Gastrosericus moricei E. Sauders, 1910

Abu El-Ghiet, Usama M., Gadallah, Neveen S., Gasib, Abdulmajeed M., Al-Fifi, Zarrag I. A. & Edmardash, Yusuf A., 2023, Further addition to the crabronid fauna of Saudi Arabia (Hymenoptera: Apoidea (Spheciformes): Crabronidae), with new genera and species records, and the description of two new species, Zootaxa 5319 (2), pp. 151-177 : 159

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5319.2.1
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:CA4A5CD6-EDF0-40AD-A25C-FAD5C36F3C61
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8182319
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03F587F1-FF95-641F-FF52-FC40FF4AF935
treatment provided by	Plazi (2023-07-25 09:35:13, last updated 2024-11-29 12:18:19)
scientific name	Gastrosericus moricei E. Sauders, 1910
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Gastrosericus moricei E. Sauders, 1910 View in CoL View at ENA

Fig. 6A–F View FIGURE 6

Gastrosericus moricei E. Saunders, 1910: 529 View in CoL , ♁.

Diagnosis. Body length: 7.5 mm.

Body colour: see Fig. 6 View FIGURE 6 (A–F).

The female of this species shares with that of Gastrosericus sanctus the entire pygidial plate covered with dense, stout setae ( Fig. 6F View FIGURE 6 ); appressed genal ( Fig. 6C View FIGURE 6 ) and propodeal pubescence ( Fig. 6D View FIGURE 6 ); the apical tarsomeres with one or more basoventral spines (spines lacking in some sanctus ); gastral terga without yellow bands ( Fig. 6A View FIGURE 6 ). It differs from G. sanctus by the following: free margin of clypeal lobe arcuate ( Fig. 6B View FIGURE 6 ) (somewhat sinuate in most G. sanctus , see Pulawski 1995: 119, fig. 102a, b); the lobe free margin and the lip are simple (free margin slightly projecting close to lateral corners in G. sanctus , see Pulawski 1995: 120, fig. 103a, b); apical tarsomeres with one to four basomedian spines ventrally (0–2 spines in G. sanctus ).

Material examined: 1♀, Farasan, Abdulmajeed farm [16 Q 42.07970’N; 42 Q 08.5781’E], 23–30.ix.2022.

Previous Saudi Arabian records: Asir (Wadi Lasaba), Bahra, Riyadh ( Pulawski 1995), Jeddah, Haddat Asham ( Pulawski 1995; Gadallah & Assery 2004), Hutet Beni Tamim (10 km south of Riyadh) ( Gadallah et al. 2013).

Distribution: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Egypt, Gambia, India, Israel, Kazakhstan, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Thailand, Tajikistan, Togo, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Yemen.

Comments. Characters of the only specimen collected agree with Pulawski’s key (1995: 19, couplet 18). It differs from the Arabian specimens in having femora black, pale yellow apically (in the Arabian specimens, femora reddish, pale yellowish apically, Pulawski 1995), but it resembles the Somalian females in having all femora black, yellow at tip ( Pulawski 1995). This may be attributed to the fact that Farasan Archipelago belongs to the Afrotropical region.

References

Gadallah, N. S. & Assery, B. M. (2004) A review of Sphecidae (with the exception of Larrinae) of the Jeddah region (west of Saudi Arabia), with a checklist of species known from Saudi Arabia. Linzer Biologische Beitrage, 36, 215 - 239.

Gadallah, N. S., Al Dhafer, H. M., Aldryhim, Y. N., Fadl, H. & El Gharbawy, A. A. (2013) The digger wasps of Saudi Arabia: new records and distribution, with a checklist of species (Hym.: Ampulicidae, Crabronidae and Sphecidae). North-West Journal of Zoology, 9 (2), 345 - 364.

Pulawski, W. J. (1995) The wasp genus Gastrosericus Spinola, 1839 (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae). Memoirs of the California Academy of Sciences, 18, i - vi + 1 - 173.

Saunders, E. (1910) Hymenoptera Aculeata collected in Algeria by the Rev. Alfred Edwin Eaton, M. A., F. E. S., and the Rev. Francis David Morice, M. A., F. E. S. Part IV. Descriptions of new Sphegidae. The Transactions of the Entomological Society of London, 1910, 517 - 531. https: // doi. org / 10.1111 / j. 1365 - 2311.1910. tb 01182. x