Celonites montanus Mocsáry, 1906

Fateryga, Alexander V. & Fadeev, Kirill I., 2023, The identity of Celonites montanus Mocsáry, 1906 (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Masarinae) and its first record from Kazakhstan, Zootaxa 5319 (4), pp. 563-572 : 565-570

Celonites montanus Mocsáry, 1906

( Figs 1–16 , 18–20 )

Celonites montanus Mocsáry, 1906: 198 , ♁ (type locality: “ Turkestan : Alai montes” [ Kyrgyzstan]; lectotype, ♁, “ Alai mont.[es]”, 1905, leg. Korb (designated here) [HNHM]).

Celonites kostylevi Panfilov, 1961: 165–196 , ♀ ♁ (type locality: “КИргИЗИЯ: Западное побережье оЗ. Иссык-Куль, урочИЩе Ак-Улен [ Kirgizia : west coast of Issyk-Kul Lake , Ak-Ulen Place ]” [ Kyrgyzstan]; lectotype (designated here), ♀, “Иссык-Куль, Ак-Улен” [Issyk-Kul, Ak-Ulen], 1.VII.1953, leg. D. Panfilov [ZMMU], paralectotypes, 12 ♀, 3 ♁ [ZMMU]), syn. nov.

Celonites haemorrhoidalis Gusenleitner, 2012: 323–324 , figs 11–13, ♀ (type locality: “Kyrghyzstan: Alai Mt. R. Katta-Karskoir [actually Katta-Karakol r.], 2550 m, 39°52′N 73°22′E ” [ Kyrgyzstan]; holotype, ♀, 15.VII.2000, leg. I. Makogonova [Oberösterreichisches Landesmuseum, Linz, Austria], paratypes, 4 ♀ [Oberösterreichisches Landesmuseum and collection of J. Gusenleitner, Linz, Austria]), syn. nov.

Diagnosis. Head in frontal view about as wide as long (from median ocellus to apical margin of clypeus) in female ( Fig. 2 ) and 1.2× as wide as long in male ( Figs 8 and 10 ). Clypeus with coarse reticulate punctation in female ( Fig. 2 ). Frons covered with sparse and long acute setae, in female about two times longer than diameter of median ocellus ( Figs 18–20 ). Ventral side of antennal club with three tyloids in male. Maximal width of gena about as width of first flagellomere. Axilla with small but distinct laterally directed process which lies on tegula; tegula without emargination opposite to this projection ( Figs 3 and 11 ). Epicnemial carina sharp. Outline of emargination between lateral lamella and postero-lateral process of propodeum with narrow short neck, its apical end medially enlarged ( Fig. 5 ). Posterior margins of terga 1–6 medially hardly crenulate, laterally with short acute teeth ( Fig. 6 ). Posterior margin of tergum 7 in male divided into four lobes ( Fig. 12 ). Sternum 7+ 8 in male with deep pit at center and nearly truncate apical margin ( Figs 13 and 15 ). Male genitalia as in Fig. 16 . Black with ferruginous pattern ( Figs 1, 7 , and 9). Coloration variable, particularly lateral process of axilla can be either black or ferruginous ( Figs 3 and 11 ). Clypeus black ( Fig. 2 ) or with small central ferruginous spot in female and always with ferruginous spot in male ( Figs 8 and 10 ).

This species is most similar to Celonites kozlovi and C. semenovi Kostylev, 1935 . All three species are black with ferruginous pattern. Females of C. montanus can be distingushed from the other species in particular by the longer head, which is shorter than wide in C. kozlovi and especially so in C. semenovi . In addition, C. kozlovi is lacking a distinct laterally directed process of the axilla which lies on the tegula and has a smaller size, much shorter setae on the frons, and a much finer punctation ( Fateryga et al. 2023). Males of C. kozlovi can be distingushed from those of C. montanus by the structure of both tergum 7 (broadly rounded medio-posteriorly, laterally with a tooth) and sternum 7+8 (also with a deep pit at center but with a small process medially at apical margin), as well as by a different structure of the genitalia ( Fateryga et al. 2023). The male of C. semenovi has not been described yet and thus cannot be compared with the male of C. montanus .

Material examined. Lectotype of C. montanus (designated here). KYRGYZSTAN. “Alai mont.[es]”, 1905, 1 ♁, leg. Korb [ HNHM] ( Figs 9–14 ) . Lectotype of C. kostylevi (designated here). KYRGYZSTAN. “Иссык-Куль, Ак-Улен” [Issyk-Kul, Ak-Ulen], 1.VII.1953, 1 ♀, leg. D. Panfilov [ ZMMU] ( Figs 1–4 ) . Paralectotypes of C. kostylevi . KYRGYZSTAN. “Иссык-Куль, Ак-Улен” [Issyk-Kul, Ak-Ulen], 28.VI.1953, 3 ♀, 29.VI.1953, 1 ♀, 1.VII.1953, 6 ♀ , 3 ♁, 2.VII.1953, 2 ♀, leg. D. Panfilov [ ZMMU] . Additional material. KYRGYZSTAN. Issyk-Kul, Ak-Ulen, 5.VII.1954, 1 ♀, leg. D. Panfilov [ ZMMU]; Alai Mountain Range, Katta-Karakol River , 39°52′N, 73°22′E, 2550 m , 15.VII.2000, 22 ♀, leg. I. Makogonova [ CSZT] . KAZAKHSTAN. Almaty Province: 3 km NE Aktogay, Sharyn River canyon, 43°14′34.6″N, 78°52′48.2″E, 1160 m , 25. V .2016 , on Lagochilus , 14 ♀, 2 ♁, leg. K. Fadeev [10 ♀, 1 ♁ ZISP; 2 ♀, 1 ♁ CAFK]; 14 km NE Aktogay, Sharyn River canyon, 43°17′43.9″N, 78°59′27.7″E, 1006 m, 25. V .2016 , 1 ♀, 2 ♁, leg. K. Fadeev [1 ♁ ZISP; 1 ♀, 1 ♁ CAFK].

Distribution. Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan (Almaty Province).

Remarks. Mocsáry (1906) did not report the number of specimens he studied but we have found a single male in HNHM (he, however, indicated that he examined a single specimen, as “specimen unicum”, for two other species of wasps described in the same paper). According to the Recommendation 73F of ICZN (1999), this specimen of C. montanus should be considered the lectotype (not the holotype) since we are not sure that there were no other syntypes. Panfilov (1961) indicated that he studied 13 ♀ and 3 ♁ but did not designate any of them as the holotype in his paper. Therefore, these specimens were syntypes. He, however, labeled one of the females as holotype and thus we designate here this specimen as the lectotype.

Panfilov (1961) reported that C. kostylevi differed from C. montanus by the sculpture of the scutellum (not longitudinally striated). He, however, did not see the type material of C. montanus . Examination of the lectotype in HNHM and its comparison with the material from both the environs of the Issyk-Kul Lake and Kazakhstan did not confirm this difference: C. kostylevi has a longitudinally arranged punctation of the scutellum as well ( Fig. 3 ). Thus, a new synonymy is proposed here. In his original description, Gusenleitner (2012) compared C. haemorrhoidalis only with C. semenovi , but not with C. montanus or C. kostylevi . We did not see the type material of C. haemorrhoidalis but have examined specimens from the same collecting event by I. Makogonova. Moreover, the photographs published as figs 11–13 in the original description by Gusenleitner (2012) clearly show a female belonging to the same species as C. kostylevi . Therefore, C. haemorrhoidalis is also synonymized with C. montanus .

Carpenter (2001) reported this species from Kyrgyzstan and China (Xinjiang); both country records were based on the same type locality “Alai” (personal communication). In our opinion, it is not necessary to attribute the type locality, where a single specimen was collected, to two countries simultaneously. Most of the Alai Range is situated in Kyrgyzstan and thus the type locality of C. montanus should be attributed to this country. Moreover, there are no further records of C. montanus from China, but they exist from Kyrgyzstan, since the type localities of both synonymized taxa of C. montanus are located in this country.

Habitat and trophic relationships. Imagines of C. montanus were collected on a rocky scree with sparse herbaceous and semi-shrub vegetation ( Fig. 17 ). Both females and males visited flowers of Lagochilus platyacanthus Rupr. (Lamiaceae) only. We did not observe the behavior of the wasps and thus it was unknown how they took up pollen and nectar from the nototribic flowers of this plant species.

Figures

FIGURE 17. Sharyn River canyon, habitat of Celonites montanus Mocsáry, 1906 in Kazakhstan. Photo by Pavel Gorbunov.

FIGURES 1–8. Celonites montanus Mocsáry, 1906. 1–4, ♀, lectotype of C. kostylevi Panfilov, 1961; 5, 6, ♀, Kazakhstan; 7, 8, ♁, paralectotype of C. kostylevi. 1, 7, habitus in lateral view; 2, 8, head in frontal view; 3, mesosoma in dorsal view; 4, labels; 5, right side of postero-lateral part of the propodeum in dorso-posterior view; 6, metasoma in dorsal view. Scale bars 1 mm.

FIGURES 9–14. Celonites montanus Mocsáry, 1906, ♁, lectotype. 9, habitus in lateral view; 10, head in frontal view; 11, mesosoma in dorsal view; 12, apex of metasoma in dorsal view; 13, apex of metasoma in ventral view; 14, labels. Photos 9 and 14 by Zoltán Vas.

FIGURES 15–16. Celonites montanus Mocsáry, 1906, ♁, Kazakhstan. 15, sternum 7+8 in ventral view; 16, genitalia in dorsal view. Scale bar 0.5 mm.

FIGURES 18–26. SEM micrographs of Celonites spp. 18–20, C. montanus Mocsáry, 1906, ♀, Kazakhstan; 21–23, C. abbreviatus (de Villers, 1789), ♀, Greece; 24–26, C. sibiricus Gusenleitner, 2007, ♀, Russia (Altai Republic). 18, 21, 24, head in lateral view; 19, 22, 25, close up of the frons (marked rectangular areas in 18, 21, and 24) showing setae; 20, 23, 26, close up of the setae (marked rectangular areas in 19, 22, and 25).