Scolia (Discolia) quadripustulata Fabricius, 1782

Liu, Zhen, Achterberg, Cornelis Van, He, Jun-Hua & Chen, Xue-Xin, 2021, A checklist of Scoliidae (Insecta: Hymenoptera) from China, Zootaxa 4966 (2), pp. 101-126 : 121-122

2. Scolia (Discolia) quadripustulata Fabricius, 1782

The name Scolia quadripustulata Fabricius was misapplied for a long time to another species now known as S. binotata Fabricius ( Gupta & Jonathan, 2003). We checked all specimens from China in IOZ and RMNH, and all were found to belong to Scolia (Discolia) binotata Fabricius. The following characters may be used to separate both species.

The male of S. binotata ( Fig. 5a1–5a3, 5b1–5b3 ) has the erect vestiture predominantly white on the head and mesosoma (vestiture on head and mesosoma black in S. quadripustulata ) and antennal flagellum short, clavate towards apex, and penultimate segments as broad as long (flagellum distinctly longer and not clavate towards apex and penultimate segments longer than broad in S. quadripustulata ).

The female of S. binotata ( Fig. 5c1–5c, 5d1–5d3 ) has the pronotum dorso-posteriorly (“scapulae”) and posterior half of mesoscutum medially and scutellum with a few scattered punctures(densely punctate in S.quadripustulata with small impunctate area on scutellum medio-posteriorly), anterior rim of clypeus broadly rounded anteriorly (anterior rim of clypeus truncate anteriorly in S. quadripustulata ), and metapleuron largely impunctate (subcontiguously punctate in S. quadripustulata ). All reported records of S. quadripustulata from China concern S. binotata ; therefore, we delete S. quadripustulata from the Chinese checklist.

Figures

FIGURE 5. a1–a3 and b1–b3: male of Scolia (Discolia) binotata Fabricius, 1804 (misidentified by Betrem), a1, b1. habitus, dorsal aspect; a2, b2. male genitalia, ventral aspect; a3, b3. male genitalia, dorsal aspect. c1–c4 (misidentified by Betrem) and d1–d3: female of S. (D.) binotata Fabricius, 1804, c1, d1. habitus, dorsal aspect; c2, d2. head, antero-dorsal aspect; c3, d3. mesosoma, dorsal aspect; c4. metapleuron, lateral aspect.

FIGURE 1. Male of Colpa cf. mongolica (Morawitz, 1889) from China, a. habitus, dorsal aspect; b. mesosoma, lateral aspect; c. mesosoma, dorsal aspect; d. fore wing.

FIGURE 2. Female of Colpa tartara (de Saussure, 1880) from East Kazakhstan, a. head, anterior aspect; b. head, dorsal aspect; c. habitus, dorsal aspect;. head and mesosoma, lateral aspect; e. fore wing.

FIGURE 3. Male of C. (C.) collaris quadrifasciata (Fabricius, 1798) from West Malaysia, a. habitus, dorsal aspect; b. habitus, lateral aspect; c. mesosoma, dorsal aspect; d. head, dorsal aspect; e. mesopleuron and metapleuron, lateral aspect; f. label; g. 8th sternite and male genitalia, ventral aspect; h. 8th sternite and male genitalia, dorsal aspect.

FIGURE 4. Female of C. (C.) collaris quadrifasciata (Fabricius, 1798) from Thailand, a. habitus, dorsal aspect; b. mesosoma, dorsal aspect; c. head, dorsal aspect; d. head, anterior aspect.