Pseudepipona (Pseudepipona) cretensis Blüthgen, 1942

Fateryga, Alexander V. & Selis, Marco, 2024, Unexpected diversity in the Pseudepipona lativentris species-group (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Eumeninae), Zootaxa 5529 (2), pp. 318-340 : 324

Pseudepipona (Pseudepipona) cretensis Blüthgen, 1942

( Figs 3A–F , 10D–F )

Pseudepipona cretensis Blüthgen, 1942: 310 , ♀ ♂ (type locality: “Kloster Ankarathos (Ep. Pedhias, Ost-Kreta)” [ Greece]); holotype, ♀, Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, Germany .

Diagnosis. Body with yellow pattern, legs predominantly yellow ( Fig. 3A, D ); apical margin of female clypeus approximately as wide as distance between antennal sockets, hardly emarginate ( Fig. 3B ); male F11 slender, apically rounded, without a tyloid ( Fig. 3F ); antero-lateral angles of pronotum in dorsal view almost rounded ( Fig. 3A, D ); scutellum and metanotum with yellow bands ( Fig. 3A, D ); punctation on T2 fine and sparse, interspaces exceeding diameter of a puncture ( Fig. 3C ); paramere very broad ( Fig. 10D ); ventral lobe of aedeagus moderately triangular ( Fig. 10F ). The only examined male shows a remarkably broadened and curved apex of the aedeagus and the apical part of the aedeagus proportionally much shorter when compared to the other species ( Fig. 10E ), but it is unclear whether this is a diagnostic character or just an aberration.

Material examined. PARATYPES: GREECE: Ost-Kreta [eastern Crete], Kloster Ankarathos , Ep. Petihias, 27.V.1925, 1 ♂, leg. A. Schulz [ MSNVE]; Ost-Kreta , Kolemodhis, Ep. Petihias, 28.V.1925, 1 ♀, leg. A. Schulz [ MSNVE] .

Additional literature records. GREECE: Ost-Kreta, Kloster Odhigitria, Ep. Pirgiotissa ( Blüthgen 1942).

Distribution. Greece (endemic to Crete) (Fig. 11).

Figures

FIGURE 3. Pseudepipona cretensis Blüthgen. A–C, ♀, paratype; D–F, ♂, paratype. A, D, habitus in dorsal view; B, E, head in front view; C, T2 in dorsal view; F, apex of flagellum.

FIGURE 10. Male genitalia of Pseudepipona spp. A–C, Pseudepipona beckeri (Morawitz), Crimea; D–F, P.cretensis Blüthgen, Crete; G–I, P. cypria Blüthgen, Cyprus; J, L, M, P. falsa (Kostylev), Uzbekistan; K, P. falsa, lectotype; N–P, P. gineri (von Schulthess), Ibiza; Q–S, P. lativentris (de Saussure), Spain; T, P. rubricans Kurzenko, Kazakhstan; U–W, P. rubricans, China; X–Z, P. vicina Gusenleitner, Kyrgyzstan. A, D, G, J, N, Q, T, U, X, left paramere and volsella in medial view (d, digitus); B, E, H, K, L, O, R, V, Y, aedeagus in dorsal view (me, median expansion); C, F, I, M, P, S, W, Z, aedeagus in lateral view (vl, ventral lobe). Scale bar 0.5 mm (not exactly applied to D–F and N–P).