Sphecodes tadschicus Blüthgen

Astafurova, Yu. V., Proshchalykin, M. Yu. & Engel, M. S., 2018, The cuckoo bee genus Sphecodes Latreille, 1804 (Hymenoptera: Halictidae) in Kazakhstan, Far Eastern Entomologist 369, pp. 1-48 : 39-40

Sphecodes tadschicus Blüthgen in Popov, 1935

DIAGNOSIS. This species belongs to the gibbus species-group (refer to Diagnosis for S. anatolicus for group description, above) and is close to S. rufiventris and S. schenckii owing to a similar male gonostylar shape and the punctate marginal zone on the female T3. The male differs from S. rufiventris by dense and strongly plumose clypear setae obscuring integument (versus sparse; setae weakly plumose and not obscuring integument in S. rufiventris ) and from S. schenckii by more developed tyloids at least semicircular across basal 1/4–1/3 portion of flagellomere

(vesus at most semicircular across basal 1/ 5 in S. schenckii ). The female differs from S. rufiventris by more transverse head 1.3 times as wide as long and long scapal setae twice longer than width of scape (versus head 1.2–1.25 times as wide as long and scapal setae about width of scape in S. rufiventris ) and from S. schenckii by strigate-rugose, sometimes medially close to reticulate mesepisternum (versus reticulate-rugose to sometimes strigate-rugose ventrally in S. schenckii ).

DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. Hind wing with basal vein weakly curved; costal margin with 8–9 hamuli. Female. Total body length 9.0–11.0 mm. Head transverse, 1.3

times as wide as long. Mesoscutum and mesoscutellum sparsely punctate, medially with punctures (40–75 μm) separated by 1–5 puncture diameters. Mesepisternum strigate-rugose or medially reticulate-rugose; propodeum laterally strigate. Metasomal T1 distinctly punctate (20–25 μm / 1–4); marginal zones of T1–T3 punctate;

T1–T5 red; pygidial plate 0.6 times as wide as metabasitarsus. Male. Total body length 7.0–10.0 mm. Head transverse, 1.2–1.25 times as wide as long; tyloids variable, ranging from covering larger portion of flagellomere to semicircular areas across basal 1/4–1/3 (at least from F4 onward). Mesoscutum coarsely and densely punctate, punctures separated by at most 1–1.5 puncture diameters. Metasomal T1–

T5 red; gonocoxite dorsally without impression, gonostylus as in Figs 34, 38 .

PUBLISHED RECORDS. Warncke (1992: 29, as S. rufiventris tadschicus ) recorded the species from Almaty.

DISTRIBUTION. Kazakhstan (Almaty), Central Asia.

REMARKS. We examined 10 females and 12 males of S. tadschicus (see Astafurova & Proshchalykin, 2017b: 272) from Central Asia. However , we were not unable to locate material from Kazakhstan, nor could we locate the specimen from

Almaty recorded by Warncke.

Figures

Figs 32–38. Genitalia, males, dorsal view (32–36), lateral view (37, 38). 32 – Sphecodes