A third contribution to the knowledge of the Hymenoptera of Sarawak
P. Cameron published this third contribution to the Hymenoptera of Sarawak in 1905 in the Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, describing an extensive array of new species and genera from material collected by Robert Shelford across Sarawak and neighbouring localities. The paper represents a major taxonomic expansion of the known parasitic and aculeate wasp fauna of Borneo, establishing sixteen new genera and approximately seventy new species across seven families.
Summary
This paper continues a series initiated in 1903, processing Shelford’s collections from Kuching, Matang, Trusan, Bidi, Kinghang, Sembulong, and other Sarawak localities, supplemented by specimens from Singapore and the Himalayas. Cameron works through the families in a fixed sequence—Siricidae, Cynipidae, Chalcididae, Evanidae, Braconidae, Ichneumonidae, and Aculeata—providing full morphological descriptions for each new taxon, with emphasis on wing venation, thoracic sculpture, abdominal segmentation, and colouration. The Braconidae and Ichneumonidae sections dominate the paper in volume, reflecting both the diversity of these families in the region and the difficulty of their classification at the time.
The taxonomic work is notable for its generative output: Cameron erects sixteen new genera, several of which he explicitly positions as intermediate between established tribes or subfamilies. For instance, Druscia is described as intermediate between the Joppini and Amblypygi, while Agarenes occupies a similar transitional position. In the Ichneumonidae, the new genus Bentyra is noted as belonging to the Tryphonidae, a group Cameron observes “appears to be rare in the tropics” (p. 116). Several new genera are proposed on the basis of a single sex only—Agarenes, Cænojoppa, and Cænostoma are known from males alone—reflecting the limitations of the available material.
Cameron also makes several reclassifications and identifications against previously described taxa, comparing his new species with those of Szépligeti, Ashmead, and others, and in one case transferring Anisobos cincticornis to his own genus Acanthojoppa (p. 158). The descriptions follow the conventions of early twentieth-century Hymenoptera systematics, with detailed attention to microsculpture (puncturation, striation, reticulation), wing venation terminology, and measurements of body length and ovipositor sheath.
Key Findings
- Sixteen new genera are described: Lissobracon, Trichiobracon, Cendebeus, Habnoba, Ediya, Bentyra, Trichonotus, Cænostoma, Phalgea, Pharzites, Cratocryptus, Coesula, Dinocryptus, Agarenes, Druscia, and Cænojoppa (pp. 103–155).
- Approximately seventy new species are described across seven families, with the Ichneumonidae contributing the largest share (over forty species) and the Braconidae the second largest (approximately fifteen species) (pp. 93–168).
- Collection localities include Kuching, Matang, Trusan, Bidi, Kinghang, Sembulong, and Tansan in Sarawak, plus Singapore and the Himalayas; collection months span all twelve months, with Kuching specimens recorded from January through December (pp. 93–168).
- The largest specimen described is Lissobracon forticornis, a female with a body length of 19 mm and an ovipositor sheath of 50 mm, collected at Matang (p. 103).
- Epirhyssa spiloptera is described with a body length of 18 mm and an ovipositor sheath of 33 mm, making it one of the largest pimpline ichneumonids recorded from the region (p. 117).
- Cameron notes that Bentyra belongs to the Tryphonidae, “a group which appears to be rare in the tropics,” suggesting the Sarawak fauna includes elements previously underrepresented in tropical collections (p. 116).
Conclusion
Cameron’s paper establishes the Hymenoptera of Sarawak as a region of exceptional taxonomic richness, particularly in the parasitic wasps, and provides the foundational generic framework for much of the subsequent ichneumonid and braconid fauna of Borneo. The sheer volume of new taxa—sixteen genera and roughly seventy species in a single paper—demonstrates how little of the region’s hymenopteran diversity had been formally described by the early 1900s, and positions Shelford’s collections as a critical resource for the systematic entomology of the Malay Peninsula and Borneo.
Context
- Cameron was a British entomologist based in London who served as a leading authority on Hymenoptera taxonomy; this paper was produced from specimens sent to him by the collector Robert Shelford, who was working in Sarawak under the patronage of the White Rajah’s administration.
- The primary source material consists of Shelford’s field collections from Sarawak (1902–1904), supplemented by a small number of specimens from Singapore and the Himalayas; no archival collections beyond these are cited.