Anterhynchium (Anterhynchium) argenteopilosellum ( Giordani Soika, 1937 ) Selis & Carpenter, 2023

Selis, Marco & Carpenter, James M., 2023, Revision of the Afrotropical species of the genus Anterhynchium de Saussure (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Eumeninae), Zootaxa 5233 (1), pp. 1-102 : 69-72

Anterhynchium (Anterhynchium) argenteopilosellum ( Giordani Soika, 1937) stat. nov.

( Fig. 21 )

? Odynerus synagroides gamma von Schulthess 1924: 1 , ♁, ♀ —“D.-O.-Afrika, Kigonsera N.-O.- Rhodesia ” (syntypes ZMUZ and OUMNH).

Odynerus (Rhynchium) synagroides argenteopilosellus Giordani Soika 1937: 313 (key), 322, ♁, ♀ —“ Mozambico: ai piedi del monte Chiperone , 2500 piedi” (holotype BMNH).

Diagnosis. This species can be recognized by: smaller size, last metasomal terga pale orange with silvery pubescence, posterior lobe of tegula short and not equaling parategula, propodeal carinae irregularly denticulate, dorsal face of propodeum entirely punctured, interspaces on T1–T2 equal to or larger than punctures diameter, male clypeus deeply emarginate, tyloids present on all flagellomeres, male F11 claw shaped, mid femur of male simple, vertex of female with foveae placed in a small deep depression which is smooth with fine punctures.

Description. MALE. Fore wing length 15.0–16.0 mm.

Head 1.2 × as wide as long in frontal view. Clypeus in lateral view weakly convex; in frontal view 1.25 × as long as wide, apical margin with deep semicircular incision, incision 0.5 × as deep as wide, apical teeth long and triangular, sharply pointed apically. Interantennal space carinate. Distance from posterior ocellus to occipital carina 2.4 × as long as the distance from posterior ocellus to inner eye margin. Gena 1.2 × as wide as eye at bottom of ocular sinus; occipital carina complete, lamellate and weakly sinous on sides, fine dorsally. Scape 3.4 × as long as apically wide; F1 2.4 × as long as wide; F2–F10 longer than wide; F11 digitiform, apically rounded and weakly curved in lateral view, apex reaching base of F9; F1–F10 with tyloids. Mandibles tridentate, apical tooth long and weakly curved apically, mid tooth forming a weakly convex cutting margin, inner tooth triangular; space between mid and inner teeth deep and wide, rounded at bottom. Pronotal carina complete, elevated into a very short lamella on sides of dorsal face; pretegular carina fine, preceded by a shallow depression on ventral half. Mesoscutum 0.9 × as long as wide between tegulae, distinctly convex in lateral view. Scutellum convex, with a median longitudinal furrow deeper on posterior half. Metanotum angled in lateral view, with a short horizontal face and a longer vertical face, faces separated by a crenulate margin depressed on middle line. Tegula elongate, outer margin weakly convex, posterior lobe triangular and short, not reaching apex of parategula. Parategula large and straight, dorsally convex, with rounded apex. Mesepisternum weakly convex, epicnemial carina complete and strong, becoming lamellate ventrally and forming an elevated angle on ventral corners. Propodeum in lateral view oblique; sides of posterior face flat and angularly meeting on median line, therefore posterior face large and weakly depressed; dorsal face convex; lateral face flat with apical depression; dorsal carinae absent, therefore dorsal and posterior faces are not clearly separated; lateral carinae strong and denticulate, with larger teeth on posterolateral angles of propodeum. T 1 in dorsal view 0.75 × as long as wide, sides converging anteriorly, anterior margin broadly rounded; in lateral view with flat vertical and horizontal faces, transition between faces strongly convex; T 2 in dorsal view wider than long, in lateral view weakly convex, with preapical shallow depression; S2 medially shallowly depressed, in lateral view more bulging basally, with almost vertical anterior face followed by flattened horizontal face.

Head with deep punctures, interspaces microreticulate and shiny on frons and gena, micropunctate on vertex, as larges as punctures diameter on frons and becoming larger on vertex and gena, interantennal space and most of ocular sinus smooth. Clypeus with dense irregular microsculpture on basal half and longitudinally microstriate apically, with small shallow punctures, interspaces several times as long as punctures diameter. Pronotum, mesoscutum and scutellum with very dense and deep punctures, interspaces forming a narrow reticulation, some punctures confluent with each other; ventral corners of pronotum with larger interspaces, microreticulate and shiny; interspaces larger and flattened in middle of mesoscutum. Horizontal face of metanotum roughly punctured, interspaces irregular and reduced to sharp carinae and spines; vertical face of metanotum microreticulate with some shallow large punctures dorsally. Mesepisternum, except epicnemium and posterior margin, with large flat-bottomed punctures, interspaces reduced to narrow reticulation. Metaepisternum densely microreticulate, almost dull, with some short striae on anterior margin. Dorsal faces of propodeum roughly punctured, large flat-bottomed punctures with narrow and sharp interspaces; posterior face with oblique irregular striae, some shallow punctures on dorsal margin; lateral face with irregular fine transverse striae and some shallow larger punctures. T1 dull, very finely micropunctate, with deep oblique punctures, interspaces equal to larger than punctures diameter, lateral margins coarsely punctured; T2 similar to T1, but punctures larger, especially on apical depressed area; T3–T4 punctured similar to apical part of T2, interspaces larger; T4–T7 dull, with barely noticeable larger punctures. S1 smooth and shiny on basal petiole, enlarged apical part irregularly rugose with shallow flat-bottomed punctures on sides; S2 microreticulate and shiny, with deep oblique punctures, denser on sides; following sterna micropunctate and with punctures similar to S2, punctures becoming progressively fewer on apical sterna, S7 without punctures. Head, mesosoma, T1–T3 and S1–S5 with black pubescence, T4 with dense brownish pubescence, T5–T7 and S6–S7 with silvery pubescence, especially dense on terga where it conceales tegument; longer setae are present on frons, mesepisternum, posterolateral angles of propodeum, S1, base of S2 and apex of S7.

Black; following parts red: clypeus, mandible, sopraclipeal area, scape, flagellum below, part of legs, sides of T1; T5–T7 and S6–S7 pale orange; wings strongly fuscous, with purplish reflections.

FEMALE. Fore wing length 17.0–19.0 mm.

Like male, except: head 1.2 × as wide as long in frontal view; clypeus in frontal view short pyriform, as long as wide, apical margin narrow and shallowly incised, apical teeth rounded and pointing out; gena 1.4 × as wide as eye at bottom of ocular sinus; cephalic foveae placed in a deep depression, narrower than ocellar triangle and differently sculpted; scape 3.5 × as long as apically wide; F1 2.3 × as long as wide; F10 bullet-shaped; mandible quadridentate; T 1 in dorsal view 0.75 × as long as wide; clypeus more densely punctured; T4–T6 or T5–T6 and S5–S6 pale orange with silvery pubescence.

Distribution. Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa *, Tanzania?, Zambia, Zimbabwe ( Carpenter et al. 2009; Giordani Soika 1937, 1973; von Schulthess 1924) ( Fig. 20 ).

Remarks. This species was described as a subspecies of Anterhynchium (A.) synagroide due to the almost identical appearance, but deserves to be raised to specific rank due to the following characters [characters of synagroide in brackets]: tyloids present on F2–F10 [tyloids present on F6–F10], basal convexity of S2 strong also in the middle [basal convexity of S2 less evident medially], apical metasomal segments pale red-orange with dense silvery pubescence [apical metasomal segments bright orange with orange pubescence].

According to von Schulthess (1924) the subspecies A. synagroide gamma is differentiated by having four black terga, while other subspecies have no more than three black terga. The typical series of this taxon was not available for study and no specimens of Anterhynchium synagroide agreeing with subspecies gamma were examined, therefore its actual status cannot be ascertained. However, some specimens of Anterhynchium argenteopilosellum show four black terga, as stated for A. synagroide gamma . Although it can not be confirmed without examination of the typical series, we can speculate that A. synagroide gamma and A. argenteopilosellum could be synonyms.

Figures

FIGURE 20. Distributional map of synagroide species-group.

FIGURE 21. Anterhynchium argenteopilosellum (Giordani Soika, 1937).A, habitus of male. B, head of male in frontal view. C, head of female in frontal view. D, head of female in dorsal view. E, flagellum of male in lateral view. F, T2 in dorsal view.