Pergaphaga nigra Gauld, 1984
Pergaphaga nigra: Gupta 1987: 355 (catalog); Yu and Horstmann 1997: 455 (catalog); Zhaurova and Wharton 2009: 39, 41, 62-65, 67, 69-77 (distribution, figures, relationships).
Megaceria auct. (misidentified, not Megaceria Szépligeti, 1908): Townes 1970: 224 (figure).
Pergaphaga nigra is the sister-group to the remaining species of Pergaphaga based largely on the color pattern, reduced body sculpture, and reduced fore wing areolet that unite the other three species.
Type material. Holotype. Female (ANIC), Australia, New South Wales, Murrumbateman, emerged iii.1974 ex. Perga cocoon collected iii.1973, R.B. McInnes [not seen]
Material examined:
Paratypes: 6 females, 5 males, same data as holotype except emergence dates of 5.iii, 2.vi., and 8.v.1973 and 21.ii, 27.ii., and 8.iii.1974 (ANIC, BMNH); ACT, 1 female, Canberra, 12.v.1959, P.B. Carne (ANIC); 2 males, Duntroon, emerged 8-22.v.1960, parasite of Perga affinis (ANIC, BMNH); NEW SOUTH WALES, 1 male, Cookardinia, emerged 29.ii.1960, ex culture 223, parasite of Perga affinis (BMNH); SOUTH AUSTRALIA, 2 females, no additional data (BMNH); VICTORIA, 2 females, Avoca, 220, emerged 10.vi.1957, parasite of Symphyta on Eucalyptus sp., M.F. Leask (BMNH).
Other specimens examined: ACT, 1 female, Canberra, 24.iv.1959, W. Vestjens (MVMA); 10 females, 2 males, Duntroon, emerged 8-22.v.1959 and iv-v.1960 from P. affinis cocoons collected 1958, P.B. Carne (ANIC); 2 females, same data except cocoons collected 24.ii.1958, dissected 28.ii.1959; VICTORIA, 1 male, 6.6 mi W. of Bonnie Doon, 7.iii.1973 R.S. McInnes, emerged ex. Perga cocoons 31.i.1975 (ANIC); 1 male, Hamilton, 10.×.1947, G. Stephens, collection A. N. Burns (MVMA); 1 female, 15 mi ESE Wangaratta, emerged 16.vii.1974 ex Perga cocoon collected 8.iii.1973, R.S. Mclnnes (ANIC); 1 female, no locality, ex culture, emerged 25.viii.1934, vide 20 (BMNH); 1 male, no additional data (MVMA).
Remarks: Among the material examined, handwritten labels correctly give R.S. for initials of McInnes, but those typed labels with emergence dates of 1973 incorrectly give initials as R.B.
In addition to material examined, there are several paratypes listed by Gauld (1984) that we did not examine, including 10 males and 10 females from the type locality, and all of these are presumed to be in the Australian National Insect Collection, Canberra.
This work would not have been possible without the groundwork provided by Ian Gauld’s study of the Australian fauna, including the initial recognition of the Pergaphaga as an undescribed genus separate from Megaceria. We are particularly grateful for his assistance in many aspects of this study. We also thank the following curators and researchers for extended loans of the material used for this revision: John LaSalle (ANIC), Ian Gauld (deceased) and Gavin Broad (BMNH), Ken Walker (MVMA), and Chris Burwell (QMBA). We thank David Wahl of the American Entomological Institute (AEIC) for permission to use material previously published in the Contributions of the American Entomological Institute, as well as for useful feedback throughout our study of Westwoodiini. Matt Yoder provided considerable assistance with databasing issues, and our use of PURLs (http://purl.oclc.org) in this regard follows the example of their use in publications by Norm Johnson. Heather Cummins also graciously assisted us with image processing, formatting, and literature retrieval. This revision was conducted at Texas A&M University and is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation’s PEET program under Grant No. DEB 0328922 and associated REU supplement nos DEB 0723663 and DEB 0522836. Page last updated October 2010.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Number DEB 0328922 with REU supplement DEB 0723663 and 0522836.
Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.