Tachysphex fugax ( Radoszkowski, 1877 )

Abu El-Ghiet, Usama M., Gadallah, Neveen S., Gasib, Abdulmajeed M., Al-Fifi, Zarrag I. A. & Edmardash, Yusuf A., 2023, Further addition to the crabronid fauna of Saudi Arabia (Hymenoptera: Apoidea (Spheciformes): Crabronidae), with new genera and species records, and the description of two new species, Zootaxa 5319 (2), pp. 151-177 : 170-172

Tachysphex fugax ( Radoszkowski, 1877)

Fig. 14A–F

Tachytes fugax Radoszkowski, 1877: 30 , ♁.

Diagnosis. Body length: 7.0 mm.

Body entirely black (including antennae and legs) ( Fig. 14A–C, E ); clypeal lobe flat, with at most a rudimentary bevel in female, angulate laterally in male; labrum greatly concealed by clypeus; antennal flagellomeres elongate, distinctly longer than broad, without sensory areas ( Fig. 14B, C ); length of flagellomere IV 4.0–4.5× apical width in female and 2.2–2.8× in most males; frons punctatorugose; mesoscutum and mesopleuron densely punctate ( Fig. 14C, D ), with puncture one diameter apart, much denser posteriorly at junction with scutellum; propodeum longitudinally ridged, setae directed obliquely anterad ( Fig. 14D ); hind coxa more or less expanded at base dorsally; bottom of male fore femoral notch glabrous, microscopically ridged; outer margin of fore basitarsus in most males with 3–5 rake spines; outer apical spine of male tarsomere II no longer than tarsomere III; T 1–3 with apical silvery fasciae ( Fig. 14A ).

Material examined: 1♀, Farasan, Abdulmajeed farm [16 Q 42.07970’N; 42 Q 08.5781’E], 23–30.ix.2022.

Previous Saudi Arabian records: Adriyah, El Riyadh, Fayfa, South Jeddah, Wadi Maraba ( Pulawski 2007) .

Distribution: Algeria, Angula, Austria, Azerbaijan, Botswana, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Canary Islands, Central African Republic, Comoro Islands, Croatia, Cyprus, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Georgia, Greece, Guinea, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mali, Malta, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Lione, Somalia, South Africa, Spain,? Switzerland, Syria, Tanzania, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Zimbabwe.

Comments. Characters of the only female collected from Farasan agrees well with Pulawski’s key (2007: 48, couplet 98).

Figures

FIGURE 14. Tachysphex fugax (Radoszkowski, 1877) (♀): A, dorsal habitus; B, frontal view of head; C, lateral view of head and thorax; D, dorsal view of thorax and gaster (part); E, pygidial plate; F, fore and hind wings.