Pseudepipona (Pseudepipona) lativentris (de Saussure, 1855)

Fateryga, Alexander V. & Selis, Marco, 2024, Unexpected diversity in the Pseudepipona lativentris species-group (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Eumeninae), Zootaxa 5529 (2), pp. 318-340 : 330-332

Pseudepipona (Pseudepipona) lativentris (de Saussure, 1855)

( Figs 7A–G , 10Q–S )

Odynerus lativentris de Saussure, 1855: 275 , ♀ (type locality: “Le Midi de la France. Montpellier”); syntype (s), Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle , Paris, France.

Diagnosis. Body with yellow pattern, legs predominantly yellow ( Fig. 7A, F ); apical margin of female clypeus approximately as wide as distance between antennal sockets, hardly emarginate ( Fig. 7D ); male F11 slender, apically rounded, without a tyloid ( Fig. 7G ); antero-lateral angles of pronotum in dorsal view rather rectangular ( Fig. 7A ); scutellum and metanotum with yellow bands ( Fig. 7A, F ); punctation on T2 moderately coarse and dense, interspaces not exceeding diameter of a puncture ( Fig. 7D ); paramere moderately broad ( Fig. 10Q ); ventral lobe of aedeagus rounded ( Fig. 10S ).

Material examined. SWITZERLAND: Siders, 1 ♂ [ ZISP]; Sierra , 9.IX.1887, 1 ♀ [ ZISP]; ibid., 23.VII.1889, 1 ♂ [ ZISP] . SPAIN: Alicante, 16.III.1961, 1 ♀, leg. Mercet [ MSNVE]; Cuenca, 1 ♂, leg. Korb [ MSNVE]; Fuentelcésped, 9.VII.1986, 1 ♀, leg. F. Sanza [ MSNVE]; Mallorca, 1 ♂ [ ZISP]; Picasent, Valencia, 1 ♀, leg. G. Marí [ ZMMU]; ibid., 13.X.1940, 1 ♀, leg. G. Marí [ MSNVE]; ibid., 12.IV.1942, 1 ♂, leg. G. Marí [ MSNVE]; Picasent, Torrente, 1 ♂, leg. G. Marí [ ZMMU]; Sierra de Guadarrama , 1 ♀, leg. Dusmet [ ZISP]; ibid., 23.VIII.1915, 1 ♀, leg. Dusmet [ MSNVE] . ITALY: Lazio, Roma, Caffarella, 12.VIII.1944, 1 ♂ [ MSVI]; Sanremo, 1 ♂ [ ZISP]; Sardegna, Quartu S. Elena , Niu Crobu , 85 m, 9.V.2021, 1 ♀, leg. D. Sechi [ MSVI]; Sicilia, Madonie , Madonna dell’Alto , 30.VI.2021, 1 ♂, leg. M. Romano [ MSVI]; Sicilia, Valle di Zottafonda , 1600 m, 20.VI.1998, 1 ♂, leg. M. Romano [ MSVI] . MOROCCO: Fès-Meknès , Boulemane , R503 SE of Ait Karmosse , 1750 m, 22.V.2022, 1 ♀, 2 ♂, leg. T. Wood [ MSVI]; Moyen Atlas , Timadit , 28.V.1947, 1 ♂, leg. J. de Beaumont [ MSNVE]; Oukaimeden , 10.V.2015, 1 ♂, leg. V. Soon [ TUZ]; Oukaimeden , 2590 m, 12.V.2015, 1 ♀, leg. V. Soon [ MSVI]; Oukaimeden , 2620 m, 13.V.2015, 1 ♀, leg. V. Soon [ TUZ]; Oukaimeden , 2670 m, 13.V.2015, 2 ♀, leg. V. Soon [ TUZ] . TUNISIA: Sidi Ayed, 2.VI.1979, 1 ♀, leg. Tussac [ MSNVE]. AZERBAIJAN: Helendorf, 2 ♀ [ ZISP]; Ordubad ( Arax ), 1892, 1 ♂, leg. E. Reitter [ ZISP] .

The following specimen cannot be unequivocally identified as either P. lativentris or P. cypria : TURKEY: Asia Minor , steppic hills W of Konya, 9.VII.1962, 1 ♀, leg. A. Giordani Soika [ MSNVE].

Additional literature records. FRANCE: Aveyron: St.-Affrique; Bouche-du-Rhône: Rognac; Bouchesdu-Rhône: Vitrolles; Charente Inférieure: Royan; Charente Inférieure: St. Palais; Corse: Bonifacio; Hérault: Montpellier; Landes: St.-Sever; Lot-et-Garonne: Ville-neuve-sur-Lot; Maine-et-Loire: St.-Rémy-la-Varenne; Var: Callian ( Berland 1928). PORTUGAL: Algarve: Amoreira; Alto do Estoril; Coimbra: Montemor-o-Velho; Cova do Vapor; Estoril; Estremadura: Cabo Espichel; Estremadura: Nazaré; Mitra; Resende; S. João do Estoril ( Baldock et al. 2020a). SPAIN: Granada: Güéjar-Sierra; Jaén: Quesada ( Castro 1986); Huesca: Alcubierre; Huesca: Candasnos; Huesca: Castejón; Teruel: Alcañiz; Zaragoza: Fuendetodos; Zaragoza: Jaulín; Zaragoza: Monegrillo; Zaragoza: Montes de Castejón; Zaragoza: Retuerta de Pina; Zaragoza: Zaragoza ( Castro 1992); Mallorca: Can Pastilla; Mallorca: Palma de Mallorca; Menorca: Cala Mesquida; Menorca: Cap Fornells; Menorca: Son Xoriguer ( Baldock et al. 2020b). ITALY: Sicilia, Geraci Siculo, Pietra Giordano; Sicilia, Madonie, Piano Catarineci ( Borsato & Turrisi 2004); Sardegna, Nuoro Province, Aritzo, Contrada Case ( Borsato 2006); Sardegna, Cagliari Province, Carloforte ( Castro & Dvořák 2009). CROATIA: Insel Unie (Quarnero) ( Blüthgen 1951). MOROCCO: Ifrane; Midelt; Timadit ( Giordani Soika 1953). TURKEY: Kulp (= Tuzluca) ( Blüthgen 1951).

The following literature records cannot be unequivocally identified as either P. lativentris or P.cypria : TURKEY: Elma Dagi, Ankara, 1000 m ( Giordani Soika 1970); Erzurum, Palandöken, 2300 m ( Yildirim & Gusenleitner 2004). LEBANON: Cedars ( Giordani Soika 1970). These authors reported only female specimens, which can be easily confused. The records of P. lativentris by Giordani Soika (1970) from Tajikistan, by Ebrahimi & Carpenter (2008) from Iran, by Castro & Dvořák (2009) from Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan, and by Oehlke (2012) from Kyrgyzstan cannot be unequivocally attributed to a certain species of the P. lativentris -group. The record of P. lativentris from China by Bai et al. (2021) actually refers to P. tingjingliae Fateryga from the P. herrichii -group (Fateryga 2022).

Distribution. France, Switzerland, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Croatia, Morocco, Tunisia, Azerbaijan, Turkey,? Lebanon (Fig. 11).

Ethology. Ferton (1901) recorded this species, erroneously named “ Odynerus fastidiosissimus ” (see Berland 1927 for clarification), nesting in the ground. The nest was without an entrance turret and the egg was suspended in a cell. Blüthgen (1961) reported that the provision was green caterpillars. Castro (1992) reported a specimen collected at Reseda sp. ( Resedaceae ).

Figures

FIGURE 7. Pseudepipona lativentris (de Saussure). A–D, ♀, Spain; E–G, ♂, Switzerland. A, F, habitus in dorsal view; B, E, head in front view; C, pronotum and anterior part of scutum in dorsal view; D, T2 in dorsal view; G, apex of flagellum. Scale bars 0.5 mm.

FIGURE 10. Male genitalia of Pseudepipona spp. A–C, Pseudepipona beckeri (Morawitz), Crimea; D–F, P.cretensis Blüthgen, Crete; G–I, P. cypria Blüthgen, Cyprus; J, L, M, P. falsa (Kostylev), Uzbekistan; K, P. falsa, lectotype; N–P, P. gineri (von Schulthess), Ibiza; Q–S, P. lativentris (de Saussure), Spain; T, P. rubricans Kurzenko, Kazakhstan; U–W, P. rubricans, China; X–Z, P. vicina Gusenleitner, Kyrgyzstan. A, D, G, J, N, Q, T, U, X, left paramere and volsella in medial view (d, digitus); B, E, H, K, L, O, R, V, Y, aedeagus in dorsal view (me, median expansion); C, F, I, M, P, S, W, Z, aedeagus in lateral view (vl, ventral lobe). Scale bar 0.5 mm (not exactly applied to D–F and N–P).