Myrmilla parvula Magretti 1906

Lelej, Arkady S. & Harten, Antonius Van, 2006, A review of the Mutillidae (Hymenoptera) of Yemen, Zootaxa 1226, pp. 1-50 : 12

* Myrmilla parvula Magretti 1906 , stat. nov.

Myrmilla cephalica var. parvula Magretti 1906: 41 , Ψ, holotype "Adi­Caié, Andreini" ( Eritrea) [MSNG].

Myrmilla cephalica parvula: Bischoff 1920: 58 , Ψ ( Eritrea).

Diagnosis

The female of M. parvula can be distinguished from that of M. rubida by its smaller size (4.0 mm against 6.0–7.0 mm in M. rubida ), in lacking a humeral projection (well developed in M. rubida ), and in having the frons darkened. The male of M. parvula has similarly shaped mandibles and body coloration to the male of M. rubida but differs in having smaller size (4.8–6.0 mm against 6.4–7.6 in M. rubida ), in having well developed denticles on the anterior clypeal border (weak in M. rubida ), and in having a shorter, more acuminated gonostylus.

Material examined

Yemen: near Sanaa, III–IV.1998, PT, AvH, 1 Ψ [ ZMAN]; Sanaa, IV.1998, MT, AvH, 2 ɗ [ ZMAN]; VII.1998, MT, AvH, 1 ɗ [ ZMAN]; V–VI.1998, MT, AvH, 1 ɗ [ ZMAN]; III–IV.1998, PT, AvH, 1 ɗ [ ZMAN]; Al Kowd, IV.1993, MT, AvH, 1 ɗ [ ZMAN]; 12 km NW Manakhah, 3.VII–21.VIII.2001, MT, AvH, 2 ɗ [ RMNH]; 1.I–7.V.2003, MT, AvH, 1 ɗ [ RMNH]; 15.V–23.VI.2003, MT, AvH, 3 ɗ [ RMNH]; 24.VI–4.VIII.2003, MT, AvH, 2 ɗ [ RMNH].

Distribution

Yemen (new record), Eritrea.

Remarks

The varieties rubida and parvula described by Magretti (1906) have nothing to do with Palaearctic M. glabrata Fabricius 1775 (= cephalica Sichel et Radoszkowski 1869 ), so we change their status.