Megascolia (Regiscolia) maculata flavifrons (Fabricius, 1775), 1928

Lohrmann, Volker & Engel, Michael S., 2015, A quadriocellar scoliid wasp (Hymenoptera, Scoliidae) from Mallorca, with a brief account of supernumerary ocelli in insects, Zoosystematics and Evolution 91 (2), pp. 191-197 : 191

Megascolia (Regiscolia) maculata flavifrons (Fabricius, 1775) Figs 1-4

Material.

♀; E [ Spain], Mallorca , Finca bei Polença, 09. 06. 2010, leg. D. Pawelek (UMB) .

Measurements.

Total body length: 38.0 mm; head width: 7.0 mm; forewing length: 32.5 mm; hind wing length: 16.0 mm; mesoscutal width: 5.8 mm.

Descriptive notes.

The female specimen, which seems to be normal in every other respect, has four ocelli instead of the three which is the common state in the family and generally so across Aculeata. In this specimen the posterior ocelli are normal in position, form, and size whereas the anterior ocellus is represented by two, perfectly-formed ocelli that are disposed symmetrically, one on each side of the fissura frontalis by which they are separated (Figs 3 , 4 ). The two aberrant anterior ocelli, which are located together in a single ocellar depression, are of the same size (maximum diameter) as the posterior ocelli whereas the anterior ocellus is about 1.1 times larger than the posterior ocelli in normal individuals (Figs 5 , 6 ). This specimen shows no other malformations nor any traces of stylopisation.

Comments.

This particular subspecies is represented in the collection of the UMB by an additional 10 males and 17 females from Italy (Liguria, South Tyrol, Apulia, and Sardinia), Spain (Catalonia and Ibiza), and France (Corsica). None of them has been collected at the same locality as the above female, nor does any show a similar malformation. Scoliids are moderately diverse, with approximately 560 species in 143 genera ( Aguiar et al. 2013), and are often robust and large insects such that if teratologies are discovered they should be readily spotted.

Figures

Figures 1 - 6. Megascolia (Regiscolia) maculata flavifrons (Fabricius). 1 - 4. Quadriocellar female from Mallorca. 1. Habitus in lateral view. 2. Habitus in dorsal view. 3. Head in dorsal view. 4. Ocellar area. 5 - 6. Normal female from Ibiza. 5. Head in dorsal view. 6. Ocellar area. Photos: Matthias Haase.