Mischocyttarus tolensis Richards, 1941

Silveira, Orlando Tobias, 2006, Revision of the subgenus Kappa de Saussure of Mischocyttarus de Saussure (Hym.; Vespidae, Polistinae, Mischocyttarini), Zootaxa 1321 (1), pp. 1-108 : 27-29

Mischocyttarus tolensis Richards, 1941

( Figs. 26, 28–30 )

M. tolensis Richards, 1941: 128 ; 1945: 341, fig. 30; Zikán, 1949: 20; Richards, 1978: 305; Snelling, 1983: 276.

HOLOTYPE: ♀ Panama, Tolé (no date) (Champion) ( BMNH), examined. FEMALE. Length of fore wing 9–10.5 mm; head transverse as seen from above,

MWH/DLH about 2.3, in frontal view wide and low, FHH/intOW 0.9; clypeus much wider than high, H/WClp 0.85, apex narrowly rounded; malar space narrow; tentorial pit as close to antennal socket as to eye margin; mandible with the limit between the narrow anterior surface and wide lateral one marked by a prominent border ( Fig. 28 ); antennal scape very short and wide, L/Wesc 2.15; occeli widely separated, POL about 2 times larger than one diameter, POL/OOL about 2/3; occiput with margin distinct, laterally reaching halfway of head’s height; foraminal area shaped ventrally as a shelf; hypostomal lamella around mouth parts very wide below near articulation of mandible; pronotum with lateral fovea, central part of the anterior margin of pronotum with the lamella narrow and little reflexed, region just behind the lamella not raised into secondary margin; humeral angle little prominent, not forming a salient lobe, pronotal carina nearly straight, moderately elevate laterally, its total width less than that of mesoscutum, sides of the pronotum as seen from above distinctly converging ( Fig. 26 ); mesoscutum about as wide as long, L/WMsc 1.02; fore wing very short, LDis/HMpl 2.05, pterostigma about 3 times longer than wide; inner claw of hind tarsus with the apex narrow but not really acute; propodeum with the median furrow rather shallow, triangular in shape, anterior area of propodeum adjacent to metanotum protuberant, nearly horizontal, propodeal valve wide, triangular; first segment of metasoma moderately elongated, LSI/HMpl 1.1, about 2.6 times wider at the apex than at the base ( Fig. 30 ), spiracles little prominent, petiole flattened ventrally, limit between sternum and tergum proximally marked by a prominent shining edge.

Sculpture: disk of clypeus mostly with small punctures, larger ones rare and inconspicuous, area close to the ventral margin reticulate with a few large punctures; upper interantennal area and frons similar to clypeus, but with the punctures arranged into a more dense and duller pattern; mesopleuron with a moderately dense pattern of fine to medium sized punctures, larger ones more sparse, diameter and density of the punctures increasing on the upper part of mesopleuron close to the mesepisternal sulcus.

Vestiture: eyes with distinct hairs.

Color: black; clypeus and mandible, vivid reddish orange; outer margin of tegula, legs and antenna above, dark brown; ventral surface of antenna up to antennomere 8, elongated spot on inner surface of fore tibia, red brown; apex of antenna below, light yellowish brown; inner orbit up to ocular sinus, narrow mark on upper part of gena adjacent to eye, posterior margin of pronotum (usually a short central stretch), anterior half of metanotum, one streak on mid coxa (sometimes reduced), two streaks on hind coxa (sometimes reduced), apex of femora, a pair of small oval spots on propodeum near to posterior margin, yellow; dorsum of the fifth segment of fore tarsus, pale yellow; wings nearly hyaline, rather brownish, veins dark brown.

MALE. Head in frontal view very wide, FHH/intOW 0.85; lateral profile of the head strongly convex forwards; clypeus much wider than high, H/WClp 0.82, ventral angle obtuse, apex narrowly rounded; tentorial pit closer to the eye than to antennal socket; antenna with the scape short and wide, L/Wesc 2.16, ventral surface of antennomeres 4–13 with large shining tyloids, that on antennomere 3 constricted, this antennomere about 2.7 times longer than wide, apex of the antenna relatively elongated ( Fig. 29 ), antennomeres 11–13 flattened below, 12 as seen from above 1.35 longer than wide, 13 elongated, narrow, with rounded apex, 2.6 times longer than wide, 1.3 times longer than 12; gena very narrow, about 1/3 as wide as the ventral lobe of the eye in lateral view; anterior face of fore coxa round not noticeably flattened; clypeus with poorly visible fine shallow punctures, and numerous more sparse medium sized ones, clypeus and frons covered by dense silvery hairs, those on frons very long.

Color: similar to female.

NEST: unknown.

Remarks

Richards (1941, 1945) reported variation in this species regarding the presence of the pronotal fovea. However, all the specimens examined by me have a distinct fovea. Snelling (1983) described a male specimen from Panama, which he tentatively identified as M. tolensis . The author’s description corresponds well with that presented above.

Distribution CENTRAL AMERICA: Costa Rica and Panama.

Examined material

COSTA RICA: Guanacaste, Fca. Pasmompa , 400m, 5km SO de Sta. Cecilia 1 ♀ ix/ 1992 (C. Moraga), 1 ♀ iii/1989, Estación Pitilla (Biodiversity Survey); Heredia, 1♀ Est. Biol. La Selva (1025/8400), 80m, 1/vi/1996 (G.A. R. Melo) ( UFPR) ,; Limón, 1 ♂ Hitoy Cerere , 100–200m, 20/v–6/vi/1993 (G. Carballo) ; Puntarenas, 1 ♀ Est. Sirena , 0–100m, P. N. Corcovado, 21/iii–21/iv/1992 (Z. Fuentes) , 1 ♀ Peninsula Osa, Corcovado National Park (D. Janzem) ( INBC) ; PANAMA: 1 ♀ Summit Garden , 13/vii/1980 (D. Windsor) ( GBFM) , 1 ♀ Bugaba , 500–1500 ft. (Champion) ( BMNH) .

Figures

FIGURES 26–42. M. tolensis: 26, mesosoma part dorsal, 28, female mandible, 29, male antenna, 30, T1; M. magdalenensis sp. n.: 27, mesosoma part dorsal, 31, T1; M. zikaninus: 32, male antenna, 33, T1; M. pseudomimeticus: 34, T1; M. mocsaryi: 35, mesosoma part dorsal, 36, male head, 37, male antenna; M. fitzgeraldi: 38, T1; M. villarricanus: 39, T1, 42, male antenna; M. funerulus: 40, T1, 41, male antenna.