Miss Tareva-chine Atkin-Zaldivar1, Dr Erinn Fagan-Jeffries1,2, Dr Yuanmeng Miles Zhang3, Ms Alana McClelland1, Dr Ken Walker4

1The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia, 2South Australian Museum, Adelaide, Australia, 3The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, 4Museums Victora, Melbourne, Australia

Biography:

Tareva-Chine (she/her) is a current PhD student focusing on the taxonomy and systematics of gall forming chalcids within Australia. She is currently in her first year of her PhD after completing her Honours, focusing on the taxonomy of the parasitoid wasp genus Coccygidium.

Abstract:

Amongst the parasitoid lifestyle of most of the superfamily Chalcidoidea (order Hymenoptera), whole families have developed phytophagous and gall inducing life strategies. Many of these families are only described when the galls they create become pests in the agricultural industry overseas, meaning that within Australia many of these groups are largely undiscovered. One of these groups is the family Tanaostigmatidae; only 11 species are currently described in Australia though estimates suggest that the true diversity is much larger. One species has already been known for years by citizen scientists through the bright pink, fluffy galls it makes, yet it has not been formally described. This presentation will share initial results of a PhD project on the taxonomy of chalcids that form galls on native Australian flora, by introducing a new species of gall-forming wasp on Bossiaea (Fabaceae).