Australian Journal of
Taxonomy
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Cryptochilus (Cryptochilus) praepositus Haupt, 1935b:269. Type data: holotype HUM, Type locality: WA, SA, Tas., Celebes. Elliot, 2007:21[cat.].
Figure 9. (a-c) Cryptochilus praepositus male lectotype (a) dorsal view (b) lateral view, left side (c) head, frontal view (d-f) Cryptochilus praepositus female holotype (d) dorsal view (e) lateral view, left side (f) head, frontal view. Scale bars a,b,d,e: 2mm, c, f: 5mm. Image credit: Lars Krogmann
Diagnosis (modified from Haupt, 1935)
Length 10-25mm; colour black and orange; body moderately setose; head of the female with a face and vertex yellow-orange, except for a black band as wide as ocellar triangle passing through ocelli and reaching compound eyes; head of a male with vertex and disc of frons black; propodeum without tubercles; second metasomal segment sometimes with a very narrow, apical black band in males, sometimes without it in females.
Female
Colouration. Head orange yellow except for a narrow area between the eyes, and the end of the mandible, which are dark/black; mesosoma black except for tegula which is orange; tibiae and tarsi orange, femora black basally, orange apically; first metasomal segment black, second metasomal segment orange, sometimes with a narrow apical black band, the remainder yellow-orange; wings yellow-orange, with a narrow apical darkening.
Head. Head wider than long, TFD/FD = 1.21; posterior ocelli closer to each other than to the compound eye, POL:
OOL = 0.66; frons with the median line not reaching median ocellus; apical margin of clypeus straight; clypeus medium, clypeus length: width = 2.08; labrum on same plain as clypeus completely exposed beneath; malar space very short, almost non-existent; first flagellar segment about the same length as the second.
Mesosoma. Mesosoma covered with black setae, pronotum relatively short, with a very weak median line, its posterior margin angulate; metanotum knobbed; metapostnotum suppressed; propodeum wrinkled across with no obvious median line, without tubercules; the dorsal edge of the hind tibia with spine-bearing scalelike elevations which becomes less prominent towards tarsus; tarsal claws dentate.
Metasoma. Metasoma with black setae, sparsely punctate, pygidium covered by short, abundant setae, metasoma 1.17x the length of mesosoma.
Male
Similar to females except for differences described here: vertex and frons black; clypeus convex, apical margin straight, labrum completely exposed beneath; hind tibiae without serration with short spines; body size slightly smaller.
Figure 9. (a-c) Cryptochilus praepositus male lectotype (a) dorsal view (b) lateral view, left side (c) head, frontal view (d-f) Cryptochilus praepositus female holotype (d) dorsal view (e) lateral view, left side (f) head, frontal view. Scale bars a,b,d,e: 2mm, c, f: 5mm. Image credit: Lars Krogmann
Distribution : SA, Tas., WA, Sulawesi (Celebes). New records: NSW, Qld., NT.
Material examined
Holotype images
The holotype is female and from a Bingham collection. From the label, it seems that Haupt determined the specimen in the 1920s, but formally described the species in 1935. The male specimen was also first studied and labelled by Haupt in the 1920s and later in 1995 the “allotype” was designated as lectotype by Raymond Wahis. Both specimens are kept in HUM and are in good condition.