Eumenes americanus de Saussure, 1852

Grandinete, Yuri Campanholo, Noll, Fernando Barbosa & Carpenter, James, 2018, Taxonomic Review of Eumenes Latreille, 1802 (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Eumeninae) from the New World, Zootaxa 4459 (1), pp. 1-52 : 6-8

Eumenes americanus de Saussure, 1852

Eumenes americana de Saussure, 1852 , 1: 39.

Type data: Holotype female at OUMNH.

Type locality: “Le Mexique ”.

Smith, 1857, 5: 34 (cat.).

Dalla Torre, 1894, 9: 17 (cat.).

Dalla Torre, 1904, 19: 21 (cat.).

Eumenes americanus ; de Saussure, 1875, 254: 103.

Zavattari, 1912, 78A (4): 124.

Giordani Soika, 1961, 1: 241.

Giordani Soika, 1978, 29: 18 (key), 29.

West-Eberhard et al., 1995, 573.

Rodríguez-Palafox, 1996: 479 (list).

Eumenes smithii americanus ; Bohart and Menke, 1974, 47: 459, 461.

Krombein, 1979, 1508.

Ruiz C. et al., 1993, 88: 83, 87 (list).

Eumenes belfragei aureus Isely, 1917 , 10: 347 (key), 352. NEW SYNONYMY.

Type data: Holotype female at USNM (n° 21378) (examined).

Type locality: Brewster County, Chisos Mountains , Texas ( USA).

Bequaert, 1938, 33: 68.

Eumenes aureus ; Bohart, 1948, 24 (9): 315.

Bohart, 1951: 884.

Krombein, 1958, 163.

Linsley, 1962, 55: 151, 152.

Krombein, 1967: 376.

Krombein, 1979: 1507 (cat.).

MacLachlan, 1980, 53: 617, 619 (key).

Ruiz C. et al., 1993, 88: 86 (list).

Eumenes smithii aureus ; Giordani Soika, 1978, 29: 29.

Eumenes (Eumenes) aureus ; Rodríguez-Palafox, 1996: 479 (list).

Distribution: Costa Rica (Guanacaste, San José); Ecuador; El Salvador (La Liberdad); Guatemala (Chimaltenango); Mexico (Baja California, Chiapas, Chihuahua. Coahuila, Estado do Mexico, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Michoacán, Morelos, Nayarit, Nuevo León *, Oaxaca, Pueblas, Sonora, Tamaulipas, Vera Cruz, Zacatecas); USA (AZ, AR, CO, KS, MO*, NE*, NM; TX).

* Records from the literature.

Comments and diagnosis: Many specimens examined belonged to E. americanus and E. aureus , and in both were found the same morphology of male genitalia and range of variation across the geographic distribution of this species, which goes from Ecuador to the southwestern USA (Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas). As we did not examine the type specimen of E. americanus , we started the comparisons with one female (from Guatemala) and one male (from Mexico) determined by Giordani Soika in 1978. From this point, we examined 107 specimens and established E. americanus as a species separable from E. smithii mainly by the male genitalia: apex of aedeagus without the rounded protuberance ( Fig. 93a ); digitus with short bristles at the base, becoming shorter or reduced towards apex ( Fig. 110 ); ventral lobe strongly rounded ( Fig. 93a ). Besides tha male genitalia, in terms of color the species may be similar to some variants of E. smithii , mostly those from Mexico and further South (black marks more developed mainly on the lateral face of the mesosoma) but can be separated mainly by the following features: clypeus with coarse punctures but very sparse on the apical half ( Fig. 66 ); punctation on T1 sparser (and absent on the base) and on T2 coarser and sparser ( Fig. 43 ); T1 with sparser and scattered punctures on the basal third; and T1 usually longer and more slender ( Fig. 27 ).

Female ( Fig. 1, 2 )

Color, head: Black with yellow marks as follows: Mandibles, except for the base; labrum; clypeus, except for a narrow longitudinal band that goes from the base to the center region and a small spot right below the center region; transverse band slightly above the inter-antennal region; a narrow band that runs along the inner margin of compound eyes, from the base of the clypeus to the ocular sinus; a narrow band on the upper half of gena, adjacent to the external margin of the compound eye; almost entire scape and pedicel; the first three and the last two flagellomeres predominantly yellow-orange. Mesosoma: Black, except for the follow regions: yellow band along anterior and posterior (edge of mesoscutum) margins of dorsal face of pronotum. Also on the dorsal face, except for the yellow region, the rest is brownish. Lateral surface of pronotum, below humeral region, blackish. Mesepisternum predominantly black, with a yellow and a brownish mark on upper half, adjacent to the mesepimeron. Tegula (except for a brownish translucent mark on center area) and parategula yellow. Mesoscutum entirely black. Upper half of scutellum yellow and basal half black. Metanotum almost entirely yellow, except for a narrow transverse band along the basal margin. Posterior face of propodeum with a broad longitudinal band along the center region; broad longitudinal yellow band occupying the lateral region of it. Between the black and yellow marks occurs a brownish band. Lateral face of propodeum almost entirely blackish, except for brownish marks on posterior region. Coxae blackish, with brownish background on posterior face of it. Trochanter blackish with small yellow marks on distal margin. Distal half of femora yellow. Tibiae entirely yellow; tarsi yellow-brownish, becoming darker towards apex. Metasoma: T1 blackish with two yellow spots on the posterior half and a yellow band on the apex. Between the the spot and the apical band there are brownish pale marks. Background of T2 black-brownish (more brownish on the lateral face), with a transverse broad yellow band on the center area, running to the lateral margins, and one on apex. S2 brownish, except for a narrow yellow band on the apex and two black spots on the lateral margins. T3-T6 and S3-S6 predominantly yellow, with a narrow brownish band on the apex. Wings: Hyaline, with the costal, submedial and medial cells yellow. Pterostigma and veins dark brownish.

Pubescence, head: Clypeus with very short whitish pubescence, better observed in oblique view. Frons, vertex and occipital region with long golden pubescence. Gena also with golden pubescence but shorter than those regions. Mesosoma: Dorsal surface with long and golden pubescence (slightly shorter than on frons and vertex); lateral surface with long pubescence (as long as on dorsal surface), whitish, better observed in oblique view; posterior surface of propodeum with the longest pubescence on body, also whitish. Metasoma: Covered with the shortest pubescence on body, golden, except for some long bristles scattered mainly on basal half of T1.

Surface of the integument, head: Clypeus with weak punctation mostly on basal half. Frons and vertex with coarse and dense punctation, which becomes very sparse behind the ocelli. Gena with reduced punctation. Mesosoma: Covered with coarse and dense punctation, except on anterior and posterior portion of mesepisternum, where the punctation is sparser (almost absent on anterior portion). Metasoma: T1 with coarse and slightly sparser (regarding to the mesosoma) punctation mostly on two-third apical region; dorsal face of T2 covered with coarse and moderately dense punctation (denser than T1), which becomes weaker and sparser towards lateral margins. S2 with evident punctation mostly on lateral margins. T3-T6 and S3-S6 with reduced punctation.

Structure, head: Clypeus convex, with the apex concave, producing two rounded apical projections with weak carinae on the apex of each one ( Fig. 66 ). Inter-antennal region slightly wider than the antennal socket, longitudinally cariniform. Lateral ocelli closer to the compound eyes than to each other. Occipital carina well developed and angled on middle region of gena, not so close to the compound eye near mandibles. Mesosoma: Pronotal fovea present; pronotal carina weakly developed on dorsal face of pronotum and more developed on lateral face. Mesepimeron slightly elevated with respect to the mesepisternum. Posterior projection of tegula weakly developed, rounded; parategula lamelliform; posterior face of propodeum concave on basal half. Metasoma: T1 long, slender, more than three times longer than wide, weakly swollen in dorsal view ( Fig. 27 ). Lateral margins on the apical half subparallel. T2 slightly longer than wide ( Fig. 43 ), with an apical lamella that becomes reduced towards lateral margins. Angle of T2, in lateral view, rising up abruptly.

Males: Clypeus narrower than females; F11 short, without longitudinal carina on dorsal surface, with the apex pointed, surpassing the apical margin of F8 ( Fig. 77 ). Ventral surface without microscopic erect bristles. S7 flattened apically, with moderately long scattered pubescence on apex. Color, pubescence, punctation and structure (except for those cited above) as in females.

Male genitalia: Aedeagus as in figure 93a, b). Paramere ( Fig. 93c ) with long bristles on middle region of the gonostyle; digitus very slender on apex, with reduced bristles on the base and no evident on apical half (fig. 110); cuspis with long and dense pubescence; volsella with short (shorter than on cuspis) pubescence; distal lobe truncate with erect bristles along the edge.

Variation: In terms of color, E. americanus may vary: yellow band on posterior margin of pronotum absent (only brownish); yellow mark on anterior margin of pronotum may be less developed; marks yellow-brownish on mesoscutum varying on size (in E. bequaerti the mesoscutum is occupied almost entirely by a brownish mark); marks on posterior face of propodeum may be entirely brownish or much reduced (predominantly black); marks on scutellum may be only brownish; brownish marks on basal half of mesepisternum or marks much reduced; yellow marks on coxae and femora more developed; yellow spots on middle area of T 1 may be reduced and the apical band may be broader ( E. bequaerti pattern); brownish marks on T2 more developed or much reduced (predominantly black), while the yellow band on middle area may be contiguous laterally with the apical band, or reduced and restrict to a spot on lateral face. The black background predominance was observed mostly in specimens from Costa Rica and Mexico, and towards the north of Mexico and the localities from USA, some specimens showed more developed yellow marking (old specimens of E. aureus , mainly the type specimen E. belfragei aureus ) ( Fig. 2 ).

Type material. The holotype of Eumenes belfragei aureus is in excellent condition and bears the labels: ‘Brewster Co. Tx \ Chisos Mts. \ VI.10-12-08 ’ ‘Mitchell and \ Cushman Coll’ ‘[Red Label] Type \ No. 21378 \ U.S.N.M.’ ‘ Eumenes \ belfragei \ aureus \ Isely’ ‘DO NOT REMOVE \ SI DB reference \ Not a property tag \ T. Schulz, NMHN \\ USNM ENT \ 00537163’. The holotype of Eumenes brunneus is in good condition, except for the right antenna which have on the scape, pedicel and F1: ‘Colorado’ ‘10’ ‘37’ ‘[Red Label] Type \ No. 21377 \ U.S.N.M.’ ‘ Eumenes \ belfragei \ Isely’ ‘DO NOT REMOVE \ SI DB reference \ Not a property tag \ T. Schulz, NMHN \\ USNM ENT \ 00537176’.

Figures

FIGURES 93–101. Male genitalia: a, b) aedeagus (lateral and ventral view, respectively); c) paramere, internal view. 93) Eumenes americanus; 94) E. bequaerti; 95) E. bollii; 96) E. consobrinus; 97) E. coyotae; 98) E. crucifera; 99) E. cubensis; 100) E. flavitinctus; 101) E. fraternus. Scale bar = 1 mm.

FIGURES 110–125. Male genitalia: digitus. 110) Eumenes americanus; 111) E. bequaerti; 112) E. bollii; 113) E. consobrinus; 114) E. coyotae; 115) E. crucifera; 116) E. cubensis; 117) E. flavitinctus; 118) E. fraternus; 119) E. pictus; 120) E. sculleni; 121) E. smithii; 122) E. verticalis; 123) E. filiformis; 124) E. rufomaculatus; 125) E. versicolor.

FIGURES 66–76. Clypeus. 66) Eumenes americanus (female); 67) E. smithii (female); 68) E. crucifera (female); 69) E. crucifera (male); 70) E. verticalis (female); 71) E. fraternus (female); 72) E. fraternus (male); 73) E. sculleni (female); 74) E. filiformis (female); 75) E. rufomaculatus (female); 76) E. versicolor (female). Scale bar = 1mm.

FIGURES 43–58. Second tergum, dorsal view. 43) Eumenes americanus; 44) E. bequaerti; 45) E. bollii; 46) E. consobrinus; 47) E. coyotae; 48) E. crucifera; 49) E. cubensis; 50) E. flavitinctus; 51) E. fraternus; 52) E. pictus; 53) E. sculleni; 54) E. smithii; 55) E. verticalis; 56) E. filiformis; 57) E. rufomaculactus; 58) E. versicolor. Scale bar = 1mm.

FIGURES 27–42. First tergum, dorsal view. 27) Eumenes americanus; 28) E. bequaerti; 29) E. bollii; 30) E. consobrinus; 31) E. coyotae; 32) E. crucifera; 33) E. cubensis; 34) E. flavitinctus; 35) E. fraternus; 36) E. pictus; 37) E. sculleni; 38) E. smithii; 39) E. verticalis; 40) E. filiformis; 41) E. rufomaculactus; 42) E. versicolor. Scale bar = 1mm.

FIGURES 1–12. Eumenes species, lateral view. 1) Eumenes americanus de Saussure (female); 2) E. belfragei aureus Isely, 1917 (Holotype, female); 3) E. bollii Cresson, 1872 (Lectotype, female); 4) E. bollii oregonensis Bequaert, 1938 (Holotype, female); 5); E. bequaerti Isely, 1917 (Holotype, male); 6) E. iturbide (= E. consobrinus; Holotype, female); 7) E. coyotae Bohart, 1948 (Holotype, male); 8) E. crucifera Provancher, 1888 (Holotype, female). 9) E. bolliformis Viereck, 1908 (Lectotype, female); 10) E. crucifera var. nearcticus Bequaert, 1944 (female); 11) E. crucifera stricklandi Bequaert, 1944 (Holotype, female); 12) E. cruciferoides Giordani Soika, 1978 (Holotype, female). Scale bar = 1mm.

FIGURES 77–92. First tergum, dorsal view. 77) Eumenes americanus; 78) E. bequaerti; 79) E. bollii; 80) E. consobrinus; 81) E. coyotae; 82) E. crucifera; 83) E. cubensis; 84) E. flavitinctus; 85) E. fraternus; 86) E. pictus; 87) E. sculleni; 88) E. smithii; 89) E. verticalis; 90) E. filiformis; 91) E. rufomaculactus; 92) E. versicolor. Scale bar = 1mm.