Polistes (Aphanilopterus) aterrimus de Saussure, 1853

Brito, Samanta, Oliveira, Marcio L., Carpenter, James M. & Somavilla, Alexandre, 2024, The genus Polistes Latreille, 1802 (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) of Brazil: morphological diagnoses, identification key, and geographical distribution, Zootaxa 5496 (4), pp. 509-545 : 511

Polistes (Aphanilopterus) aterrimus de Saussure, 1853

( Figs 1, 2 )

Polistes (Aphanilopterus) aterrimus de Saussure, 1853: 73 , ♀.

Diagnosis. Female. Body black, no spots. Wing pigmentation reddish to brown. Intermediate size, about 20 mm in total length. Clypeus slightly wider than long or as long as wide, covered by short bristles at its base becoming long toward the apex, and medium-sized, deep punctures present only in the apical region, apex pointed, clypeus-eye touching for an extent smaller than width of antennal socket; gena width at midlength equal to or slightly wider than eye; occipital carina strong; humeri slightly projecting; dorsal groove conspicuous; mesepisternum with short and dense bristles, and small and shallow punctation; propodeal concavity widely extended in the center, propodeal striae strong in the center and weak on the sides; tergum I longer than wide with bristles short and dense, punctures weak, shallow, and small; tergum II wider or as wide as long, short, and dense bristles, strong punctures. Male. Similar to females, except that there is no contact between the clypeus and the eye, being separated by a width equal to or greater than the diameter of the antennal socket, clypeus with long bristles along its entire length, occipital carina extending along the entire length of the gena, fine striae along the propodeum.

Material examined. 5♀, 2♂ in total. Colombia: Bogotá , 3♀, 2♂ ( MNHN); Boyacá , 2♀ ( MNHN) .

Distribution. Brazil: Pará; Costa Rica; Colombia; Venezuela; Ecuador; Peru; Bolivia.

Figures

FIGURES 1–8. Polistes spp. 1, 2. P. (Aphanilopterus) aterrimus de Saussure. 3, 4. P. (A.) biguttatus Haliday. 5, 6. P. (A.) binotatus de Saussure. 7, 8. P. (A.) brevifissus Richards. 1, 3, 5, 7. Dorsal view. 2, 4, 6, 8. Lateral view. Scale bars: 5 mm.