Raphiglossa lemuriae Giordani Soika, 1941

Selis, Marco, 2023, Taxonomy of the Afrotropical genus Leptomenes Giordani Soika, with description of a new species from South Africa (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Eumeninae), Zootaxa 5228 (5), pp. 584-594 : 590-593

Raphiglossa lemuriae Giordani Soika, 1941

( Fig. 5 )

Raphiglossa lemuriae Giordani Soika 1941: 179 , fig. 11, ♂, ♀ —“ Madagascar: Bekily ” (type specimens lost).

Leptomenes extremus Gusenleitner 2005: 1177, 1182 , figs. 7–8, ♂—“ Madagaskar, Fianarantsoa Prov., 40 km S Ambositra, Radia Rower , humid forest, 20°47′56″S 47°10′54″E ″ (holotype male CAS) syn. nov.

Material examined. Holotype of Leptomenes extremus : “CASENT / 8077958 // MADAGASCAR, Fianarantsoa Pro. / 40 km S Ambosittra, Radio Tower , / 12.X.2004 M.Hauser humid forest / 20°47′56″S 47°10′54″E 820m // Leptomenes / extremus nov. spec. ♂ / J.Gusenleitner,det.2005 / Holotypus // Holotypus // California Academy / of Sciences / Type No. 18111” ( CAS).

Distribution. Madagascar: Fianarantsoa, Toliara ( Borsato 1999; Giordani Soika 1941; Gusenleitner 2005).

Notes. Gusenleitner (2005) described Leptomenes extremus considering it an aberrant species for the genus, characterized by very elongate T1, broad clypeus with lateral lamellae and antenna of male not hooked, noting that the lamellate clypeus was similar to what is observed in Raphiglossa Saunders, 1850 . Examination of the holotype of L. extremus ( Fig. 5 ) clearly shows that this species is a Raphiglossa indeed, due to wing venation, short and robust mandibles, elongate mouthparts, simple antennae and morphology of propodeum. Moreover, the peculiar shape of the pronotal carina and the perfect match of other characters place this taxon as a junior synonym of Raphiglossa lemuriae Giordani Soika, 1941 , the only known Malagasy species of this genus.

The original description of L. extremus ( Gusenleitner 2005) indicates the private collection of Josef Gusenleitner as depository of the holotype, but it is actually found in the collection of the California Academy of Science ( CAS) .

The type specimens of Raphiglossa lemuriae , including the lectotype, are reported to be deposited in MSNVE ( Giordani Soika 1941, 1973), but they were not found during the reordering recently carried out on the Giordani Soika collection ( Dal Pos et al. 2022). They are to be considered lost.

Figures

FIGURE 5. Raphiglossa lemuriae Giordani Soika, 1941; male holotype of Leptomenes extremus Gusenleitner, 2005.A, habitus in lateral view. B, habitus in dorsal view. C, head in frontal view. D, labels. Credits: Denise Montelongo, California Academy of Sciences 2022.