Asteloeca traili (Cameron)

CARPENTER, JAMES M., NASCIMENTO, FÁBIO SANTOS DO, MATEUS, SIDNEI, NOLL, FERNANDO B. & KOJIMA, JUN-ICHI, 2004, A Revision of the Genus Asteloeca (Hymenoptera: Vespidae; Polistinae), American Museum Novitates 3427, pp. 1-12 : 11

Asteloeca traili (Cameron)

Polybia traili Cameron, 1906: 383 , female—[ Brazil] ‘‘ Rio Purus , Amazons’ ’ (holotype in Natural History Museum, London [examined]).

Polybia Ujhelyii var. obscura Ducke, 1909: 626 , female—[ Brazil] ‘‘ Fontebôa ( Haut Amazone)’’ (holotype in Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest [examined]) .

Occipitalia traili morph traili ; Richards, 1978: 199.

Asteloeca traili ; Raw, 1985: 185 (type species of Asteloeca n. gen.), 187.

This species is readily recognized by the dark ground color, against which the yellow markings are very conspicuous, particularly on the metasoma. The synonymy of P. ujhelyii var. obscura with A. traili was confirmed by Carpenter (1999: 6).

MALE: The paramere is illustrated in figure 16. The shows the most notable difference compared to A. ujhelyii , which is the strongly produced ventral margin of the paramere seen in lateral view.

FINAL INSTAR LARVA: Specimens examined: five larvae from a nest collected at Acre, Rio Acre, 17 October 1998 (Sidnei Mateus et al.). As larvae of A. ujhelyii with a few minor differences as follows: cranium darker than in A. ujhelyii ; clypeus nearly entirely pigmented (lower part unpigmented in A. ujhelyii ); setae on labrum not branching apically (some bifid in A. ujhelyii ).

DISTRIBUTION: Brazil and Peru. Richards (1978: 199) recorded this species, as ‘‘morph’’ traili , from Peru: Loreto; Carpenter has seen the specimens. In Richards’ unpublished manuscript in the Natural History Museum, he also recorded traili from Bolivia: Beni, but it is possible this record referred to ‘‘morph’’ ujhelyii , which may in turn have been A. lutea . New records, all referring to colonies collected, are Brazil: Para´, Belém, Utinga, 01 ° 25 ̍ S, 48 ° 24 ̍ W, 10 m, 19 November 1997 (James M. Carpenter and Orlando T. Silveira), Nest 971119­2 [colony and nest in AMNH]; Para´, Belém, Mocambo, 4 April 1980 (W. L. Overal) [2♀ in MG]; Para´, Melgaço, Caxiuana˜, ECFPn, 26 March 1998 (Silveira and Pena) [colony and nest in MG]; Estado do Para´, Bosque; October 1944 (no collector), with an identification label ‘‘ Polybia ujhelyii var. obscurus W.D. Hamilton det.’’ [♀ lacking metasoma in MG]; Acre, UFAC campus, 9 ° 57 ̍ S, 67 ° 52 ̍ W, 5 October 1998, 80 m (Sidnei Mateus and Fernando B. Noll) [colony in RP, 2♀ in AMNH]; Acre, AC 10 N Rio Branco, 9 ° 50 ̍ S, 67 ° 45 ̍ W, 12 October 1998, 120 m (James M. Carpenter), Nest 981012­6 [colony in AMNH]; Acre, Rio Acre, 9 ° 32 ̍ S 67 ° 30 ̍ W, 17 October 1998, 10 m (Sidnei Mateus et al.) [nest in RP; larvae in AMNH]; Acre, Xapuri, 10 ° 49 ̎ S 68 ° 22 ̍ W, 12 September 2000 (Fábio S. do Nascimento) [colony in RP; 2♀ and 23 in AMNH].

REMARKS: Although A. traili and A. ujheylii are distinct species, they are similar in size and structure relative to A. lutea . Among the similarities, the posterolateral expansion of the occiput appears to be a synapomorphy, as it is not found in Metapolybia , the sistergroup of Asteloeca . Although A. ujhelyii and A. lutea are superficially similar in coloration, the occipital character supports A. traili and A. ujhelyii as sister­species.