Allantus togatus (Panzer, 1801)

Liston, Andrew, 2023, Taxonomy, distribution and host plants of some southern European and North African Sawflies (Hymenoptera, Symphyta), Contributions to Entomology 73 (1), pp. 9-30 : 9

Allantus togatus (Panzer, 1801)

Tenthredo togata Panzer, 1801: 82:12. Syntypes [lost or destroyed]. Type locality: presumably Germany, according to the title of the publication. A full synonymy of other basionyms is given by Taeger et al. (2010).

Material examined

[full data given only for specimens figured, or referred to in the text]. Croatia: 1♀, Mali Lug b. Rijeka, 06.07.1985, E. Jansen leg. (DEIEJ) . Finland: 1♀ (DEI-GISHym118974), Pajarinmaeki, 62.0746°N, 30.1861°E, 18.06.2021, Liston, Mutanen, Kiljunen & Prous leg. (SDEI) . Italy: Toscana, 1 adult (documentation by photo, det. A. Taeger), Provincia di Grosseto , 42.78788°N, 10.96229°E, 01.06.2018, photo Bruno Parisotto, https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/147626789 . Germany, Poland, Switzerland: 17♀ 8♂ (SDEI, DEIEJ) .

Notes.

Similarly to Allantus viennensis , variation in coloration has led to the description of a number of “varieties” of A. togatus , which are listed as synonyms by Taeger et al. (2010).

Lacourt (2020a, b: 236, Key couplet 2) characterized Allantus togatus thus: "Head entirely black. Thorax entirely black except tegulae yellow. Antennae bicoloured, black at the base and light brown at the apex from the 4th segment onwards". Most examined specimens of A. togatus have pale markings on the head. Always present, as also in most species of Allantus including Emphytus , is a small pale fleck next to the eye on the upper inner orbit. Most specimens also have a small fleck on the hind margin of the vertex outside and next to the postocellar furrows, and the interantennal area is frequently also pale-marked. Three males have a yellowish labrum. Only one female has the lower inner orbits narrowly pale-marked. Although there is a tendency towards more extensive and additional pale head markings in A. enslini (see above), the paler specimens of A. togatus and the darker specimens of A. enslini share the same colour pattern. The antenna of all examined female A. togatus is basally black and apically more or less brown (Fig. 7L ), whereas all but one of the examined males have entirely black antennae. The upper mesepisternum of A. togatus is rough (matt), with almost contiguous punctation and very narrow interspaces (much narrower than the width of a puncture). The postspiracular sclerite of all A. togatus specimens is entirely black.

Allantus togatus has a wide Palaearctic distribution, through central and northern Europe north to the Stockholm area ( Malaise 1931a) and southern Finland, and according to Zhelochovtsev and Zinovjev (1996) east through Siberia to the Russian Far East. Possibly at least some of the East Palaearctic records under the name A. togatus really refer to A. calliblepharus . Popov (2011), for example, mentioned both species from Yakutia, but that the presence of A. togatus was based on previously published records and that he had only seen specimens of A. calliblepharus from that region. In the light of the widespread mixing-up of A. enslini and A. togatus , published records of the latter from southern Europe also need to be re-evaluated. The currently available data (see also under A. enslini , above) suggest that these two species might be allopatric, with A. enslini replacing A. togatus in parts of Mediterranean Europe, such as the Iberian Peninsula, and North Africa. So few specimens from Italy and the Balkans (Croatia) have so far been checked, such that not even a provisional assessment of their ranges in these territories is possible.

Most primary data on the host plants of A. togatus name various species of Salix (e.g. Lorenz and Kraus 1957; Macek et al. 2020), sometimes Quercus (e.g. Pschorn-Walcher and Altenhofer 2000; Macek et al. 2020), and rarely Populus ( Kangas 1985). Many publications also list Betula as a host, but this requires checking. According to Enslin (1914), Dahlbom first recorded Betula as a host, which presumably refers to notes published by Dahlbom (1847), who reared adults identified as Allantus succinctus from larvae collected on Betula alba [= pendula] as well as willow leaves.

Figures

Figure 7. Allantus (Allantus) species. A-C. Head dorsal ♀; A. A. viennensis (DEI-GISHym 81400); B. A. enslini (Sicily, G. F. Turrisi leg.); C. A. enslini (DEI-GISHym 84750); D, E. Thorax lateral ♀, postspiracular sclerite arrowed; D. A. enslini (DEI-GISHym 84745); E. A. togatus (DEI-GISHym 118974); F-H. Complete dorsal ♀; F. A. enslini (DEI-GISHym 84745); G. A. togatus (DEI-GISHym 118974); H. A. calliblepharus (DEI-GISHym 84747); I-M. Antennae; I. A. viennensis ♀ (DEI-GISHym 81400); J. A. enslini ♀ (DEI-GISHym 84750); K. A. enslini ♂ (DEI-GISHym 21183); L. A. togatus ♀ (DEI-GISHym 118974); M. A. calliblepharus ♀ (DEI-GISHym 84747). Scale bars: 1 mm.