Biodiversity Data Journal Biodiversity Data Journal Biodiversity Data Journal BDJ 1314-2836 1314-2828 Pensoft Publishers Biodiversity Data Journal 10.3897/BDJ.1.e959 2208 Pteromalidae Faunistics & Distribution New Zealand Scutellista caerulea (Fonscolombe, 1832) (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae), new to New Zealand for the second time! Thorpe Stephen E. Mr stephen_thorpe@yahoo.co.nz 1 School of Biological Sciences (Tamaki Campus), University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

Corresponding author: Stephen E. Thorpe (stephen_thorpe@yahoo.co.nz).

Academic editor: José Fernández-Triana

 2013 16 9 2013 1 e959 26 7 2013 29 8 2013 Stephen E. Thorpe This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0 (CC-BY), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

In 1921, Scutellista caerulea was imported and released in Nelson, New Zealand, for the biological control of pest scale insects. It was thought to have failed to establish, and is therefore currently considered to be absent from the New Zealand fauna. On 17 April 2013, a live specimen was captured in the wild in Auckland.

 Scutellista caerulea Hymenoptera Pteromalidae New Zealand Auckland biological control scale insects NZOR Introduction

In 1921, Scutellista caerulea (Fonscolombe, 1832) was released in Nelson, New Zealand, for biological control of pest scale insects, but apparently failed to establish (Dumbleton 1936, as Scutellista cyanea). It is not considered to be present in New Zealand, and is not listed on the New Zealand Organisms Register (NZOR). However, on 17 April 2013, I captured a single live female in the wild, in the grounds of the Tamaki Campus of the University of Auckland (see Fig. 1). The species is so distinctive that it cannot be confused with any other, even within the genus Scutellista.

 Taxon treatments Rank: Species Type of treatment: Redescription or species observation extant Habitat: terrestrial Root classification: 8 Scutellista caerulea (Fonscolombe, 1832) Scutellista cyanea Motschulsky, 1859 Materials

Occurrence: recordedBy: Stephen Thorpe; individualCount: 1; sex: female; Location: country: New Zealand; verbatimLocality: Tamaki Campus of University of Auckland; verbatimLatitude: 36.8816119078S; verbatimLongitude: 174.8531936109E; Event: eventDate: 17 April 2013; Record Level: institutionCode: Auckland Museum

 Description

The specimen was identified using Bouček (1988), and references listed therein. I recommend that Scutellista caerulea be added to the New Zealand Organisms Register (NZOR) as exotic, present in the wild. It is unclear if the new specimen represents a descendant of the original stock released in Nelson in 1921, or a new incursion from overseas. The balance of evidence favours the latter hypothesis, since Auckland is far from Nelson, and the species has not been seen in N.Z. for nearly a century.

 References Bouček Z 1988 Australasian Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera). A biosystematic revision of genera of fourteen families, with a reclassification of species C.A.B. International Wallingford, UK. 832 0-85198-607-2 Dumbleton L. J. 1936 The biological control of fruit pests in New Zealand New Zealand journal of science and technology 18 7 588 592

Scutellista caerulea, adult female in lateral view (length about 2 mm)