Blakeius cobosi (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 : 18-23

Blakeius cobosi (Suárez, 1958) , stat. nov.

( Figs 4 C, 6–9)

Myrmilla bipunctata var. cobosi Suárez, 1958a: 90 (♂, ♀).

Blakeius bipunctatus cobosi: Lelej 2002: 30 (catalogued).

Myrmilla anselmoi Giner Marí (♂, ♀) [unpublished label name].

Type locality. “Muluy Rechid” [= Moulay Rachid, Tanger, Morocco].

Type material examined. Holotype: ♂ labelled “Holotipo / Muluy Rechid [= Moulay Rachid, Tanger], U. Setut-Marruecos, A. Pardo Alcaide, VI.1948 / Myrmilla bipuntata [sic] var. cobosi nov. var. ♂, J. Suárez det. 1956, Holotipo / MNCN Cat. Tipos N°12301/ MNCN _Ent N° Cat. 59463” ( MNCN). Paratypes: 1♀ labelled “Paratipo / Taurirt (Beni Sicar), Melilla-Marruecos, Pardo Alcaide, III.1948 / Myrmilla bipuntata [sic] var. cobosi nov. var. ♀, J. Suárez det. 1956, Paratipo / MNCN Cat. Tipos N°12301/ MNCN _Ent N° Cat. 59468” ( MNCN); 1♀ labelled “Paratipo / Granya Muluya, Quebdana-Maruec, A. Pardo leg. / Myrmilla bipuntata [sic] var. cobosi nov. var. ♀, J. Suárez det. 1956, Paratipo / MNCN Cat. Tipos N°12301 / MNCN _Ent N° Cat. 59469” ( MNCN); 1♀ labelled “Paratipo/San Lorenzo, Melilla (Marr.), Pardo leg., X.1948 / Myrmilla bipunctata var. cobosi Suár., J. Suárez det. 1957 / Museo Genova, coll. F. Invrea (acquisto 1973)” ( MSNG). “ Type material” of Myrmilla anselmoi : 1♂ labelled “ Typus / Ixmoart (Beni Sicar), Melilla-Marruecos, Pardo Alcaide, 1.X.1942 / Myrmilla anselmoi Giner ♂, det. Giner Mari / Colecion Giner Marí / MNCN _Ent, N° Cat. 59487” ( MNCN).

Additional material examined. FRANCE: 1♂, SE France, Châteaux Arnoux, 10.viii. [19]72, Bouček [leg.] ( BMNH). MOROCCO: 1♂, 1♀ (in copula), Ixmoart, Beni Sicar, viii.1945, A. Cobos (coll.) ( MNCN); 1♀, same locality, 12.v. [19]40, Pardo Alcaide [leg.] (identified as Myrmilla anselmoi Giner Marí ) ( MNCN); 1♀, Ta[o]urirt, Beni Sicar, v.1973, A. Pardo Coll. ( MNCN); 1♀, Melilla, Hasi Huenzga, Beni Bu Yahi, 10.vi.1966, coll. A. Pardo ( MNCN).

Redescription. ♀ (paratype, Morocco: Taourirt). Length: 6.9 mm. Colour. Head blackish with dense mixed erect and recumbent setae, blackish on dorsal areas, whitish on clypeus, mandibles, antennae and ventral areas; clypeus dark reddish with apical margin blackish; mandible reddish with inner margin darker and apex blackish; antenna dark reddish, with A1 and A2 lighter; mesosoma reddish orange except margin of scutal area, sides and ventral part, much darker; legs dark reddish to reddish distally; metasoma blackish with moderately dense, long mixed erect and recumbent whitish and blackish setae; T2 with two whitish to weakly goldish round setal spots very close to anterior margin, diameter of each spot more than their distance from each other; T3 and T4 with broad whitish-goldish pubescent band, both entire. Head shiny, with coarse, deep and dense to very dense (vertex, occiput and genal area) punctures (distance between punctures 0.5–1.5 × puncture diameter); head width/length: 1.22; head width/pronotum width: 1.34; genal area (dorsal view) long, with margin regularly rounded toward occiput; gena (lateral view) convex, strongly bulging, not angulate, without denticle; gena length/eye length: 1.53; frontal carina touching inner margin of eye; antennal rim concealed, not visible in dorsal view; supra-antennal tooth present, developed, sharply acute; clypeus triangle shaped, wide (axis of lateral process beyond antennal insertion), upper half (above transverse carina) prominent, flat and lower half concave with moderately developed acute tooth-like process laterally; postgena (behind oral fossa) convex; oral fossa wide (width more than length); mandible tridentate, with wide and prominent inner basal tooth, about equal in size to inner apical tooth; ratios A2:A3:A4 = 5:10:6. Mesosoma length/width: 1.1, coarsely punctate dorsally, polished and shiny on sides, with very scattered fine punctures; humeral angle acutely angulate with epomial carina strongly raised, touching pronotal spiracle; fore coxa moderately slender, apex rounded without distal process; mid and hind tibia with seven dorsal pre-apical spines arranged in two rows. Metasoma ovoidal, slender, slightly shiny, punctate, punctures very dense, mostly fine to coarse; T2 1.25 × as wide as long; S6 flat.

♂ (holotype). Length: 5.5 mm; fore wing: 3.7 mm. Colour. Head blackish with dense mixed erect and recumbent setae, blackish on dorsal areas, whitish on clypeus, mandible, antenna and ventral area; clypeus reddish orange to dark reddish orange; mandible reddish orange with inner margin darker and apex blackish; maxillo-labial complex; antenna reddish orange, dorsal of A1 and distal half darker; mesosoma reddish orange, except side and ventral part much darker; legs dark reddish brown to reddish orange distally; wings hyaline infuscated in middle due to the presence of denser black setae; metasoma blackish with moderately dense erect long whitish setae, T2 with mixed erect and recumbent whitish and blackish setae, without pale spots; T3 and T4 with broad whitish pubescent band slightly interrupted in middle. Head shiny, with coarse, deep and moderately dense to dense (vertex and occiput) punctures (distance between punctures 1.0–3.0 × puncture diameter); head width/length: 1.37; head width/pronotum width: 1.14; genal area (dorsal view) long, margin strongly convergent toward occiput; gena (lateral view) convex, thick, bulging, not angulate, without denticle; gena length/eye length: 1.78; longitudinal frontal furrow absent; antennal rim forwarded, recognizable in dorsal view; clypeus triangle shaped, wide (axis of lateral process slightly beyond antennal insertion), anterior margin concave with moderately developed acute tooth-like process laterally; ocelli well developed, distance between anterior and posterior ocelli more than distance between posterior ocelli; OOL:POL = 1.54:1.00; postgena (behind oral fossa) convex; oral fossa wide (width more than length); mandible tridentate, with wide and prominent inner basal tooth, about equal in size to inner apical tooth; ratios A2:A3:A4 = 5:8:8. Mesosoma length/width: 1.6; coarsely punctate to weakly areolate-rugose (propodeum), mesopleuron strongly convex and strongly rugose-punctate; humeral angle obtusely angulate; sutures of mesoscutum well distinct; mesoscutum convex; mesoscutellum well defined, fairly convex; propodeum (dorsal view) slightly less than pronotum width; tegula wide, subcircular with a few punctures; fore wing with axis of vein 2m-cu about at the same level of apex of marginal cell; submarginal cell 2 about half as wide as marginal cell; angle between veins 2Rs and 2M about 90°; vein 4Rs strongly curved, apical angle square; vein 2Rs slightly longer than vein 2M; vein rs-m moderately thickened; fore coxa stout; mid and hind tibia with one dorsal pre-apical spine. Metasoma subelliptical, slender, shiny, punctate, punctures dense to very dense, fine to coarse; T2 1.41 × as wide as long; S2 with well raised curved acute tooth-like process in middle; S8 stout with sides slightly convergent toward apex, distal margin slightly pointed medially, length/width: 1.00, with a very large and raised tooth-like process in middle on ventral surface; genital capsule: cuspis of volsella elongate, finger-shaped, apex regularly rounded, weakly convex to flat toward apex, ending well beyond mid length of paramere harpe, without longitudinal carina; digitus of volsella much shorter than cuspis, about half length; penis valve with midventral process elongate and strongly curved.

Intraspecific variation. Examined 6♀, 4♂. Female. Length: 4.9–9.7 mm; the colour of the head is blackish to dark reddish; the sides of the mesosoma are more or less dark, sometimes with the margins of the mesoscutum darkened; the legs vary from dark reddish to reddish. Male. Length: 4.3–6.8 mm; the mesosoma is reddish to extensively darkened also on the dorsal surface, except the middle of the mesonotum, the mesoscutellum and the middle of the propodeum (one small specimen from Morocco); the sides of the mesosoma are blackish to dark reddish; the legs vary from reddish to dark reddish, with the femora extensively blackish; the tooth-like processes on S2 and S8 are both strongly raised, although the latter is weak in one small specimen from Morocco.

Distribution. Europe: Southern France (*); North Africa: Morocco ( Fig. 36 ).

Remarks. This taxon was described as a “variety” of Myrmilla bipunctata by Suárez (1958a: 90) on the basis of nine specimens, including the ♂ holotype and eight ♀ paratypes. The only diagnostic character stated by Suárez (1958a) was the presence of a broad pubescent band on both T3 and T4. We have examined the type specimens of Myrmilla bipunctata var. cobosi and compared them with Blakeius bipunctatus ; in our opinion, the former is a valid species (stat. nov.), and it represents a valid name, according to Article 45.6.4 of ICZN (1999) and to the criteria outlined by Lingafelter & Nearns (2013). It is readily distinguished on the basis of several characters of both ♀ and ♂ as indicated in the key to species and the redescription. In MNCN there are six specimens, of both sexes, labelled as Myrmilla anselmoi Giner Marí , two of them (1♀ and 1♂) bearing a red label indicating “ Type ”. This name has never proposed in a publication, thus Myrmilla anselmoi Giner Marí is not an available name according to Articles 9.6 and 11.1 of ICZN (1999), and must be regarded as an unpublished label name. We have examined these specimens and in our opinion they are conspecific with Blakeius cobosi .

Based on the new material examined, Bla . cobosi , previously known from Morocco only, is newly recorded for Europe ( France).

Biology. Based on the material examined, the phenology extends from March to October for both female and male. Mating was observed in August.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Blakeius bipunctatus, ♀ (A) and ♂ (E): (A) head ventro-lateral view; (E) wings. Oral fossa, ventral view, ♀ (B – D): (B) Myrmilla (Myrmilla) calva (Villers, 1789); (C) Blakeius cobosi; (D) Bidecoloratilla negrei. Scale bars = 0.5 mm (except E, 1.0 mm).

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