Pseudonortonia gujaratica ( Nurse, 1902 )

Selis, Marco & Nguyen, Lien Thi Phuong, 2024, The Oriental species of the genus Pseudonortonia Giordani Soika (Hymenoptera Vespidae: Eumeninae), Zootaxa 5477 (2), pp. 171-194 : 180-182

Pseudonortonia gujaratica ( Nurse, 1902)

( Fig. 6 )

Montezumia gujaratica Nurse 1902: 90 , pl. fig. 16, ♀ — “Deesa” (NHMUK, type no. 18.211).

Labus campanulatus Wickwar 1908: 118 , 121, fig. 10–13, ♀ —“ Ceylon ” (NHMUK, type no. 18.109).

Diagnosis. The female of this species can be distinguished from the other Oriental species of Pseudonortonia by the following combination of characters: clypeus sparsely and finely punctate; occipital carina shallow and straight on gena; pronotal carina shortly developed in the middle and forming obtuse teeth on humeri; propodeal shelf as long as metanotum and deeply furrowed; T1 1.4–1.55× as long as apically wide, sparsely punctate with interspaces large and flattened, and with apical margin not reflexed; T2 with barely reflexed and regular apical margin; S2 evenly convex.

Material examined. HOLOTYPE OF MONTEZUMIA GUJARATICA : ♀ labeled “Type [circular label with red border] // Deesa / 10.98 // ♀ // Type // Montezumia / gujaratica / (Nurse) // B.M. TYPE / HYM. 18.211 // [QR code] / NHMUK015610159” ( NHMUK). HOLOTYPE OF LABUS CAMPANULATUS : ♀ labeled “Type [circular label with red border] // CEYLON, // Ceylon. / O.S.Wickwar. / 1912–189. // Labus / campanulatus / Type. Wickwar // Is a / Nortonia / CD. // B.M. TYPE / HYM. / 18.109 // [QR code] / NHMUK015610160” ( NHMUK). INDIA: Deesa , VIII.1897, 1♀ ( MSNVE); Mysore, Bandipur, 1100 m, 3.IV.1970, leg. R.T. Simon Thomas, 1♀ ( MSNVE).

Distribution. India: Gujarat, Karnataka *; Sri Lanka ( Nurse 1902; Wickwar 1908) ( Fig. 10 ).

Notes. The specimen from Deesa in MSNVE ( Figs 6 A-B) was labelled by Giordani Soika as paratype ( Fig. 6C ). Nurse (1902) does not report the exact number of specimens examined to describe this species, but the labels of the specimen examined indicate that it came from the Nurse collection and the collecting data are in line with what is reported in the description; on the other hand, the type in NHMUK bears original type labels, while the specimen in MSNVE does not. It is therefore unclear whether the specimen in MSNVE belongs to the original type series, but, in any case, it would be a paralectotype and not a paratype.

The types of Montezumia gujaratica and Labus campanulatus show some slight differences, shared by the two specimens found in MSNVE: the type of Labus campanulatus and the specimen from Bandipur have slightly larger punctures on clypeus ( Fig. 5G ), generally more elongate appearance, T1 1.55× as long as apically wide (1.4× in the type of M. gujaratica and the other specimen from Deesa), apical margin of T2 more reflexed ( Fig. 5H ). These differences are however very subtle, and we prefer to tentatively consider them as intraspecific variability probably linked to the different size of the specimens (8.5 mm for the specimen from Deesa, 10.0 mm for the one from Bandipur), accepting the synonymy of the two taxa as already proposed by Giordani Soika (1941). The examination of more material and the discovery of the males will provide useful data to clarify the situation.

Figures

FIGURE 5. Pseudonortonia flavolimbata Giordani Soika, 1986, stat. nov., female.A–E, specimen from Sumatra. F, specimen from Sabah.A, habitus, dorsal view. B, F, habitus, lateral view. C, head, frontal view. D, mesosoma, dorsal view. E, T1–2, dorsal view.

FIGURE 6. Pseudonortonia gujaratica (Nurse, 1902), female. A–F, possible paralectotype from Deesa. G–H, specimen from Bandipur. A, habitus, dorsal view. B, habitus, lateral view. C, labels. D, G, head, frontal view. E, mesosoma, dorsal view. F, H, T1–2, dorsal view.

FIGURE 10. Distribution map of the Oriental species of Pseudonortonia.