Tetralonioidella himalayana formosana ( Cockerell, 1911 )

Dubitzky, Andreas, 2007, Revision of the Habropoda and Tetralonioidella species of Taiwan with comments on their host-parasitoid relationships (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Apidae), Zootaxa 1483 (1), pp. 41-68 : 57-61

Tetralonioidella himalayana formosana ( Cockerell, 1911) stat. n.

( Figs 6A , 7E, F, 8C)

Melecta himalayana Bingham, 1897: 516 , fig. 172. Type locality: Kumaon (5000 ft.), Himalaya.

Melecta formosana Cockerell, 1911: 227 , 228. Type locality: Kosempo (today: Kaohsiung), Formosa. Type ♀ MNB (examined).

Anthophora sauteri Friese, 1911: 127 , 128. Type locality: Tainan, Formosa. Type MNB.

Protomelissa sauteri (Friese) : Friese (1914): 323, 324. ♂, ♀, Tainan & Takao , Formosa .

Protomelissa formosana (Cockerell) : Lieftinck (1972): 273 –277.

Protomelissa himalayana (Bingham) : Lieftinck (1972): 273, 274, figs. 3,7,8.

Tetralonioidella formosana (Cockerell) : Lieftinck (1983): 270 –271(key), 276.

Tetralonioidella himalayana (Bingham) : Lieftinck (1983): 270 –271(key), 277, figs. 13, 14.

Male. BL: 14.5 mm. FWL: 9.2 mm.

Structure. Head oval, about 1.3 times broader than long. Face rectangular, space between compound eyes dorsally nearly as broad as ventrally. Proboscis in repose reaching base of trochanter of foreleg. Galea shiny, smooth to weakly tesselate, with minute, sparse punctation. Labrum about 1.3 times broader than long, apically with deep median incision. Frons with distinct, large punctation. Punctation of vertex indistinct, smaller than on frons. Frons and vertex tesselate, dull to weakly shiny, except for smooth and shiny area around ocelli. Antenna ( Fig. 6A ) long, reaching behind tegula. Scape conically broadened, about as long as following two AS together, with dense punctation ventrally. AS 3 slightly broader than long. AS 4 long, nearly twice as long as broad and twice as long as AS 3. AS 5– AS 8 distinctly longer than broad, AS 9– AS 12 only slightly longer than broad and AS 13 about twice as long as broad. AS 5– AS 13 with strong concave posterior margin, there- fore distinctly nodiform in dorsal view ( Fig. 6A ). Scutellum shiny, with large honeycombed punctation anteriorly, coarse wrinkles posteriorly. Posterior margin of scutellum straight to slightly concave, without broad incision in the middle. Scutellum with distinct median keel; spines long, distinct. Propodeum smooth and shiny, only basally slightly tesselate to minutely wrinkled. Mesepisternum as well as lateral parts of propodeum shiny with wrinkle-like, irregular punctation. Fore and hind wing distinctly papillate distally. Femur and tibia of middle and hind leg slender, not thickened. Middle tibia apically with long tooth-like, curved projection. Inner spur of hind tibia slightly curved. Basitarsus of hind leg straight, without ventral groove. All T shiny, with large, shallow and dense punctuation extending onto marginal zone. Apical margin of T1–T6 straight to slightly concave medially. T7 with weak, triangular incision apically. S1–S5 shiny, with distinct, dense punctation basally and sparser, indistinct punctation on marginal zone. S 6 triangular, with regular, dense punctation. Apical margin of S1 and S2 straight, of S3–S5 slightly concave medially.

Integument colour. Proboscis brown. Mandible brown except dark reddish brown at apex. Labrum yellowish brown transparent. Antenna blackish brown dorsally, AS 4– AS 13 bright brown ventrally. Pronotal lobe brown, tegula bright brownish transparent. All legs completely brown. Scutellar spines black with brown tips. Tibial spurs all dark brown. T1 dark brown basally, bright brownish transparent apically. T2 blackish brown basally in contrast to bright brownish transparent marginal zone. Following T dark brown to black. S1 and S2 bright yellowish brown, transparent; S3–S5 dark reddish brown basally and yellowish transparent apically. S6 brownish transparent. S7 (Fig. 7E), with broad incision apically. S8 as in Fig. 7F.

Pubescence. Mandible with long silvery hairs along ventral margin and short silvery hairs basally. Labrum with short, feathery, grey hairs, intermixed with numerous long yellowish grey hairs. Clypeus extremely densely covered with short, feathery, white pubescence, intermixed with few long, simple hairs. POA with white pubescence, intermixed with few dark brown hairs laterally. Frons with long white pubescence of branched hairs except tufts of long blackish brown hairs beside median keel of frons. Vertex around ocelli with blackish brown short to long, branched hairs. Area along hind margin of vertex, occiput and GA with long, white hairs. Mesoscutum with long, yellowish white pubescence except blackish brown hair band between tegulae. Scutellum with yellowish white pubescence similar to mesoscutum, except two dark brown hair tufts around base of scutellar spines. Other parts of thorax with long, branched yellowish white to white pubescence except areas ventral of tegula and around pronotal lobe, which bear tufts of apically dark brown hairs. Femur of all legs with long pubescence of greyish brown to white hairs except pubescence of forefemur being intermixed with single dark brown hairs. Pubescence of tibia and tarsi of all legs brown. S regularly covered with short feathery yellowish brown hairs. S with short, feathery, yellowish transparent hairs, intermixed with longer, simple hairs of the same colour. Ventral surface of S7 with thin, inconspicuous pubescence along apical margin (Fig. 7E). S8 with distinct median hair fringe apically (Fig. 7F).

Male genitalia. As illustrated in Fig. 8C .

FIGURE 7. Male S7, S8 of Tetralonioidella of Taiwan. A, C, E, S7, ventral view; B, D, F, S8, ventral view; A, B, T. heinzi ; C, D, T. hoozana ; E, F, T. himalayana formosana . Scale bars, 250 µm.

Female. BL: 13.1–14.5 mm (13.8 mm). FWL: 9.3–9.5 mm (9.4 mm).

General appearance as in male except for usual secondary sexual characteristics and as follows: galea with more distinct punctation. Clypeus tesselate, shiny to weakly dull, with dense punctation; length of AS similar to male, except AS 9– AS 11 being distinctly longer than broad similar to AS 4– AS 8; AS 5– AS 12 straight along posterior margin, not nodiform in dorsal view; pygidial plate apically pointed, dull, with only small apical region elevated; pubescence of clypeus sparser; scape with more sparse pubescence than in male; pubescence of forefemora uniformly grey on ventral side, without dark brown hairs; pygidial plate dark reddish brown (apically) to black (basally).

Diagnosis. From the nominotypical subspecies, T. himalayana himalayana Smith , T. himalayana formosana Cockerell can be separated in both sexes by the following characters (character states of T. himalayana himalayana in parentheses): Yellowish grey pubescence of scutellum with two lateral tufts of dark brown hairs around scutellar spines (pubescence of scutellum uniformly yellowish grey). Small tufts of dark brown tipped hairs ventrally of tegula and around pronotal lobe (without tufts of dark tipped hairs around these structures). Propodeal triangle shiny, smooth to slightly wrinkled laterally (propodeal triangle distinctly wrinkled laterally, dull to weakly shiny).

Distribution. So far this species is known from the lowland to low hill countryside of Taiwan, such as Kaohsiung (Kaohsiung Hsien), Tailin (Chiayi Hsien) and Tungpu (Nantou Hsien). For seasonal and altitudinal distribution of the species, see Fig. 10 .

Comments. Lieftinck (1972, p. 274) treated T. himalayana and T. formosana as two separate species although he found no solid characters to justify the separation, after comparison with the type material he wrote: "As a matter of fact, P. himalayana and formosana are undoubtedly very nearly related and so closely similar to one another that they may be only geographical representatives of but one species". The structural differences between the two forms listed in Lieftinck´s determination key ( Lieftinck, 1972) are negligible, therefore only differences in the colouration of pubescence remain (see diagnosis). Furthermore, the structural differences of the propodeal triangle mentioned by him are insufficient in as much as only a single male of T. himalayana himalayana Smith was studied and thus the extent of variation in this character remains unknown. Regarding the male genitalia and hidden S, as well as the flight season, these two forms are identical. The only distinctive features are the different colour patterns of thoracic pubescence, which do not justify a separation of the two taxa at the species level, but rather indicate that they should be treated as geographical subspecies.

Material examined. Type material. Holotype, ♀, TAIWAN: Kosempo , II.1908, S. V. Sauter ( MNB) . Other material. 2 ♀♀, 1 ♂, TAIWAN : 1 ♀, Taihorin , XII.1911, H. Sauter ( DEI) ; 1 ♀, Tungpu (1200 m), Nantou Hsien, X.1985, Malaise trap, leg. K.S. Lin ( TARI) ; ♂, Takao , XII.1908, Sauter ( MNB) .

Figures

FIGURE 6. Antenna of male Tetralonioidella of Taiwan. A, T. himalayana formosana; B, T.heinzi; C, T. hoozana. Scale bars, 1 mm.

FIGURE 8. Male genitalia of Tetralonioidella of Taiwan. A, T. heinzi; B, T. hoozana; C, T. himalayana formosana. All dorsal view, except A below, showing ventral aspect; Scale bars, 250 µm.

FIGURE 10. Seasonal-altitudinal distribution pattern of Tetralonioidella on Taiwan.