Zethus (Zethoides) toltecus de Saussure, 1875

Lopes, Rogério B. & Noll, Fernando B., 2024, Taxonomic notes on the Zethus olmecus de Saussure, 1875 species group (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Eumeninae), with the description of five new species, Zootaxa 5437 (3), pp. 363-383 : 378-379

Zethus (Zethoides) toltecus de Saussure, 1875

Zethus toltecus toltecus de Saussure, 1875: 27 (female, in division Zethusculus). Dalla Torre 1894: 14 (cat.); 1904: 17 (cat.). Bohart & Stange 1965: 159–160 (key), 161 (two subspecies: Z. t. toltecus and Z. t. segmentalis ; in subgenus Zethoides; syn. of Z. duckei Zavattari ; male; Mexico, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Panama; Peru), 170 (Figs 135–137). Stange 1975: 78 ( Bolivia: Santa Cruz), 80 (Bolivian Tropical Rainforest), 90 ( Bolivia: Santa Cruz; visiting flower of Cordia buddleioides ), 92 (key). West-Eberhard et al. 1995: 574 ( Costa Rica). Stange 1997: 311 (key), 320 ( Venezuela). Rodríguez-Palafox 1996: 481 ( Mexico, list). Rasmussen & Asenjo 2009: 43 ( Peru). Carpenter et al. 2012: 279 (probable occurence in Guatemala). Lopes & Noll 2018: 106 (terminal used in analysis), 111 (phylogeny), 118 (ingroup with shared homoplasy), 120 (in Z. olmecus species group), 128–129 (character matrix). Pierkarski et al. 2018: 2100 (phylogeny), 2102 (representing lineage of Z. miniatus ). Type data: Holotype female, Geneva [MHNG]. Type locality: “Mexiq. Orizaba”.

Zethus duckei Zavattari, 1912: 12 (key), 29 (male, in division Zethusculus). Bohart & Stange 1965: 170 (syn. of toltecus toltecus de Saussure ; holotype in Genoa). Type data: Holotype male, Genoa [MSNG]. Type locality: Pebas, Peru.

Discoelius segmentalis von Ihering, 1911: 472 (male). Yasumatsu 1934: 16 (list). Type data: Holotype male, S„o Paulo [MZSP]. Type locality: Óbidos [Pará, Brazil].

Zethus toltecus segmentalis Bohart & Stange, 1965: 159–160 (key), 170 (male, also female specimens; in subgenus Zethoides ; Brazil, Suriname), 204 (aedeagus, fig. 348).

Examined material. Zethus toltecus toltecus (3♀, 1♁) (see Supplementary Material 1). USA: 1♀, Kansas, 3 mi NE Lawrence [ BME] . MEXICO: ♀ (holotype of Z. t. toltecus ), Veracruz, Orizaba [ MHNG] ; 1♀, Veracruz, 36 km W Las Choapas [ BME] . PERU: ♁ (holotype of Z. duckei ), Loreto, Pebas [ MZHB] .

Zethus toltecus segmentalis : 21♀, 5♁ (see Supplementary Material 1). BRAZIL: 1♁, Amazonas, Alenquer [ MPEG] ; 1♀, Amazonas , Manaus [ MPEG] ; 3♀, 2♁, Pará, Belém [ MPEG] ; 1♀, Maranhão, Peri Mirim [ UFMA] ; 1♀, Ceará, Guaramiranga [ DZUP] ; 3♀, Mato Grosso, Cáceres [ DZUP] ; 1♀, Mato Grosso do Sul, Dourados [ UFGD] ; 1♀, Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte [ CCT-UFMG] ; 1♀, Espírito Santo, Guarapari [ DZUP] ; 1♀, Rio de Janeiro, Rep Rio Grande [ DZUP] ; 1♀, 1♁, São Paulo, Santa Rita do Passa Quatro [ RPSP] ; 1♀, São Paulo, Porto Ferreira [ RPSP] ; 1♀, São Paulo, Boa Esperança do Sul [ BME] ; 1♀, São Paulo, Luis Antônio [ DZUP] ; 1♀, São Paulo, Cajuru [ DZUP] ; 1♀, São Paulo, Teodoro Sampaio [ DZUP] ; 1♀, Paraná, Tibagi [ DZUP] .

Distribution. Zethus toltecus toltecus : * USA (Kansas), Mexico (Veracruz), El Salvador, Costa Rica, Panamá, and Peru; Z. t. segmentalis: Surinam, Brazil (Pará, *Amazonas, *Maranh„o, * Ceará, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, * Minas Gerais, * Espírito Santo, * Rio de Janeiro, *S„o Paulo, * Paraná) ( Bohart & Stange 1965; and new data).

Observations. Bohart & Stange (1965) synonymized Z. segmentalis Ihering, 1911 under this species as a subspecies. However, they did not examine any male genitalia from the nominotypical species to ensure them as distinct or synonymous morphological entities. Unfortunately, this question will have to be answered posteriorly as no male of Z. t. toltecus was examined. Still, examined material greatly expands the geographical distribution of this species both to the North (Kansas, USA) and the South, making it one of the most widely distributed species of Zethus .