Mischocyttarus sericeus Richards, 1978

Pinheiro, Mileudiane O. & Silveira, Orlando T., 2023, Taxonomic notes on the group of Mischocyttarus heliconius Richards 1941, with description of four new species (Hymenoptera: Vespidae, Polistinae), Zootaxa 5352 (2), pp. 203-220 : 212

Mischocyttarus sericeus Richards, 1978

Mischocyttarus sericeus Richards, 1978: 282 , 283. Holotype: ♀, Bolivia, Yungas de La Paz [without date and collector] (MZSP), examined.

The redescription below is based on examination of the holotype, and information found in previous work ( Richards, 1978).

Diagnosis. Ground color brown with yellow marks; practically whole clypeus yellow with dense silvery hairs; occiput with low carina visible on the sides; posterior ocelli close, separated by a distance less than or equal to one ocellar diameter; mesoscutum uniformly brown, withou median yellow stripes; metasomal tergum 1 and 2 (basally) light brown, distal third of 2 to 6 black; hind leg inner tarsal claw with tip rounded and expanded.

FEMALE DESCRIPTION. Length of fore wing: 13 mm; head in front view slightly higher than wide (FHH/ INTOW: ca. 1.10); clypeus higher than wide (HCLP/WCLP: ca. 1.10), upper free portion of lateral margin relatively long and straight in its course to tentorial pit, apex narrowly rounded; tentorial pit closer to the eye than to the antennal socket; malar space narrow; occipital carina very weak, visible only at the sides; posterior ocelli close, separated a distance less than or equal to one ocellar diameter; pronotum with lateral fovea; anterior margin of pronotum medially with lamella wide and reflexed, without secondary margin immediately behind; pronotal carina continuous from side to side, not lobed on the humeral region, angularly elevated at center; mesoscutum slightly longer than wide (LMS/WMS: 1.08), lateral margin adjacent to tegula with well-developed lamella; propodeum with median sulcus shallow and narrow, with traces of a keel on the center; hind leg inner tarsal claw with tip rounded and expanded; first metasomal segment not noticebly elongated (LSI/HMP: 1.07).

Sculpture. integument with granulate aspect; surface of the clypeus finely grained, with sparse punctures; mandible with some larger and sparse punctures; frons and mesoscutum finely grained; mesopleuron with dense micro punctation.

Vestiture. Clypeus with numerous elongated silvery hairs, distal margin with long erect golden bristles; mandible with long and sparse golden bristles; frons, occiput and postgena with numerous short bristles; metanotum and propodeum with numerous elongated hairs.

Color.Brown with yellow marks;mandible yellowish; practically whole clypeus, two small spots on interantennal space near upper edge of the antennal sockets, band adjacent to the inner edge of the eye (from upper free margin of the clypeus to the vertex), narrow band adjacent to the outer edge of the eye, anterior band on scutellum, anterior band on metanotum, paired spots on propodeum, small spot on mesepisternal plate, stripes on mid and hind coxae, apical portion of femora and tibiae, yellow; sides of the propodeum joining with the upper metapleural plate, reddish brown; first metasomal segment yellowish at base; tarsi brown. Wings hyaline, venation light brown.

MALE. Unknown.

NEST. Unknown.

Distribution. Bolivia ( Fig. 27 ).

Remarks. The holotype is the only known specimen, the head is now mounted separately from the rest of the body, and metasomal segments 2–6 have been lost. It was previously examined by O. T. S., and recently with photographs. This species can be separated from M. heliconius by minor color differences (see the key). Even the “dégradé” color patterning on the metasoma (from light brown to black; described in Richards, 1978) is coincident on the holotypes of the two species. However, the two forms are geographically widely separated, and we decided to maintain the two names as valid until there are more specimens available to more properly evaluate synonymy of sericeus under heliconius .

Figures

FIGURE 27. Partial map of South America with known distributions of the species of the Mischocyttarus heliconius species group.