Euodynerus (Euodynerus) niloticus (de Saussure, 1855)

Figs. 3, 7C

Rhynchium niloticum de Saussure 1855: 181, pl. XVI fig. 8, ♀ —“l’Abyssinie” (coll. Sichel, MNHN?).

Odynerus ebneri von Schulthess 1921: 286, ♁ (in subgenus Lionotus)—“Kairo, Ägypten; Tuti-Insel bei Khartum; ägyptischer Sudan …, Manora, Charachi ” (NHMW and ZMUZ). Syn. nov.

Odynerus meyeri var. palestinensis von Schulthess 1928: 72, ♀ (in subgenus Lionotus)—“ Palestina: Wadi el Kelt” (ZMUZ). Syn. nov.

Pseudepipona nilotica saudita Giordani Soika 1957: 478, ♀, ♁ (in subgenus Euodynerus)—“ ADEN ” (holotype lost?). Syn. nov.

Diagnosis. Readily distinguished from other African Euodynerus by the following characters: occipital carina and pronotal carina bent on sides, mesosoma not depressed, T1 with sharply defined translucent margin, T1–2 densely and evenly punctate with very narrow interspaces, pattern black and orange with entirely orange T1, T2 entirely black or orange spotted, T3 and following tergites black, male F11 digitiform and weakly curved. Genitalia in Fig. 7C.

Material examined. CHAD: Tibesti, Deli 50 km S Fada, 18.IX.1949, leg. De Mirè, 2♁ (MSNVE) ; EGYPT: Wadi Hussein, 31.V.1919, leg. Adair, 1♀ (MSNVE) ; ERITREA: Africa or., Katona, Assab, 10.III–3.IV.1907, 1♁ 1♀ (MSNVE) ; Massaua, I.1900, leg. P. Magretti, 2♁ 1♀ (MSNVE) ; JORDAN: Araba Reserve, Wadi Araba Camp Site (N.R.A. Camp), 31.III.1995, leg. D.P. I.T., 1♀ (MSVI) ; OΜAN: Masirah Is., RAF camp, 15–19.IV.1976, leg. K. Guichard, 2♁ 1♀ (MSNVE) ; PAKISTAN: Karachi, 15.VIII.1932, 1♁ 1♀ (MSNVE) ; Karachi, leg. T.R. Bell, 1♁ (MSNVE) ; SAUDI ARABIA: Madain Salih, IV.1946, 1♀ (MSNVE, paratype of Pseudepipona nilotica saudita) ; SUDAN: Khartum, 10–21.IX.1935, leg. A. Mochi, 1♁ 3♀ (MSNVE); Wadi Halfa, 11.II.1962, 1♀ (MSNVE) ; 2. Nilkatarakt, 10.II.1962, 1♁ (MSNVE) ; YEΜEN: Aden, 1♀ (MSNVE) ; Socotra, Hadibo Plain, 0–500m, 30.IV.1967, leg. K. Guichard, 1♀ (MSNVE) ; Socotra, Hadibo Plain, 19.III.1967, leg. K. Guichard, 1♀ (MSNVE) .

Distribution. Chad, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Israel, Jordan *, Oman * (including Masirah), Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, United Arab Emirates, Yemen (including Socotra) (de Saussure 1855; Giordani Soika 1934, 1935, 1940, 1954, 1957, 1970, 1974; Guichard 1986; von Schulthess 1921, 1922, 1928) (Fig. 8).

Notes. Other than the nominotypical one, two other subspecies of E. niloticus are currently recognized: E. niloticus ebneri (von Schulthess), ranging from northeast Africa to Pakistan, and E. niloticus sauditus (Giordani Soika), from the Arabian Peninsula. The three subspecies are differentiated by the extension of red markings on the sides of T2, but examination of several specimens proved this character to be highly variable even in the same locality and did not allow finding any morphological difference. For these reasons, all the subspecies are synonymized under the nominal one.

Giordani Soika (1957) stated the holotype of Pseudepipona nilotica saudita to be in his collection, now housed in MSNVE, but only a female paratype was found during the recent reorganization of the collection (cf. Dal Pos et al. 2022). It could be lost or housed in NHMUK, as happens for other types of Palaearctic Eumeninae (e.g. Leptochilus locuples Giordani Soika; A. Fateryga pers. comm.).