Philanthus variegatus ecoronatus Dufour, 1854

Malash, Alyaa A., Edmardash, Yusuf A. & Gadallah, Neveen S., 2023, The genera Philanthus Fabricius, 1790 and Philanthinus de Beaumont, 1949 (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae: Philanthinae) in Egypt, with a new record and the description of a new species, Zootaxa 5249 (2), pp. 151-189 : 179-182

Philanthus variegatus ecoronatus Dufour, 1854

Figs 20A–C , 21A–C

Philanthus ecoronatus Dufour, 1854: 380 , ♁.

Diagnosis. Body length: 14 mm (female); 11.6 mm (male).

Philanthus variegatus ecoronatus differs from the nominotypical subspecies in the following: mesonotum shiny black ( Fig. 21B ) (shiny ferruginous in P. variegatus variegatus ( Fig. 19D )); scutellum and postscutellum ferruginous ( Fig. 21B ), propodeum black with two lateral yellow patches ( Fig. 21B ) (rest of thorax yellow in P. variegatus variegatus , except black median sulcus ( Fig. 19C–E )); mesoscutum sparsely punctate, punctures becoming dense posteriorly ( Fig. 21B ) (nearly smooth, impunctate in P. variegatus variegatus , densely punctate at junction with scutellum ( Fig. 19D )); gastral T 2 densely punctate ( Fig. 21C ) (sparsely punctate in P. variegatus variegatus ( Fig. 19E )).

Material examined: 1♀, Wadi El-Natroun , 12.v.1990, Neveen Gadallah collector ( EFC) ; 1♀, Wadi El Natroun (Beo Ar Ashra), (18/94?) ( EFC) ; 1♁, Marsa Matruh, 28.ix.1954, Aly collector ( ASUE) .

Previous Egyptian records: Wadi El-Natroun ( Gadallah 1996); Marsa Matruh (present study).

Extralimital distribution: Algeria, Armenia, Chad, Italy, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia,

Comment: This subspecies was recorded for the first time from Egypt by Gadallah (1996). The characters agree with de Beaumont’s key (1949: 179, couplet 6) in having mesopleuron and propodeum greatly marked with yellow ( Fig. 21A, B ); upper mesopleuron densely punctate ( Fig. 21A ); gaster mostly yellow, narrowly black medially on T 1–4, with terminal depressions ferruginous ( Fig. 21C ); T 2 more or less densely, finely punctate ( Fig. 21C ); face entirely pale up to level of inner eye emargination in female ( Fig. 20B ), and dark reddish brown to ferruginous in male ( Fig. 20C ); scutellum and postscutellum ferruginous ( Fig. 21B ). It differs from de Beaumont description in having the pale colour of the face ivory white and extending very close to the middle ocellus (in de Beaumont’s specimens, 1949: 178, the pale colour of the face is yellow, and touching the middle ocellus, see fig. 1). The Tunisian specimen ( Ben Khedher et al. 2021: 8, fig. 3J) is identical to de Beaumont’s. This may be a sexual difference (the Egyptian specimen is a female, while de Beaumont’s 1949 and Ben Khedher et al. 2021, specimens are males).

The specimen of Wadi El Natroun, 12.v.1990 (EFC) was misidentified by Giles Roche as P. dufouri Lucas. However , it differs from P. dufouri in having the scutellum ferruginous ( Fig. 21B ) (clearly black in P. dufouri ); gastral terga predominantly yellow, narrowly black medially ( Fig. 21C ) (black in P. dufouri , with yellow markings clearly delimited).

Figures

FIGURE 19. Philanthus variegatus Spinola, 1839: A, frontal view of head (♀); B, frontal view of head (♁); C, lateral view of head and thorax (♀); D, dorsal view of head and thorax (part); E, dorsal view of thorax (part) and gaster.

FIGURE 20. Philanthus variegatus ecoronatus Dufour, 1854: A, lateral habitus (♁); B, frontal view of head (♀); C, frontal view of head (♁).

FIGURE 21. Philanthus variegatus ecoronatus Dufour, 1854 (♀): A, frontolateral view of head and thorax; B, dorsal view of head and thorax; C, dorsal view of gaster.