Mischocyttarus proximus Zikán 1949

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 : 63-64

Mischocyttarus proximus Zikán 1949

( Figs. 15c; 16 ; 23; 24 ; 39 )

Mischocyttarus proximus Zikán 1949: 127 , figs. 74, 213. Holotype: female, Brazil, São Paulo, Campos da Serra , xi/1940, F. Lane (MZSP); designated by Richards (1978); [examined].

Mischocyttarus proximus : Richards (1978); Silveira (2008: 541).

Female

Length of fore wing 10–10.5 mm; clypeus wider than high, H/WCLP about 0.91 (min–max: 0.89–0.92), apex narrowly truncate, clypeus not so extensively in contact with eye, free upper part of lateral margin relatively long, more than 0.3 times the clypeus height 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 just 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 rather raised but not reflexed, region immediately behind produced into a secondary margin which is acute and projecting over the lamella; humeral angle poorly developed, total humeral width nearly equal to that of mesoscutum, sides of the pronotum as seen from above distinctly converging; pronotal carina completely absent at center, poorly salient at sides, not forming true lobes and not at all reflexed, with a very narrow translucent lamellar portion at the extremity, mesoscutum about as long as wide, L/WMS around 1.0, lateral margin adjacent to tegula well demarcated and prominent; fore wing well elongate for this group (mean LSI/HMP 2.36; min–max: 2.26–2.49); basal inner (posterior side) margin of fore coxa raised and strongly reflexed; inner claw of hind tarsus with the apex narrowly pointed, but not acute; propodeal dorsal cavity shorter and deeper, oval to subtriangular, often with a median keel, propodeal valve well expanded behind, but low and angular, more triangular in shape than round; first segment of metasoma not so elongate for this group, its length just a little larger than 1.3× height of mesopleuron (LSI/HMP min–max: 1.29–1.33), variably wide at apex, from 2.00–2.30× wider than at base, spiracles scarcely prominent.

Sculpture: head and mesosoma with rather fine sculpture of granulated aspect; 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 similarly sized punctures, but deeper and a little more dense; mesopleuron with pattern similar to clypeus, but with the small-sized punctures a little closer; humeral area of pronotum with slightly larger and denser punctures (diameter ca 0.022 mm); mesoscutum with punctures slightly larger and less dense, diameter 0.022 –0.030 mm, interstices mostly of 0.5 puncture diameter); propodeum with punctures a little larger and sparser.

Vestiture: eyes bare; most body parts covered by fine appressed shining pubescence, not no dense to the point of obscuring the pattern of micropunctures underneath; clypeus with sparser erect longer setae especially near apical margin, shorter erect setae also on frons and vertex, setae on pronotum and mesoscutum oblique but often outstanding; gena beneath with distinctly longer hairs; propodeum dorsolaterally with very long fine hairs with recurved tip.

Color (see Figs.23; 24 ): Black, largely suffused with dark reddish brown, especially on sides of mesosoma (and including propodeum dorsum); mandibles dark brown with a proximal yellow (or light reddish) longitudinal mark; antennal flagellum reddish brown beneath (becoming lighter toward apex); narrow area adjacent to clypeal apical margin (sometimes orange or reddish yellow); inner orbits to top of eyes (becoming very narrow or interrupted near vertex), malar space and genal stripe (outer orbit) [often reduced], subspherical radicle of antennal scape yellowish (sometimes indistinct), two very small dots behind ocelli (often evanescent or absent), marks on pronotum ventral corner near fovea (often absent) and tubercle (sometimes indistinct), pronotal carina and hind margin of pronotum (often only at sides, i.e. light brown at center), narrow axillar mark (scutellum dark brown with a diffuse lighter reddish brown band anteriorly, or entirely light reddish brown), anterior margin very narrowly (and fading at sides) of metanotum, sometimes small faint (posterior) traces of propodeal spots (normally propodeum darkly colored), hind margin of meso and metasternum (extending laterally to border of coxal articulation), apical mark on fore coxa (sometimes undefined), one dorsolateral stripe on mid coxa (often very small), and an outer dorsal stripe on hind coxa (sometimes with traces of an inner one), marks on apex of all femora, small mark bordering apex of all tibiae (sometimes indistinct), very narrow (often interrupted or evanescent) posterior bands on gastral terga 1 and 2 (on the latter extending anteriorly at sides), equally poorly defined bands on sterna 2–3 (or without well-defined bands on any segment), yellow; anterior dorsal elongated marks on all femora, anterior and ventral elongated marks on all tibiae, light reddish brown; hind tibia distal pad light orange brown, adjacent anterior area slightly more yellowish (rarely with a faint yellow mark in between), all tarsi with articles brown above (tarsomeres 4–5 darker), lighter beneath; tegula brown, wings hyaline, venation brown.

Male (see Fig. 39 )

Length of fore wing 9.5 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 4.12× 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: much more yellow marked than female; mandibles, antenna beneath, face to a little above antennal sockets, narrow axillar mark and anterior transversal band on scutellum, largely interrupted mark along anterior margin of metanotum, mark on metanotal side plate, proepisternum, mesosternum and metasternum widely, nearly all of fore coxa, anterior ventral face of mid and hind coxae and of all trochanters, anterior ventral stripes on femora, very narrow (rather indistinct) bands on metasomal terga 1–3 (or -4), only distal lateral margins of sternum 1, narrowly, base of sternum 2, and distal bands on sterna 2–4, yellow; fore tarsus entirely yellow (as in female), mid and hind tarsus with just articles 1–2 yellow or yellowish, more distal tarsomeres dark brown.

Variation

The five additional specimens reported here agree reasonably well with the holotype, described 70 years ago from a place distant ca. 180 km. All the specimens are relatively darker, lacking mesoscutal stripes and propodeal spots.

Nest

The nest ( Fig. 16 ) is very similar to those of M. wagneri and M. mourei .

Distribution Brazil: São Paulo ( Fig. 47 )

Remarks

This species is very similar to M. mourei , and its holotype was actually collected at the same place where Zikán also recorded a specimen of M. mourei proper, and in the very same locality of the holotype of M. lanei (a synonym of M. mourei ). Mischocyttarus proximus is darker, without the propodeal yellow spots typical in this species-group. Further collecting in the region could well show that it is just a darker color variant of M. mourei .

Examined material: Brazil. São Paulo: Campos do Jordão, 1 female 24/viii/, 1female 16/xi/2013, 1 male 25/iii, 1 female 26/iii / 2014, 1 female 8/ii/ 2015, Locher G. A. (MPEG).

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. 19–26. General dorsal and lateral body views (females; all from Brazil).19–20: M.wagneri (RS, Sta. Cruz do Sul; MPEG);21–22: M.camanducaia sp. nov.(holotype:MG, Camanducaia; MPEG); 23–24: M. proximus (SP, Campos do Jordão; MPEG); 25–26: M. declaratus (MG, Barroso; MPEG); all scales = 1.0mm.

Figs. 35–43. 35–38: frontal view of female head (35: M. camanducaia sp. nov., holotype, Brazil, MG, Camanducaia, MPEG; 36: M. declaratus, MG, Barroso, MPEG; 37: M. imeldai, holotype, Peru, IOC; 38: M. imeldai, Bolivia, NHM); 39 and 42: general lateral body view of males (39: M. proximus, SP, Campos do Jordão, MPEG; 42: M. declaratus, MG, Barroso, MPEG); 40–41: male M. imeldai (Peru, NHM) showing mandibles, clypeus and lower face (40) and antennal flagellum (41); 43: anterior-ventral view of face of male M. declaratus (MG, Barroso; MPEG); all scales = 0.50mm, except Figs.39 and 42 (= 1.0mm); scales in figs. (37–38), (40) are estimates.

Fig. 47. Map detail of southeastern South America (with partial view of some Brazilian states) with species distributions for the M. wagneri group. MG: Minas Gerais, RJ:Rio de Janeiro, SP: São Paulo, PR:Paraná, SC: Santa Catarina, RS: Rio Grande do Sul.