Polybia plebeja de Saussure, 1867

Amorim, Danielle C. De A., Dos Santos Junior, José N. A., Carvalho- Filho, Fernando Da S., Silveira, Orlando T. & Carpenter, James M., 2024, Taxonomic study of wasp species in the Polybia (Myrapetra) occidentalis group morphologically related to P. scrobalis and P. flavifrons, with description of a new species (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Polistinae), Zootaxa 5477 (5), pp. 537-562 : 552-553

Polybia plebeja de Saussure, 1867

( Figs 48, 49, 50, 51 )

Polybia plebeja Saussure, 1867 . Syntypes ♀ (lost?), ♂, Mexico (MRSN—Turin), not examined. Carpenter 2011: 124; Valverde et al. 2019: 4, 11.

Polybia occidentalis var. diguetana R. du Buysson, 1905: 9 . Lectotype designated by Richards (1978) ♀, Mexico: Oaxaca (L. Diguet) (MNHN, Paris); examined by photographs. Synonymy by Carpenter (2011).

Polybia diguetana . Richards, 1951: 132, 136, 138, 139; 1978: 40, 42, 89 (in part); Carpenter 1999: 13; Rasmussen & Asenjo 2009: 48; Carpenter 2011: 124.

Diagnosis. FEMALE. Forewing with ca. 7.5–8.0 mm. occipital-genal margin obsolete dorsolaterally, mostly absent centrally, but distinct laterally; gena distinctly wide, width equal to eye-width at the level of ocular sinus; clypeus much wider than high (HCLP/WCLP—0.85); eyes practically bare; pronotal carina weakly indicated; body without outstanding erect bristles; scrobal furrow weak above and largely obliterated below; first metasomal segment quite elongated, length larger than mesopleuron height; bristles on propodeum and first metasomal segment not very conspicuous; mesosoma variably spotted with small marks; distal margin of the metasomal terga and sterna 2–6 with yellow bands, wider on sterna 1–2. Proportional ratios: LSI/ HMP—1.19; LSI / WT1_AP—2.23; WT1_AP / BA—2.92. MALE. Described briefly by Richards (1951), clypeus narrower with dense and silvery pubescence; gena very narrow; last metasomal sternite flattened; yellow markings less withish and more extensive.

Examined material. MEXICO: ♀ (old MNHN catalogue number: 1829), Jalisco , ♀ 1900 (L. Diguet), Oaxaca , 2♀ (no data), ♀ 1903, (L. Diguet), ( MPEG) , ♀ (lectotype of P. diguetana ) 1903 (L. Diguet) ( MNHN) .

Distribution. USA; Mexico; Guatemala; Honduras; Belize; Salvador; Costa Rica; Nicaragua; Panama; Colombia; Ecuador; Peru.

Remarks. The synonymy between plebeja and diguetana was established relatively recently by Carpenter (2011). Richards (1978) was apparently unaware of plebeja whose type had unknown depository until Carpenter (2011) found one male specimen in the Spinola collection in Turin (the female is possibly lost). Polybia occidentalis var. diguetana was described by Buysson (1905) based on several specimens from Mexico. Richards (1951) elevated this variety to the species level and Richards (1978) designated one of the syntypes (MNHN) as lectotype.

In the present work, the female diagnosis is based on photos of the lectotype of P. diguetana deposited at the MNHN ( Figs 26–29 ); other Mexican specimens deposited at the MPEG, and on the information in Richards (1978). The description of P. plebeja by de Saussure (1867) is an old-style Latin text, and Carpenter (2011) did not present detailed information of morphological characters of the male specimen examined in the Spinola Collection.

The material deposited in the MPEG consists of six specimens donated in the early 20 th century to MPEG. Although they are not syntypes of P. diguetana (= P. plebeja ), they are from nearby locations in Mexico and were also collected by L. Diguet, therefore representing a reliable reference on the characteristics of the species.

This species is probably an element of the Central America fauna. In the MPEG, there are specimens from localities in the Amazon region that were identified by O. W. Richards (probably after 1978) as P. diguetana (= P. plebeja ), which do not belong to this species but refer to other forms of the occidentalis group. Two specimens from the MZSP identified as P. diguetana were examined; one from Mexico (Zacatecas) corresponds well to the description presented by Richards and to other examined specimens (just having a hairier condition on propodeum as in P. occidentalis ); the specimen from Peru is P. belemensis .

Figures

FIGURES 48–55. 48–51. Lectotype of Polybia plebeja (female) (MNHN—sent by Dr. B. Santos). 48. Head, frontal view. 49. Habitus, dorsal view. 50. Habitus, lateral view. 51. Labels. 52–55. Paratype of Polybia scrobalis surinama (female) (RMNH— sent by Drª F. Bakker). 52. Head, frontal view. 53. Habitus, dorsal view. 54. Habitus, lateral view. 55. Labels.

FIGURES 25–32. Head and pronotum, diagonal view (females). 25. P. belemensis. 26. P. dimorpha. 27. P. hecuba. 28. P. parvulina. 29. P. platycephala. 30. P. rosalinae sp. nov. 31. P. scrobalis. 32. P. surinama.