Polistes albellus Giordani Soika, 1976

Rainer Neumeyer, Bruno Gereys & Leopoldo Castro, 2015, New data on the distribution of Polistes bischoffi Weyrauch, 1937 and Polistes helveticus Neumeyer, 2014, a synonym of Polistes albellus Giordani Soika, 1976 n. stat. (Hymenoptera: Vespidae), Boletín de la Sociedad Entomológica Aragonesa (S. E. A.) 57, pp. 205-216 : 206-209

 Polistes albellus Giordani Soika, 1976 , n. stat.

Polistes bischoffi Weyrauch, 1937: 274 , in part.

Polistes foederatus albellus Giordani Soika, 1976: 272 .

Polistes helveticus Neumeyer, 2014: 101 ff . n. syn.

From eastern Kazakhstan we received nine female specimens which one of us (LC) determined as Polistes helveticus, but another (RN) as Polistes foederatus albellus. Later, we borrowed five more females (SMNS coll.) from the Kazakh Almaty region. Four of them are also mentioned in Dvořák et al. (2006: 536). In fact, all 14 females are virtually indistiguishable from the paratype ( Fig. 1 , 2 ) of Polistes foederatus albellus, except for the ivory maculation, which is a little bit more reduced in the paratype. On the other hand, the only western Palaearctic taxon we know to share the trait of a reduced or lacking epicnemial carina with the sibling taxa P. helveticus and P. bischoffi is Polistes f. albellus. So, we decided to subject two of the Kazakh specimens (BC ZSM HYM 22706, BC ZSM HYM 22709) to barcoding (Tab. I). Since they turned out to group in the same clade ( Fig. 3 ) as P. helveticus from central Europe (Neumeyer et al. 2014) and the Orenburg Oblast of Russia ( Fig. 4), we conclude that there is no specific difference between the taxa helveticus and albellus . Thus, the taxon helveticus Neumeyer, 2014 is a junior synonym of Polistes albellus Giordani Soika, 1976 n. stat., which is in this way raised to species status.

Distribution. Up to the present, Polistes albellus has been found in a considerable range extending from France to the Pacific coast of Russia but latitudinally remaining roughly between the 44th (FR, Lardiers: 44°03'28.1"N) and the 53rd (RU, Donskoye: 52°03'28"N) northern parallels ( Fig. 5 ). Remarkably, the localities in Russia (Barabash-Levada, Donskoye), Kazakhstan (Koktal, May-Terek, Tekeli, Zaisan) and Mongolia (Namnan Uul mountains, Töv) are so far from Europe and in part also from each other that we cannot yet reject the idea of a disjunct area, for now. On the other hand, barcoding showed hardly any difference among the COX1 genes of all examined individuals from Central Europe, Russia (Orenburg Oblast), and Kazakhstan ( Fig. 3 ), suggesting rather a connected, but partially unexplored area between Slovakia and Vladivostok. However, when considering five known populations (Central Europe, Orenburg Oblast of Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Primorsky Krai of Russia) there seems to be a cline from Central Europe to Mongolia, with the black surface on the female body gradually increasing at the cost of the pale (yellow or white) markings ( Fig. 1 , 2 ). Some effects of this change we may nevertheless perceive as abrupt when regarding the paired yellow blotches on tergite II which western females (Central Europe, Orenburg Oblast of Russia) have but eastern ones (Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Primorsky Krai of Russia) lack ( Fig. 2 ). Furthermore, somewhere between Donskoye (Orenburg Oblast of Russia) and eastern Kazakhstan the lemon yellow colour of western females changes to the ivory white of eastern females ( Fig. 1 , 2 ). Remarkably, this colour trend does not seem to go on east of Mongolia, since the markings of the individual (RN0641) from Barabash-Levada (Primorsky Krai of Russia) are by no means ivory-white, but as yellow as those of the specimens (RN0401, RN0404, RN0405, RN0406) from Donskoye (Orenburg Oblast of Russia). Unfortunately, no male of P. albellus has ever been collected east of Slovakia yet.

While in Europe P. albellus mainly lives in fens (Neumeyer et al., 2011, 2014), we have no habitat information from Russia (Barabash-Levada, Donskoye) and only a short note ("upper stream Bolshoi Zhemenei riv.") about habitat (Bolshoi Zhemenei valley) in Kazakhstan (Rubin & Yakovlev, 2013: 140). The habitat in Mongolia (Namnan Uul mts.), however, was described by Kaszab (1968: 435 ff.) as a mountain valley with wooded slopes (young coniferous forest and old birch forest with Siberian cedars) and a vast mountain steppe [“ausgedehnte Gebirgssteppe”] at the bottom, with some willow shrubbery [“Weidengebüsch”] next to a creek. There was also a very rich herbaceous layer with Apiaceae (on July 21) in the aquiferous cracks [“in den Wasserrissen”] and at the forest edges.

Material examined. Paratype of P. foederatus albellus: MONGOLIA, BULGAN AIMAG, Namnan Uul mountains (approx. 49°27'07"N 102°16'00"E, 1150 m), 1 ♀ (MSNV- 04702), 21 Jul 1968, Zoltán Kaszab leg., MSNV coll.

Further material: BELGIUM, WALLONIA, Marbehan (approx. 49º43’21”N 05º32’02”E; 360 m), 1 ♂ (CLC-JR08), 0 2 Sep 2006, 1 ♂ (CLC-JR09), 0 8 Sep 2006, J.L. Renneson leg., CLC coll.; FRANCE, ALPES-DE-HAUTE-PROVENCE, Lardiers (44°03'28.1"N 05°42'46.1"E), 1 ♀, 14 Jul 1996, B. Gereys leg., RN coll.; CÔTE-D'OR, Broin (approx. 47°04'47"N 05°06'35"E), 1 ♂, H. Fonfria leg., CBG coll.; HAUTE-SAÔNE, Port-sur-Saône (approx. 47º41’16”N 06º03’00”E), 1 ♀ (CLC- BG434/296), 0 6 Aug 1929, 1 ♀ (CLC-BG435/298), 11 Aug 1929, Vandel leg., CLC coll.; 4 ♀, 1 ♂, 16 Aug 1929, H. Nouvel leg., CBG coll.; HAUTE-SAVOIE, Thonon (approx. 46º22’21”N 06º29’13”E), 1 ♂ (CLC-BG436/293), CLC coll.; 6 ♀ (BG282, BG283, BG284, BG285, BG286, BG287), 6 ♂ (G289, BG290, BG291, BG292, BG294, BG295), CBG coll.; 2 ♀ (BG288, BG297), 1 ♂ (BG288), RN coll.; all (16) specimens emerged 28 Jul 1982 from a nest collected 14 Jul 1982, H. Tussac leg.; GERMANY, NIEDERSACHSEN, Ebergötzen (approx. 51°34'22"N 10°06'57"E, garden), 1 ♂, 11 Sep 2010 T. Meineke photographic record; RHEINLAND-PFALZ, Monsheim, Im Pflänzer (49°38'26"N 08°12'41"E, 150 m, clay pit), 1 ♂, 17 Oct 1995, G. Reder leg. et coll.; KAZAKHSTAN, ALMATY, 20 km NE of Tekeli, Kora valley (approx. 44°56'N 78°53'E,> 1300 m) in the western part of the Dzungarian Alatau, 2 ♀, 23 Jul 2002, T. Osten leg., SMNS coll.; gorge (1650 m) of Koktal, southern part of the Dzungarian Alatau, 3 ♀, 26 Jul 2002, T. Osten leg., SMNS coll.; EAST KAZAKH- STAN, Kurchum mountains (48°34'N 84°46'E, 1150 m) 3 km W of May-Terek, 6 ♀ (1 ♀ RN0571, 5 ♀ CLC-RY01), 14 Jul 2011, R.V. Yakovlev leg., CLC & RN coll.; Bolshoi Zhemenei valley (47°14'N 84°56'E, 1650 m) in the Saur mountains 24 km S of Zaisan, 3 ♀ (1 ♀ RN0567, 2 ♀ CLC- RY03), 18 Jul 2011, R.V. Yakovlev leg., CLC & RN coll.; RUSSIA, ORENBURG OBLAST, 5 km W of Donskoye vill. (approx. 52°03'28"N 55°25'12.6"E), 4 ♀ (RN0401, RN0404, RN0405, RN0406), 07-12 Jul 2004, V. Višinskas leg., MSNM coll.; PRIMORSKY KRAI, Barabash-Levada (approx. 44°45'N 131°25'E), 1 ♀ (CLC-IO296 / RN0641), 22 Jul 2002 [collector unknown], CLC coll.; SWITZERLAND, VALAIS, Visp (approx. 46º17’40”N 07º53’05”E; 650 m), 1 ♀ (CLC- VZ07a), 24 Jul 1964, V.S. van der Goot & J.A.W. Lucas leg., CLC coll.; ZÜRICH, Hirzel, Chrutzelenmoos (47°13'25.0"N 08°36'29.3"E, 670 m, fen), 1 ♀ (RN0634), 0 8 Sep 2014, R. Neumeyer leg. et coll.; Hombrechtikon, Lützelsee, Lutikon (47°15'28.1"N 08°46'12.6"E, 503 m, fen), 1 ♀ (RN0635), 0 4 Aug 2014, R. Neumeyer leg. et coll.

Figures

Fig. 1. Frontal view of head of female Polistes albellus Giordani Soika, 1976 from Switzerland (a, individual RN 0138), Orenburg Oblast of Russia (b, RN 0404), Kazakhstan (c, RN 0567), and Mongolia (d, paratype). / Vista frontal de la cabeza de hembras de Polistes albellus Giordani Soika, 1976 de Suiza (a, individuo RN 0138), la provincia de Orenburg en Rusia (b, RN 0404), Kazajistán (c, RN 0567) y Mongolia (d, paratipo).

Fig. 2. Dorsal view of body of female Polistes albellus Giordani Soika, 1976 from Switzerland (a, RN 0138), Orenburg Oblast of Russia (b, RN 0404), Kazakhstan (c, RN 0567), and Mongolia (d, paratype). / Vista dorsal del cuerpo de hembras de Polistes albellus Giordani Soika, 1976 de Suiza (a, RN 0138), la provincia de Orenburg en Rusia (b, RN 0404), Kazajistán (c, RN 0567) y Mongolia (d, paratipo).

Fig. 3. Phylogenetic tree of western Palaearctic Polistes species based on maximum likelihood analyses of sequences of the 658 bp " barcode " region of the mitochondrial marker cytochrome oxidase 1 (COX 1). Numbers shown at nodes are bootstrap values based on 1000 bootstrap replicates. Branches interrupted by an oblique line have been shortened for better graphic representation. The taxon called " sp aff gallicus " is the same as Polistes foederatus a. obscuricornis Mader, 1936: 263, as mentioned in Neumeyer et al. (2014). / Árbol filogenético de especies oestpaleárticas de Polistes basado en análisis de probabilidad máxima de secuencias de la región de 658 pb del “ código de barras ” del marcador mitocondrial citocromo oxidasa 1 (COX 1). Los números que aparecen en los nodos son valores de remuestreo bootstrap basados en 1000 réplicas bootstrap. Las ramas interrumpidas por una línea oblícua se han acortado para facilitar la representación gráfica. El taxón llamado “ sp aff gallicus ” es el mismo que Polistes foederatus a. obscuricornis Mader, 1936: 263, como indican Neumeyer et al. (2014).

Fig. 5. European distribution of Polistes albellus and P. bischoffi (enlarged from Fig. 4). / Distribución europea de Polistes albellus y P. bischoffi (ampliación a partir de la Fig. 4).