27. Sphecodes insularis Smith, 1858

Fig. 28

Sphecodes insularis Smith, 1858a: 5, ♂.

Type material examined

Holotype

INDONESIA • ♂; Mak. [ Makassar, Sulawesi]; [2 Sep.–18 Dec. 1856]; OUMNH, ENT-HYME2786.

Type locality

Celebes [= Sulawesi].

Notes

Baker (1993: 199) wrote the following:

“The HOLOTYPE of Sphecodes insularis is a ♂ in the UMO type collection labelled ‘Mak.’ [on white disc: = CELEBES: Makasar district, Sep-Dec 1856 (Wallace)] and ‘ Sphecodes insularis Smith’ [Smith’s hand; blue paper]. The head is detached and has been glued on card (obscuring details of the preoccipital ridge); the left fore-wing is lost and the apex of the right fore-wing torn off; as to the legs, R II is lost after the basitarsus, R III after the tibia, and L III after the 2nd tarsal segment.

Mandible edentate; hair tracts of flagellar segments semi-circular, extending to half length of segments; mesoscutum coarsely, densely, irregularly punctate; propodeum coarsely rugose, basal are not clearly defined; marginal area of T1 punctate, less densely so than disc, of T2-4 sharply defined and impunctate; genitalia largely exposed, gonocoxites not sulcate; hamuli 7; length c. 7 mm ”.

Sphecodes insularis is a poorly studied species, and further work is required to characterise it in the wider context of Southeast Asian Sphecodes due to the current shortage of available specimens, and the need to more extensively and precisely associate sexes (Astafurova et al. 2020).

Current status

Sphecodes insularis Smith, 1858 (Astafurova et al. 2020).

Distribution

Indonesia (Sulawesi) (Smith 1858a; Astafurova et al. 2020; Ascher & Pickering 2024).