Pseudonortonia flavolimbata Giordani Soika, 1986

Selis, Marco & Nguyen, Lien Thi Phuong, 2024, The Oriental species of the genus Pseudonortonia Giordani Soika (Hymenoptera Vespidae: Eumeninae), Zootaxa 5477 (2), pp. 171-194 : 179

Pseudonortonia flavolimbata Giordani Soika, 1986 stat. nov.

( Fig. 5 )

Pseudonortonia bhamensis flavolimbata Giordani Soika 1986: 77 , ♀ —“ India: “ Benkgalis ” [Sumatra: Bengkalis]” (MNHN).

Diagnosis. The female of this species can be distinguished from the other Oriental species of Pseudonortonia by the following combination of characters: clypeus sparsely and finely punctate; occipital carina shallow and straight on gena; pronotal carina almost entirely absent dorsally; propodeal shelf shorter than metanotum and shallowly depressed, placed below level of scutellum; T1 1.10–1.15× as long as apically wide and densely punctate, interspaces forming reticulation; T2 with punctures becoming progressively and weakly coarser in front of apical smooth part, interspaces mostly micropunctate and matte, short smooth apical part not preceded by elongate pits; S2 evenly convex in basal half or basal third.

Material examined. INDONESIA: Bengkalis , 1885, leg. Maindron, 1♀ ( MSNVE, paratype) ; E. Sumatra, Riouw Res., Inderagiri, Pangkalan , Kasai , IV.1939, leg. P. Buwalda, 1♀ ( MSVI) . MALAYSIA: British N. Borneo, Ranau , 11.X.1958, leg. L.W. Quate, 1♀ ( MSVI) ; Borneo, Sandakan , leg. Baker, 1♀ ( MSNVE) .

Distribution. Indonesia: Sumatra; Malaysia: Sabah * ( Giordani Soika 1986) ( Fig. 10 ).

Notes. Giordani Soika (1986) described this taxon as a subspecies of Pseudonortonia bhamensis , differentiated by color characters only. Comparison of the two taxa, including the lectotype of P. bhamensis and a paratype of P. bhamensis flavolimbata , revealed a series of differences that allow to consider P. flavolimbata a distinct species: pronotal humeri sharp spiniform, propodeal shelf less developed and sloping, shorter smooth apical part of T2, S2 more evenly convex and not flattened posteriorly, finer punctures on head and mesosoma, legs more extensively ferruginous, markings pale yellow and much reduced.

Giordani Soika (1986) reports an unspecified “Benkgalis” in India as the type locality, but the examination of a paratype shows that the correct locality is Bengkalis, a small island just off the coast of Sumatra. A second specimen from Pangkalan Kasai, a village in the central part of Sumatra, further confirms the Sumatran origin of Pseudonortonia flavolimbata .

Two specimens from Sabah ( Fig. 5F ) present a darker color pattern, with yellow markings of the meso- and metasoma reduced (apical band of T2 reduced to two barely visible lateral lines) and the tegulae brown-red instead of ferruginous, and the punctures of the pronotum and mesoscutum subtly denser with less shiny interspaces. These differences, however, are very subtle and apparently gradual between the four available specimens, thus leading us to tentatively consider the specimens from Sabah as a mere dark variety of P. flavolimbata . Examination of more material and the discovery of the males of both forms will help to clarify the situation. One of the two specimens from Sabah was labeled by Giordani Soika as paratype of “ Pseudonortonia borneana ”, an unpublished name.

Figures

FIGURE 5. Pseudonortonia flavolimbata Giordani Soika, 1986, stat. nov., female.A–E, specimen from Sumatra. F, specimen from Sabah.A, habitus, dorsal view. B, F, habitus, lateral view. C, head, frontal view. D, mesosoma, dorsal view. E, T1–2, dorsal view.

FIGURE 10. Distribution map of the Oriental species of Pseudonortonia.