Prionyx niveatus ( Dufour 1854 )

Danilov, Yuriy N., 2012, The digger wasps of the genus Prionyx Vander Linden (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae) of Russia and Central Asia, with a key to species, new synonymies, and lectotype designations, Zootaxa 3526, pp. 59-71 : 64-65

Prionyx niveatus ( Dufour 1854)

( Figs 13, 17 )

Sphex niveatus Dufour 1854: 377 . Lectotype: Ƥ, designated by Menke in Bohart & Menke 1976: 133, Algeria: Al-Shelif: Oumm Ed Drou (MNHN).

Enodia albopictinata Taschenberg 1869: 410 (as albo-pictinata). Syntypes: Ƥ, Sudan: Khartum (MLU). Synonymized with Sphex niveatus by Kohl 1885a: 182.

Podium maracandicum Radoszkowski 1877: 7 . Lectotype, designated here: 3, Uzbekistan: Samarkand (ZMMU), examined. New synonymy.

Sphex suavis F. Morawitz 1893: 405 . Lectotype, designated here: Ƥ, Tajikistan: Iskander-kul (ZIN), examined.

Sphex afghaniensis de Beaumont 1970: Holotype: Ƥ, Afghanistan: Kabul (MZMB), a photograph examined. New synonymy.

Sphex niveatus ettingol Tsuneki 1971a: 143 . Holotype: 3, Mongolia: Bayanhongor Aymag: Tsagan Bogd ul (TMB), examined.

Prionyx niveatus: Bohart & Menke 1976: 133 ; Kazenas 1978: 41; 1998: 117; 2001: 85; 2002: 29; Pulawski 2012: 18.

Material examined: 126 Ƥ, 115 3 from Israel, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and Egypt.

Distribution: Spain, Turkey, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, Iran, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Mauritania, Niger, Sudan, South Africa.

Remarks. The specimens in the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University (ZMMU), with red labels: Podium maracandicum Radoszkowski (synonymized with Prionyx nigropectinatus ( Taschenberg 1869) by Kohl: 1885a: 183, 1885b: 165), without the name of a designator, with the labels of Alexei P. Fedtschenko: «Самаркандъ» [cyrillic] – June 9, «Верхн.Заравш.» [cyrillic] – June 21, «Кизилъкумъ» [cyrillic] – May 13 – are females of P. niveatus (Dufour 1853) . The description of the taxon ( Radoszkowski 1877) also agrees with the description of the female of P. niveatus , but does not agree with the description of the male of Prionyx nigropectinatus (Taschenberg) .

I synonymize Prionyx afghaniensis (de Beaumont 1970) with Prionyx niveatus ( Dufour 1854) based on the examination of a photograph of the holotype and that of the original description.

Figures

FIGURES 10 – 19. Lectotypes, specimens and labels. 10. Sphex hispidus Morawitz, 11. Sphex persicus Mocsáry; 12. Sphex sirdariensis Radoszkowski; 13. Sphex suavis Morawitz, 14. Sphex stschurowskii Radoszkowski; 15. P. zarudnyi; 16. Sphex tenuicornis Morawitz; 17. Podium maracandicum Radoszkowski; 18. Sphex melanotus Morawitz; 19. Sphex leuconotus Morawitz.