Mischocyttarus barbatus Richards 1945

Silveira, Orlando Tobias, 2019, Taxonomic notes on social wasps of the groups of Mischocyttarus wagneri (Buysson 1908) and M. barbatus Richards 1945 (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Polistinae), Revista Brasileira de Entomologia 63 (1), pp. 53-72 : 66-67

Mischocyttarus barbatus Richards 1945

( Figs. 5; 8; 14; 17 ; 29; 30 )

Mischocyttarus barbatus Richards 1945: 373 , figs. 51, 59; Holotype: Female , Colombia (Valle), Cordillera Occidental 2000 m, Rio Aguacatal, Fassl col. (MNHU). [examined]

Mischocyttarus barbatus var. cisandinus Richards 1945: 374 ; Holotype: Female, Colombia, Bogotá, Lindig col. (MNHU); [examined]; Synonymy by Richards (1978).

Mischocyttarus ecuadorensis Zikán 1949: 156 ; Holotype: Female , Ecuador, “Balza Mba” (probably Balzapamba, Bolivar) (MZSP; no. 17.088); [examined]; New Synonymy.

Mischocyttarus peduncularius Zikán 1949: 151 , figs. 223, 224, 294; Lectotype: Male , Peru, Vale Chanchamayo 800–1200 m (IOC); designated by Richards (1978); [examined]; New Synonymy.

Mischocyttarus barbatus : Zikán (1949: 225, in key); Richards (1978: 337); Silveira (2008: 540).

Mischocyttarus barbatus var. barbatus : Richards (1945: 374); Zikán (1949: 225, in key).

Mischocyttarus barbatus var. cisandinus : Zikán (1949: 225, in key).

Mischocyttarus ecuadorensis : Richards (1978: 336); Silveira (2008: 540).

Mischocyttarus peduncularius : Richards (1978: 337); Silveira (2008: 540).

Female

Length of fore wing 7.5–10 mm; clypeus wider than high, H/WCLP about 0.89 (min–max: 0.83–0.94), apex narrowly truncate, clypeus not so extensively in contact with eye, free upper part of lateral margin relatively long, more than 0.3× height of clypeus at middle; malar space narrow; tentorial pit a little closer to eye margin than to antennal socket; ocelli as in an equilateral triangle; occiput rounded, carina absent; gena narrower than the upper lobe of the eye; pronotum with lateral fovea, central part of the anterior margin of pronotum with the lamella wide and poorly raised not at all reflexed, region immediately behind produced into a secondary margin which is obtuse and not projecting over the lamella; humeral angle well developed and projecting laterally, total humeral width about 1.08× that of mesoscutum (min–max: 1.03–1.12), sides of the pronotum as seen from above little converging; pronotal carina completely absent at center, developed at sides as an obtuse roundish ridge having at top a narrow (low) translucent lamellar portion, whose extremity is not backwardly reflexed, mesoscutum about as long as wide, L/WMS around 1.0, lateral margin adjacent to tegula well demarcated and laterally prominent; fore wing relatively short (mean LSI/HMP 2.15; min–max: 2.00–2.23); basal inner (posterior side) margin of fore coxa raised but comparatively less reflexed; inner claw of hind tarsus with the apex narrowly pointed, never definitely acute; propodeal dorsal cavity elongate and considerably deep, shaped as high triangle, less often with more linear form; propodeal valve variable moderately expanded in an uniform way so that it has a roughly round shape; first segment of metasoma moderately elongate, its length a little less than 1.3× height of mesopleuron (LSI/HMP about 1.28, min–max: 1.22–1.34), distinctly slender but variably wide at apex, from 1.91–2.45× wider than at base, spiracles often distinctly prominent.

Sculpture: head and mesosoma with moderately course sculpture; clypeus with minute dense punctation (diameter ca. 0.015 mm), with moderately shining interstices measuring about one puncture diameter, and also with shallow sparser larger punctures (diameter 0.030 –0.037 mm), apical central area very finely reticulate, appearing almost smooth, shining, with a few interspersed large shallow punctures (diameter 0.037–0.44 mm); frons with a stronger pattern of slightly larger and deeper punctures (diameter 0.022 –0.030 mm) separated by interstices of 0.5–1 puncture diameter; humeral area of pronotum with a strong pattern of subcoalescent small punctures (0.022 mm); mesoscutum with similar pattern but with punctures slightly less dense and larger (diameter mostly 0.022 mm or a little larger, interstices of 0.5–1 diameter); mesopleuron with a rather uniform pattern of dense and deep punctures, diameter 0.022 –0.030 mm) separated by interstices of 0.5–1 puncture diameter; propodeum dorsally similar with punctures a little larger and more sparse.

Vestiture: eyes bare; clypeus covered by fine appressed shining (silvery) pubescence, not so dense to the point of obscuring the pattern of micropunctures underneath; clypeus with sparser erect longer setae especially near apical margin (length ca. equal to one median ocellus diameter; mod), most of head (including posterior surfaces) and mesosoma covered by very long fine hairs, length on mesoscutum ca. 1.3 mod, on mesopleuron ca. 1.6 mod, on propodeum still longer, ca. 2.0 mod; hairs on metasomal sterna also relatively long, ca. 1 mod, on the first sternum a little longer, ca. 1.3 mod.

Color (see Figs. 29; 30 ): Black; anterior half of mandible (sometimes more) light reddish brown (rarely yellow), margins darker; antennal articles 9–12 light reddish beneath sometimes all of flagellum beneath); narrow ventral strip of clypeus reddish yellow (rarely yellow); inner orbits to more or less center of ocular sinus, short dorsal genal streak (rarely also with ventral a one), small mark on pronotum ventral corner (sometimes reddish, or entirely absent), tubercle (sometimes reddish, or entirely absent), carina discontinuously (sometimes fairly continuously) and hind margin of pronotum (sometimes indistinct or reddish), rarely a narrow anterior transversal stripe on scutellum, front margin of metanotum (sometimes absent), propodeal valves (sometimes dark) and paired propodeal dorsal spots (sometimes only small dots, or entirely absent) a small scrobal spot (sometimes reddish, often absent), posterior margin of meso and metasternum extending laterally to border of coxal articulation (sometimes indistinct), one dorsolateral stripe on mid coxa (sometimes reddish, or absent), one outer dorsal stripe on hind coxae (sometimes reddish, or absent), sometimes also an inner dorsal incomplete streak; sometimes posterior side of distal margin of trochanters; small apical mark on all femora; distal lateral marks on metasomal sternum 1 (sometimes absent), narrow distal bands on metasomal terga l-2 (or -5, somewhat indistinctly, or without any metasomal bands) and sterna 2–3 (or -5, somewhat indistinctly, or without any metasomal bands), yellow (sometimes whitish yellow); red suffused areas on mesepisternum and lower metapleural plate (sometimes absent); elongate marks on anterior face of mid and hind femora; most of fore tibia and elongate marks on anterior face of mid and hind tibiae, light reddish brown to yellowish brown; hind tibia with distal pad concolorous with adjacent area; tegula brown with posterior yellow spot (sometimes absent); wings hyaline or a little infuscate, costal region a little yellowish, venation brown.

Male

Length of fore wing 8–8.5 mm; mandible with four teeth; clypeus touching eyes, a little wider than high, ventral angle obtuse; antenna with the scape relatively shorter and wider, ventral surface of the flagellum with tyloids reduced or fragmented, apex of the antenna just rolled, hook like, antennomere 13 about 3.5× longer than wide; clypeus with very conspicuous dense shining pubescence; also frons, gena beneath, most of mesosomal areas, and first metasomal sternum presenting quite long fine outstanding hairs.

Color: similar to female; clypeus more extensively yellow close to lateral and apical margins; antenna with articles 8–13 yellow beneath.

Variation

This species shows considerable variation in the length and slenderness of the first metasomal tergum, as well as regarding the occurrence and extension of yellow marks over the body. However, neither these structural and color characters correlate reciprocally, nor they do with geography. In Fig. 45 is a scatterplot of two morphometric variables representing respectively the proportional length of first segment (mesoscutum width was used as size reference in this case, to benefit from measurements of the types of barbatus and cisandinus obtained from photographs) and the first segment width at apex. The graph shows wide overlapping of clusters of specimens from very different locations.

Nest

Zikán (1949) did not see nests of M. ecuadorensis and M. peduncularius , and Richards (1978) mentioned several nests of M. barbatus from Colombia, Valle, Anchicayá, the largest of them with 20 cells. Carton was dark gray-brown and cocoon-caps were also dark and largely covered with carton. The combs tended to be elongated, two or three cells wide, with a pedicel (3–4 mm long) at one end. In the MPEG collection, a nest ( Fig. 18 ) from Parque Nacional Tatamá (Risaralda, Rio San Rafael, 2150 m, 4/i/1993, C. Sarmiento) some 200 km north of Anchicayá, corresponds well to Richards’s description, but it is in a much more advanced stage of growth, with 91 cells, and the comb is roughly circular (ca. 3.3 × 3.0 cm).It was attached to a rock, some 20 cm from the ground.

Distribution

Central and Northwestern South America: Panamá; Venezuela; Colombia; Ecuador; Peru ( Fig. 46 ).

Remarks

Zikán (1949) apparently did not see types or identified specimens of M. barbatus (short key diagnoses were presented on pages 225 and 226, as parts of Richards’s key for the “group of flavitarsis ” included there as supplement), and his new species M. ecuadorensis (only the holotype) and M. peduncularius (2 males and 1 female) seem to be just southern occurrences of M. barbatus in Ecuador and Peru.

Examined material

Paratypes of M. barbatus : Colombia: Valle , Cordillera Occidental , 1 male (allotype), Tocota (not “Tocoto” as in Richards, 1978) [examined], 1 female, Aguacatal [examined] ( MNHU), 1 female, Aguacatal [examined] ( NHM) ; Paratypes of M. peduncularius : Peru: Vale Chanchamayo 800–1200 m, 1 male, 1 female ( IOC) [examined] .

Ordinary specimens. Panama: El Cope , Coclé, 1 female 2/ii/1990, R. Cambra ( GBFM) Colombia: Antioquia, El Roble , 1 female 1/x/1996, Y. Vargas ; San Antonio, Roble , 1 female 23/iv/1997, H. Moreno ; Caldas, Aguadas , La Herencia 2170 m, 1 female 23/i/1996, C. Sarmiento ( MPEG) ; Cauca, El Tambo “1200– 900 m:ö. h.”, 1 female, 1 male, 15/v/1936, Sneidern, Kj. v. (Bohart Museum- UCDC) , Popayán , 1800 m, 1 male, nest 226, 4 females, nest 227, 10/x/1974, M. Cooper ( NHM) ; Huila, 1 male, Las Cuevas de Los Guacharos , M. Cooper ( NHM) ; Nariño, Barbacoas, Cgto. Altaquer. Reserva Natural Privada Ñambi , 1200 m, 1 female, 1 male, 22/vii/1995, C. Sarmiento ( MPEG) ; Risaralda, Parque Nacional Tatamá, Rio San Rafael , 1 female (with nest) 4/i/1993, C. Sarmiento ( MPEG) ; Valle, Anchicayá, Hidroeléctrica bajo Anchicayá El Engano 260 m, 2 females 24/iii/1995, C. Sarmiento ( MPEG) , Anchicaya, 3 females, 15/i/1972, near Buenaventura , 1 female 13–14/i/1972, 1 female 16/i/1977, nest 173, M. Cooper ( NHM) ; Venezuela: Lara, 1 female, 1 male, Cubiro, 6/v/1981, Townes, H.K. ( AEIC) ; Peru: Chanchamayo, San Ramon , 1400 m, 2 females, 26.vii.1970 ( R. Garcia) ; Ecuador: Napo, 500 m, 2 females 15–18/xii/1971 ; Morona-Santiago, 1 female, Rio Upano east of Sucua 720 m, 31/viii/1981, M. Cooper ; Bolivia: Cochabamba, 2 females, Palmar, 30 km NE Tiraque , 3–6.vi.1979, note 84, M. Cooper ( NHM) .

Figures

Figs. 5–18. 5–7: frontal–dorsal view of anterior face of pronotum showing secondary margin (arrow) in M. barbatus (5), M.mixtus (6), M. wagneri (7); 8–10: same structures and species in dorsal view; 11–12: mesial view of fore coxa showing raised basal margin (arrow) in M. mixtus (11), M wagneri (12); 13–14: inner (larger) hind tarsal claw (arrow) in M. mixtus (13, lateral) and M. barbatus (14, ventral); 15: hind tarsus of M. wagneri (a), M. mourei (b), M. proximus (c), M. camanducaia sp. nov. (d), M. declaratus (e); 16–18: nests of M. proximus (16), M. wagneri (17), M. barbatus (18); all scales = 0.50mm, except in Fig.18 (= 10 mm); groups of figs. (5–7), (8–10), (11–12), (13–14) share the same scale.

Figs. 27–34. General dorsal and lateral body views (females). 27–28: M. mourei (Brazil, PR, Curitiba, paralectotype, IOC); 29–30: M. barbatus (Colombia: Antioquia, MPEG); 31–32:M.mixtus (Mexico:Chiapas, EBCC); 33–34:M.imeldai (33 dorsal – holotype, Peru, IOC) (34 lateral – Bolivia,NHM); all scales =1.0 mm; scales in figs. (27–28), (33–34) are estimates.

Fig. 45. Scattergram of ratio variables for two species of the group of M. barbatus. X axis – LSI LMS (length of first metasomal segment over length of mesoscutum); Y axis – W wSI (apical with over basal width of first metasomal segment); black filled circles are M. mixtus; all other symbols are M. barbatus: gray asterisk (Panama); open circle (northwestern Venezuela); red crosses (northwestern Colombia); pink filled squares (southwestern Colombia); gray filled diamond (western Colombia, Pacific slope); open square (midwestern Colombia).

Fig. 46. Partial truncated map for Central and South America with species distributions for the M. barbatus group, and with the pooled distribution of the group of M.wagneri (see next figure for detailed representation of distributions of species of this group).