Ammoplanus (Ammoplanus) pragensis, Snoflak, 1945

Boucïek, Zdenek, 2001, Palaearctic species of Ammoplanus (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae), Journal of Natural History 35, pp. 849-929 : 909-911

A. (Ammoplanus) pragensis SÏnoāÂk

Ammoplanus pragensis SÏnoāÂk, 1945: 16±18. Czech Republic (Bohemia): Prague. Holotype female, by original designation; in NMP Prague (examined).

SÏnoāÂk (1945: 18) described the species from three females (not one female as Oehlke, 1970: 756 says) and stated`Type, 1 female de Podhor 29.vi.1944 dans la collection de Dr. A. HoOEer’ etc. The female in NMP was labelled in red`Typus’ and is here interpreted as the HOLOTYPE. Two other females in MZMB (Brno), with the right data but labelled just`HoOEeri’ are regarded as paratypes and were labelled as such by me.

Additional diagnostic characters

Male (previously unknown). Creamy white are mandibles, labrum, side of clypeus and a triangular spot above this at eye, then a small spot above base of clypeal tooth which is sharper than in female but longer than in average marathroicus . Submedian teeth of sides of middle clypeus further apart than their distance from eye; latter not produced towards torulus. Mandibles rather short and broad, upper margin in basal third distinctly emarginate, upper apical tooth subtruncate. For underside of head see ®gure 119. Antennae short, pedicel dorsally hardly 1.6 times as long as broad, shorter than following two ¯agellar segments combined, ®rst of them subquadrate, second to penultimate quadrate to slightly oblong, at most 1.2 times as long as broad; ¯agellum with moderately dense but very short and thin pilosity. Hind basitarsus normal, not widened.

Ventral side of metasoma (®gure 118): ®fth sternite the shortest and as preceding ones without distinction, almost bare, its hind margin thin, slightly broadly emarginate. Sixth sternite about twice as long as the ®fth, pubescent with hairs subequal to those of sides of metasoma; surface of sternite medially ¯at, in anterior half bare, in posterior part rising and bearing long sparse setae, side corners of this part with solid teeth turning laterad and bearing small brush of hairs; sublaterally sternite slightly longitudinally depressed; hind margin thin, in middle very shallowly subangularly excised. Seventh sternite with transverse pilose margin sticking out, straight, with distinct cross-row of short erect setae.

Female. Body length 2.0±3.0 mm. Head and mesoscutum ®nely engravedreticulate with moderately sparse and tiny punctures, dull to moderately dull, but shiny on transverse frontal swelling in stronger females; small ones without shinier areas and cross-swelling weaker. In larger specimens inner orbits above slightly deepened. Face without elongate pit above inner margin of torulus. Clypeal tooth short, seen from above at least as long as broad in its parallel-sided middle, not very sharp at apex which is slightly rising. Teeth of labrum moderate, rounded. Mandibles rather broad (®gure 47), inner tooth diagonally truncate. Maxillary palpi short, second segment about 1.6 times as long as broad, broadly widened distally but at base narrowed into a subquadrate peduncle; third segment barely 1.3 times as long as broad. Middle and distal segments of ¯agellum (except the last) oblong, 1.1±1.2 times as long as broad. Pronotum dorsally with rounded edge. Propodeum: hind corners rounded and very ®nely sculptured; median carina indicated.

Comments. By the transverse swelling on the frons and the dull head and mesoscutum A. pragensis is similar to A. strumae but the latter species has a very pale pterostigma (except the narrowly darker margins), the head posteriorly more rounded, the propodeal sculpture posteriorly ®ner but with more cross-striation. In some females of both species the cross-swelling of frons is weak and then traceable only in diOEerent incident lights as a slight change of plane. Such specimens are similar to marathroicus but in pragensis most of pterostigma is dark (apart from the whitish spot at base), the frons is dull with very dense engrave d reticulation consisting of tiny longitudinal meshes and the very small piliferous punctures that are here much less distinct than in marathroicus . The latter has also the frons relatively shiny though more distinctly punctured, the clypeal tooth more acuminate, triangular and mostly much shorter than in pragensis .

Biology. Found mostly on rocky slopes or near them, mainly on basalt, phonolith and limestone.

Material examined. Germany (Hessen): HochrhoÈn, Kasselstein Hill nr Gersdorf, 1m, August 1997 (V.d. Heide) . Czech Republic (Bohemia): Mila Hill, 1m, 5 July 1956; LovosÏ Hill nr Lovosice , 1 land 1m, 7 July 1954 ( BoucÏek ; most NMP); KarlsÏtejn, 2, 6 June 1954 (BoucÏek); KazõÂn, 1m, 27 June 1943 (Macek sen.; NMP) . Praha-PodhorÏ, 1m, 12 May 1946 (BoucÏek). Austria (Lower A.): Falkenstein nr Poysdorf , 1m, 2 August 1984 (Dollfuss); Purgstall nr Scheibbs, 1m, 19 June 1985 (Ressl; coll. Dollfuss) . Yugoslavia (Crna Gora): Durmitor Mts. : Podgora nr Z Ïabljak, 3m, 6 July 1958 (BoucÏek) .

Distribution. Central and South Germany (von der Heide and Tischendorf, 1998; Mandery, 1999; Schmid-Egger, 1999), Czech Republic ( Bohemia only), Austria, Crna Gora (5 Monte Negro, part of present Yugoslavia).