Parancistrocerus, Bequaert, 1925

Qin, Jiong, Chen, Bin & Li, Ting-Jing, 2023, Additions to the knowledge of the genus Parancistrocerus Bequaert, 1925 from China (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Eumeninae), Zootaxa 5256 (4), pp. 345-357 : 346-347

Key to the Chinese species of the genus Parancistrocerus (modified from Li & Carpenter 2019)

1. T2 with apical margin medially prolonged ( Fig. 32 ).......................................................... 2

- T2 with apical margin normal, not prolonged medially ( Figs 5 , 12 , 23 , 39, 46)..................................... 4

2. T1 narrow and relatively elongated (Figure in von Schulthess 1934).............. P. taihorinensis ( von Schulthess, 1934)

- T1 shorter and wider ( Fig. 4 in Li & Carpenter, 2019)........................................................ 3

3. Female unknown. Male: A11 short, length about 1.2× width; A13 very long, its apex reaching far beyond base of A11 ( Fig. 27 )....................................................................... P. irritatus Giordani Soika, 1972

- Female unknown. Male: A11 long, length about 1.5× width; A13 relatively shorter, its apex just reaching base of A11 ( Fig. 3 in Li & Carpenter, 2019)...................................................... P. latitergus Li & Carpenter, 2019

4. Propodeum sloping downward just behind metanotum ( Figs 4 , 10 , 20 )........................................... 5

- Propodeum with a horizontal area behind metanotum ( Fig. 48 in Li & Carpenter, 2019)............................. 12

5. T2 with strong preapical bulge ( Figs 13 , 22 )................................................................ 6

- T2 normal, or at most with shallow preapical bulge ( Figs 7 , 38 , 47 ).............................................. 7

6. Pronotal carina weak, anterior face polished above foveae ( Fig. 11 ); apex of T3 weakly sinuate medially ( Fig. 12 ), that of S3 with broad median prolongation ( Fig. 14 )................................................... P. elatitergus sp. n.

- Pronotal carina strong, anterior face punctate above foveae ( Fig. 19 ); apexes of both T3 and S3 with narrow and arched prolongation medially ( Figs 23–24 )....................................................... P. extentitergus sp. n

7. Apex of T3 prolonged medially ( Figs 5 , 39 )................................................................ 8

- T3 normal ( Fig. 46 ).................................................................................. 11

8. Apical prolongation margin of T3 punctate and coarse, punctures as long as diameters ( Fig. 5 )........ P. fragilitergus sp. n.

- Apical prolongation margin of T3 mainly micropunctate and more smoother than the above species ( Fig. 39 )............ 9

9. S2 with a shallow and indistinct median longitudinal furrow ( Fig. 40 )...... P. jaferpaloti Girish Kumar & Carpenter, 2016

- S2 without longitudinal furrow............................................... 10 P. yachowensis Giordani Soika

10. T1 with sparse punctures; punctures of T2 much larger and denser medially and apically than on basal half.................................................................................. P. y. yachowensis Giordani Soika, 1986

- T1 with dense punctures; T2 with uniform punctures, not larger on apical half than on base (in Giordani Soika 1994).......................................................................... P. y. konkunensis Giordani Soika, 1994

11. T2 with regular series of moderately dense punctures just before the apical margin, punctures on swelling little larger than those on mesoscutum, with interspaces not convex and equal to or shorter than punctures ( Fig. 46 ); punctures on lower part of mesopleuron similar to those on upper part....................................... P. sulcatus Giordani Soika, 1994

- T2 with very large and irregularly dense punctures before series of apical punctures, most punctures much larger than those on mesoscutum, interspaces strongly convex and very variable in size; lower part of mesopleuron with much smaller and sparser punctures than those on upper part (in Giordani Soika 1994)................. P. taihorinshoensis ( von Schulthess, 1934)

12. Apex of T3 prolonged medially......................................................................... 13

- T3 normal.......................................................................................... 17

13. Apical prolongation of T3 lamellate apically ( Fig. 13 in Li & Carpenter, 2019).......... P. lamnulus Li & Carpenter, 2019

- Apical prolongation of T3 not lamellate ( Fig. 5 )............................................................ 14

14. Median sloping area of anterior face of pronotum polished.................................................... 15

- Median sloping area of anterior face of pronotum punctate.................................................... 16

15. Vertex with a short transverse blunt carina; clypeus without black spot; interantennal carina black (in Sonan 1939)..................................................................................... P. kuraruensis ( Sonan, 1939)

- Vertex without a short transverse blunt carina; clypeus with black spot; interantennal carina yellow (in Sonan 1939)................................................................................... P. intermediatus ( Sonan, 1939)

16. Pronotum with a broad anterior yellow band; scutellum densely punctate (Fig. 57 in Li & Carpenter, 2019) (in von Schulthess 1934)................................................................. P. samarensis ( von Schulthess, 1934)

- Pronotum with a large anterior yellow mark; scutellum sparsely punctate (in Sonan 1939)......... P. nitobei ( Sonan, 1939)

17. T2 strongly reflected at apex (in Gusenleitner 2000).................................. P. yamanei Gusenleitner, 2000

- T2 not reflected at apex............................................................................... 18

18. Occipital carina incomplete, evanescent on vertex.......................................................... 19

- Occipital carina complete.............................................................................. 20

19. Clypeus yellow; base of T2 with moderately dense punctures................... P. guangxiensis Li & Carpenter, 2019

- Clypeus black with yellow spot; base of T2 almost without punctures (in Gusenleitner 2002)............................................................................................... P. hongkongensis Gusenleitner, 2002

20. Both scutellum and metanotum with median longitudinal furrow; body with reddish-brown markings (in Sonan 1939)..................................................................................... P. taikonus ( Sonan, 1939)

- Scutellum with indistinct longitudinal furrow, metanotum without longitudinal furrow ( Figs 44–45 in Li & Carpenter, 2019); body with yellow markings............................................. P. similiandrocles Li & Carpenter, 2019

Figures

FIGURES 25–32. Parancistrocerus irritatus, ♁. 25. Habitus (dorsal view); 26. Clypeus; 27. Antenna; 28. Head and pronotum (dorsal view); 29. Propodeum and T1 (dorsal view); 30. S2–S7 (ventral view); 31. Metasomal segments 2–6 (lateral view); 32. T2 (dorsal view).

FIGURES 1–7. Parancistrocerus fragilitergus sp. n., holotype, ♀. 1. Habitus (dorsal view); 2. Clypeus; 3. Head and pronotum (dorsal view); 4. Propodeum and T1 (dorsal view); 5. Metasoma (dorsal view); 6. S2–S6 (ventral view); 7. Metasomal segments 2–6 (lateral view).

FIGURES 8–14. Parancistrocerus elatitergus sp. n., holotype, ♀. 8. Habitus (dorsal view); 9. Clypeus; 10. Propodeum and T1 (dorsal view); 11. Head and pronotum (dorsal view); 12. T2–T6 (dorsal view); 13. Metasomal segments 2–6 (lateral view); 14. S2–S3 (ventral view).

FIGURES 15–24. Parancistrocerus extentitergus sp. n., 15, 17, 19, 20, 22–24, holotype, ♀; 16, 18, 21, paratype, ♁. 15– 16. Habitus (dorsal view); 17–18. Clypeus; 19. Head and pronotum (dorsal view); 20. Propodeum and T1 (dorsal view); 21. Antenna; 22. T2 and S2 (lateral view); 23. T2–T6 (dorsal view); 24. S2–S6 (ventral view).

FIGURES 41–48. Parancistrocerus sulcatus, ♁. 41. Habitus (dorsal view); 42. Clypeus; 43. Antenna; 44. Propodeum and T1 (dorsal view); 45. Head and pronotum (dorsal view); 46. T1–T7 (dorsal view); 47. Metasomal segments 1–7 (lateral view); 48. S1–S7 (ventral view).

FIGURES 33–40. Parancistrocerus jaferpaloti, ♁. 33. Habitus (dorsal view); 34. Clypeus; 35. Head and pronotum (dorsal view); 36.Antenna; 37. Propodeum and T1 (dorsal view); 38. Metasomal segments 2–7 (lateral view); 39. T2–T7 (dorsal view); 40. S2–S6 (ventral view).