Systematics of the Australasian endemic wasp genus Syngaster brulk (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Doryctinae)

The braconid genus Syngaster Brulle is revised and nine species are recognized, six of which are new: S. lepidus Brulle, S. quadricolor (Cameron), S. variegatus (Szepligeti), S. crypticus sp. nov., S. hirtus sp. nov., S. neoguineensis sp. nov., S. polychromus sp. nov., S. stevensi sp. nov., and S. tricolor sp. nov. Host data are only available for S. lepidus which is a parasitoid of cerambycid larvae, notably Phoracantha spp. associated with temperate, subtropical and Mediterranean eucalypt forests in eastern and southern Australia. Other than S. lepidus, S. polychromus is the only other species known from Australia (south-east Queensland), the remaining seven species all being restricted to mainland New Guinea. Preliminary phylogenetic analysis indicates the genus comprises two species groups with S. lepidus and S. quadricolor forming a polytomy with these. The two Australian species (S. lepidus and S. polychromus) are not monophyletic, nor are the two species that lack an occipital carina (S. tricolor and S. cryptus).