Haba colonialis ( Mocsáry, 1911 ) Mocsary, 1911

Strumia, Franco, 2016, Review of the genus Haba Semenov, 1954 (Hymenoptera Chrysididae) with the key to species, Zootaxa 4161 (2), pp. 289-294 : 292

Haba colonialis ( Mocsáry, 1911) , comb. nov.

( Figs 14–17 )

Holopyga (Hedychridium) colonialis Mocsáry, 1911: 449 , ♂ Hedychridium colonialis: Kimsey & Bohart 1991: 191 . Haba biroi: Strumia 2014: 474 , fig. 4, ♂.

Holotype of Holopyga (Hedychridium) colonialis Mocsáry , ♂, white label with red border: " Holotypus / Holoyga colonialis male/(L. D. French) Mocsáry " // white label: " colonialis Mocs. /typ./ det. Mocsáry " // blue label: "id nr135039 / HNHM / Hym. coll." // blue: label " Hungarian Natural History Museum / Hymenoptera Collec. / Budapest " // white label: " Eritrea / Keren " // white label with red border: Haba colonialis / (F. Strumia). Additional material . UAE: Wadi Bih Dam , 22–26.III.2009, A. van Harten legit, 1♂ [ FSC] . Saudi Arabia: Asir Region, Abha Farm Centre, Hay Alnusub Farm , 18º13’N 42º30’E, 2220 m, 27.VIII.2013, Hassan Dawah legit, 1♂ [ FSC].

Remark. Haba colonialis , although uncommon, appears widespread in the Arabian Peninsula.

The original Mocsáry descriptions are correct and accurate. Unfortunately an identification key was never presented for Haba genus, making difficult the assignment of new material within genus. In addition the wrong Linsenmaier placement in the genus Holopyga produced taxonomic confusion. In a recent paper ( Strumia 2014), I tentatively reported Haba biroi from UAE and Iran on the basis of Linsenmaier (1999: 42) interpretation. When confrontation with the paralectotype become possible, this material resulted to be a male of Haba colonialis , and a male and female of a possible new species to be described. From the study of the original material a new key for a correct identification of all known Haba species is presented and illustrated by pertinent photos ( Figs 1–17 ). All listed species show the body features listed by Kimsey and Bohart 1991: 176, in particular the hind tarsus bifid claw ( Fig. 17 ) as in Fig. 58 of Kimsey and Bohart.

Figures

FIGURES 14 – 17. Haba colonialis, holotype, ♂. 14. Habitus, lateral view; 15. Pronotum, dorsal view; 16. Tergum 3, back view; 17. Claw of hind tarsus.

FIGURES 1 – 4. Haba almasyana, paralectotype, ♀. 1. Habitus, lateral view; 2. Pronotum and mesonotum, dorsal view; 3. Head, dorsal view of; 4. Distal border of tergum 3.

FIGURES 5 – 8. Haba biroi, holotype, ♀. 5. Habitus, lateral view; 6. Head and pronotum, dorsal view; 7. Tergum 3, back view; 8. Mesoscutum and scutellum, dorsal view.

FIGURES 9 – 13. Haba subtilis, holotype, ♂. 9. Face, frontal view; 10. Head, pronotum, and mesoscutum, dorsal view; 11. Tergum 3, back view; 12; 13. Habitus, lateral view.