as IV; forewing margin nearly straight near base of costa, media diverging at or slightly beyond cu-a, stigma moderate, one recurrent vein ending at submarginal cell I and one at cell II or both at II, veinlet between ends of recurrent veins about two-sevenths as long as posterior veinlet of submarginal cell I; jugal lobe somewhat larger than tegula but less than twice as long, hindwing media diverging well beyond cu-a; no spiracular groove; gaster not pedunculate; male with seven visible terga, sterna without fimbriae, sternum VIII simple and not unusually narrowed distally; female pygidial plate densely bristly.

<==Clitemnestra Spinola 1851 C85 (see below for synonymy)
    |--*C. gayi (Spinola 1851) [=Arpactus (*Clitemnestra) gayi] C85
    |--C. chilensis (Saussure 1867) [=Harpactus chilensis] BM76
    |--C. duboulayi (Turner 1908) [=Gorytes duboulayi] C85
    |--C. guttatulus (Turner 1936) [=Arpactus (Miscothyris) guttatulus] C85
    |--C. lucidulus (Turner 1908) [=Gorytes lucidulus] C85
    |--C. megalophthalmus (Handlirsch 1895) [=Gorytes (Miscothyris) megalophthalmus] C85
    |--C. mimetica (Cockerell 1915) C85 [=Miscothyris lucidulus mimeticus C85, Gorytes mimeticus BM76]
    |--C. multistrigosa Reed 1894 BM76
    |--C. perlucidus (Turner 1916) C85 [=Miscothyris perlucidus C85, Gorytes perlucidus BM76]
    |--C. plomleyi (Turner 1940) [=Arpactus (Miscothyris) plomleyi; incl. *Astaurus hylaeoides Rayment 1955] C85
    |--C. sanguinolentus (Turner 1908) [=Gorytes sanguinolentus] C85
    |--C. tenuicornis (Rayment 1955) [=Astaurus tenuicornis] C85
    `--C. thoracicus (Smith 1869) [=*Miscothyris thoracicus] C85

Clitemnestra Spinola 1851 C85 [=Clytaemnestra Handlirsch 1895 BM76, Clytemnestra Saussure 1867 non Dana 1847 BM76; incl. Astaurus Rayment 1955 C85, Miscothyris Smith 1869 C85]

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[BM76] Bohart, R. M., & A. S. Menke. 1976. Sphecid Wasps of the World. University of California Press: Berkeley.

[C85] Cardale, J. C. 1985. Vespoidea and Sphecoidea. In: Walton, D. W. (ed.) Zoological Catalogue of Australia vol. 2. Hymenoptera: Formicoidea, Vespoidea and Sphecoidea pp. 150–303. Australian Government Publishing Service: Canberra.