Empria quadrimaculata Takeuchi, 1952

Prous, Marko, Heidemaa, Mikk, Akihiko, Shinohara & Soon, Villu, 2011, Review of the sawfly genus Empria (Hymenoptera, Tenthredinidae) in Japan, ZooKeys 150, pp. 347-380 : 359

Empria quadrimaculata Takeuchi, 1952

Empria quadrimaculata Takeuchi, 1952b: 49-50. Type locality: Japan, Kyoto, Ushio. Holotype female, UOPJ [examined].

Taxonomic affinities.

The closest species are Empria zhangi Wei & Yan, 2009 (China) and Empria rubicola Ermolenko, 1971. Empria zhangi (two females and two males studied, including the holotype) can be distinguished from Empria quadrimaculata mainly by the following two characters: 1) in female malar space clearly less than two times of the lateral ocellus diameter (about two times in Empria quadrimaculata and Empria rubicola ), in male equal or slightly less than the ocellus diameter (clearly longer in Empria quadrimaculata and Empria rubicola ); and 2) in female flagellum about 2.0 times longer than breadth of head (2.1-2.5 times in Empria quadrimaculata ), in male 2.4-2.5 times (2.9-3.3 times in Empria quadrimaculata ). Empria rubicola has shorter antennae and three pairs of pale patches (mostly two in Empria quadrimaculata ) on terga. The penis valves of Empria zhangi and Empria quadrimaculata are very similar (http://www.morphbank.net/?id=693502; Fig. 26), while Empria rubicola can be distinguished from the two by relatively large basal lobe of the valviceps and by the ventroapical part clearly bent towards its basal part (Fig. 27). Valvula 1 appears indistinguishable in all three species.

Host plants.

Okutani (1954) indicated Geum japonicum Thunb., but noted later that the specific identity of the reared Empria species was uncertain ( Okutani 1967).

Distribution.

Japan (Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu).