Bimaculatilla invreai (Suárez, 1958) Suarez, 1958

Turrisi, Giuseppe Fabrizio, Palmerini, Maurizio Matteini & Brothers, Denis J., 2015, Systematic revision and phylogeny of the genera Blakeius Ashmead, 1903 and Liomutilla André, 1907, with description of two new genera (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae, Myrmillinae), Zootaxa 4010 (1), pp. 1-78 : 30-35

Bimaculatilla invreai (Suárez, 1958) , comb. nov.

( Figs 14–17 )

Mutilla halensis: Saunders 1890: 289 (♂, ♀) (♂ described). Highly probable misidentification. Myrmilla invreai Suárez, 1958a: 90 (♂).

Blakeius invreai: Lelej 2002: 30 (catalogued); Koçak & Kemal (2008): 12 (listed); Koçak & Kemal (2009): 20 (listed).

Type locality. “Málaga” ( Spain).

Type material examined. Holotype: ♂ labelled “Holotipo / Málaga ( Hispania), Cobos Sanchez / Myrmilla invreai n. sp. ♂, J. Suárez det. 1956, Holotipo / MNCN Cat. Tipos N°12332 / MNCN _Ent, N° Cat. 59180” ( MNCN). Paratype: ♂ labelled “Paratipo / 7.96, Tanger / Maroc, ex Musaeo H. Vaucher, 1908 / Myrmilla invreai n. sp. ♂, J. Suárez det. 1956, Paratipo / MNCN Cat. Tipos N°12332 / MNCN _Ent, N° Cat. 59181” ( MNCN).

Additional material examined. SPAIN: 1♂, San Roque, Cádiz, 8.vii. [19]74, J. Ramírez leg. ( MNCN); 1♀, same locality, 17.vii. [19]74 ( MNCN); 1♀, same locality, viii.1976, J. de Ferrer leg. / Myrmilla invreai Suár., J. Suárez det., 1980 ( IBSS); 1♀, La Janda, Cádiz, 27.v.1975, V. de Ferrer leg. ( MNCN); 1♀, Gibraltar, J.J. Walker [leg.], Coll. E. Saunders, 1910 ( BMNH). MOROCCO: 1♀, Tanger, coll. J. De Gaulle, 1919 [identified as Myrmilla ortizi, F.J. Suárez, 1969 ] ( MNHN); 1♀, same locality, Coll. Ernest André, 1914 ( MNHN); 1♀, Larache [identified as Myrmilla ortizi, B. Petersen, 1989 ] ( MNCN).

Redescription. ♀ ( Spain: Cádiz). Length: 5.5 mm. Colour. Head dark reddish brown with moderately dense mostly recumbent light brownish setae dorsally, whitish on clypeus, mandibles, antennae and ventral areas; clypeus reddish orange; mandible reddish orange with inner margin and apex darker; antenna with A1-3 reddish orange, remaining part much darker; mesosoma reddish orange, except sides and ventral part, extensively darker; legs dark reddish; metasoma dark reddish, with moderately dense, long, mixed erect and recumbent brownish setae; T2 with two small round whitish, very weakly defined setal spots, far from anterior margin, their distance from anterior margin of T2 slightly less than diameter of spot; distance between setal spots about equal than diameter of spot; T3 and T4 with broad whitish pubescent band, entire. Head shiny, with coarse, deep and dense punctures (distance between punctures 1.0 × puncture diameter), less dense on frons; head width/length: 1.24; head width/pronotum width: 1.44; genal area (dorsal view) long, margin regularly rounded toward occiput; gena (lateral view) convex, strongly bulging, not angulate, without denticle; gena length/eye length: 1.46; frontal carina not touching inner margin of eye; antennal rim concealed, not visible in dorsal view; supra-antennal tooth absent; clypeus triangle shaped, wide (axis of lateral process quite beyond antennal insertion), uniformly and weakly concave with weak and stout denticle laterally, very close to mandible insertion; postgena (behind oral fossa) convex; oral fossa wide (width more than length); mandible tridentate, with weak inner basal tooth, smaller than inner apical tooth; inner apical tooth much larger than outer apical tooth, strongly curved ventrally; ratios A2:A3:A4 = 5:9:5. Mesosoma length/width: 1.2, coarsely punctate dorsally, transverse-carinulate on sides; humeral angle square, not pointed, with epomial carina raised, touching pronotal spiracle; fore coxa stout, apex rounded without distal process; mid tibia with six dorsal pre-apical spines arranged in two rows; hind tibia with seven dorsal pre-apical spines arranged in two rows. Metasoma ovoidal, stout, very shiny, punctate, punctures moderately dense, mostly very fine mixed with scattered moderately coarse punctures; T2 1.20 × as wide as long; S6 flat.

♂ (holotype). Length: 5.9 mm. Colour. Head blackish with dense mixed erect and recumbent setae, dark brownish on dorsal areas, whitish on clypeus, mandible, antenna and ventral area; clypeus dark reddish; mandible dark reddish with inner margin and apex darker; antenna with A1–3 dark reddish orange, remaining part much darker; mesosoma reddish orange, except side and ventral part, extensively darker; legs dark reddish; metasoma blackish with moderately dense, long, mixed erect and recumbent brownish setae; T2 with two small round whitish, weakly defined setal spots, far from anterior margin, their distance from anterior margin of T2 slightly less than diameter of spot; distance between setal spots about equal than diameter of spot; T3 and T4 with broad whitish pubescent band, entire. Head shiny, with coarse, deep and moderately dense punctures (distance between punctures 1.0–2.0 × puncture diameter); head width/length: 1.31; head width/pronotum width: 1.43; genal area (dorsal view) moderately long, margin moderately convergent and rounded toward occiput; gena (lateral view) convex, slim, not angulate, without tooth-like process; gena length/eye length: 1.33; longitudinal frontal furrow present, weakly developed; antennal rim forwarded, recognizable in dorsal view; clypeus triangle shaped, wide (axis of lateral process slightly beyond antennal insertion), anterior margin concave with a weak denticle laterally; ocelli well developed, distance between anterior and posterior ocelli equal to distance between posterior ocelli; OOL:POL = 1.55:1.00; postgena (behind oral fossa) convex; oral fossa wide (width more than length); mandible tridentate, with weak inner basal tooth, smaller than inner apical tooth; inner apical tooth strongly curved ventrally; ratios A2:A3:A4 = 4:8:8. Mesosoma length/width: 1.7, coarsely punctate dorsally, except propodeum, coarsely areolaterugose, mesopleuron convex, punctate-rugose; humeral angle angulate, squared, slightly pointed; sutures of mesoscutum reduced but well distinct; mesoscutum sligthly convex to flat; mesoscutellum well defined, flat to slightly convex; propodeum (dorsal view) about as wide as pronotum; tegula reduced but distinguishable, subcircular, impunctate; wings highly reduced to small sclerites; fore coxa stout; mid and hind tibia with two dorsal pre-apical spines. Metasoma subelliptical, slender, very shiny, punctate, punctures moderately dense, mostly very fine mixed with scattered moderately coarse punctures; T2 1.21 × as wide as long; S2 without traces of tooth-like process; S8 stout with sides very slightly convergent toward apex, distal margin slightly pointed medially, length/ width: 0.90, ventral surface not bearing tooth-like process, slightly concave; genital capsule: cuspis of volsella elongate, finger-shaped, apex regularly rounded, weakly convex to flat toward apex, ending about at mid length of paramere harpe, with sharp longitudinal carina; digitus of volsella much shorter than cuspis, about half length; midventral process of penis valve present: elongate and strongly curved.

Intraspecific variation. Examined 7♀, 3♂. Female. Length: 5.2–6.0 mm; the mesosoma is darker in one specimen; the sides of the mesosoma are more or less darkened; the legs vary from reddish to dark reddish; the setal spots on T2 are variable, from weakly defined (with a few setae) to moderately defined. Male. 5.0– 6.3 mm; the head of one specimen is dark reddish, with the legs lighter (reddish, extensively darkened on femora).

Distribution. Europe: Spain. North Africa: Morocco ( Fig. 36 ).

Remarks. The female is described for the first time. The attribution of the female to the male of this species is tentative although we deem it to be highly reasonable, because a male of this species was collected in the same locality (Cádiz, not far from type locality) and in the same period as the female. Moreover, the females share quite peculiar features that distinguish them from any other known species of the Blakeius genus-group, as stated in the description, the key to species and the comparative table ( Table 3 , below). Alternatively, due to the distinctive morphological features of these females, it would be necessary to erect another genus, but we abstain from such treatment by considering them as the other sex of Bim. invreai , awaiting further field investigations to get possible confirmation.

Biology. Based on the limited material examined, the species is active from May to July (both female and male).

Figures

FIGURE 14. Bimaculatilla invreai, habitus in dorsal and lateral views: (A – B) ♀; (C – D) ♂. Scale bars = 1.0 mm.

FIGURE 15. Bimaculatilla invreai, ♀ (A – E) and ♂ (F – J): (A, F) head, dorsal view; (B, G) head, lateral view; (C, H) head, frontal view; (D, I) mandible; (E) head ventral view; (J) clypeus. Scale bars = 0.5 mm.

FIGURE 16. Bimaculatilla invreai, ♂: (A) head, ventro-lateral view; (B) mesosoma, dorsal view. Scale bars = 0.5 mm (A); 1.0 mm (B).

FIGURE 17. Bimaculatilla invreai, ♂: (A – C) genital capsule: (A) dorsal view; (B) lateral view; (C) ventral view; (D – E) S 7 – S 8: (D) ventral view; (E) lateral view. Scale bars = 0.5 mm.

FIGURE 36. Distributions of species of Blakeius and Bimaculatilla, according to the material examined and selected and checked literature data.