Ampulex compressa ( Fabricius, 1781 )

Gadallah, Neveen S., 2017, Revision of the digger wasps of the Ampulicidae and Heterogynaidae (Hymenoptera) of Saudi Arabia, with the description of a new species of the enigmatic genus Heterogyna Nagy, Journal of Natural History 51 (33 - 34), pp. 2057-2085 : 2062-2064

Ampulex compressa ( Fabricius, 1781)

Sphex compressus Fabricius, 1781: 445 , sex not indicated (as compressa , incorrect original termination). Holotype or syntypes: India: Kerala: Malabar (BMNH).

Ampulex sinensis de Saussure, 1867: 43 , ♂. Holotype or syntypes: ♂, China: Hong Kong (NHMW).

Chlorampulex striolata de Saussure, 1892: 446 , ♀. Holotype or syntypes: ♀, Tanzania: Zanzibar: no specific locality (MHNG).

Diagnosis

Body with a combination of metallic blue, green or purple colouration and non-metallic red mid- and hind femora; antennal tubercles separated from each other; pronotum with a posteromedian tubercle; fore wing with three SMCs; apex of marginal cell of fore wing not reaching wing margin ( Krombein 1979; Ohl 2011).

Previous records from Saudi Arabia

1 ♂, Hadasham (Jaddah, Makka region), 2 March 2002 ( Gadallah and Assery 2004; Gadallah et al. 2013).

Distribution

Widely distributed in Australian, Ethiopian ( Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Tanzania, Zanzibar), Palaearctic ( China, Saudi Arabia), Nearctic (Hawaii), Neotropical ( Brazil) and Oriental ( Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Vietnam) regions ( Gadallah and Assery 2004; Buys 2007; Gadallah et al. 2013; Job and Olakkengil 2014; Madl 2014; Pires et al. 2014; Deshmukh 2015; Pham et al. 2015). Previous Arabian records are from Saudi Arabia ( Gadallah and Assery 2004; Gadallah et al. 2013) and Yemen ( Guiglia 1964).