Nipponodipogon pempuchiensis ( Tsuneki, 1989 ) Decker & Pitts & Yuan & Rodriguez, 2020

Decker, Brenna L., Pitts, James P., Yuan, David & Rodriguez, Juanita, 2020, Re-examination of Australian and Oriental species of Minagenia Banks, 1934 (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae), with a new record for the genus in Australia and a new species description, Zootaxa 4768 (3), pp. 383-394 : 392-393

Nipponodipogon pempuchiensis ( Tsuneki, 1989) , comb. nov.

Minagenia pempuchiensis Tsuneki, 1989 . Japan Hymenopterists Association, v. 35, pg. 171.

Type examined. Holotype. ♂, Penpuchi Nantou Pref. 19.viii.1979, T. Murota, USNM . Other material. 1♂, Tai- wan. Wushe, 1150m. 22.v.1983, H. Townes, EMUS _800.

Remarks. In the original publication, Tsuneki (1989) posited that the holotype was a gynandromorph, stating that the antennae appear male, yet the specimen possessed a stinger, ultimately describing the specimen as female. However, upon examination of the holotype, the specimen is clearly completely male, and the apparent stinger is a long SGP ( Fig. 3d ). A male specimen housed at EMUS is identical to the holotype of Minagenia pempuchiensis . Both specimens’ genitalia do not match other Minagenia genitalia, in that the digiti are long, thin, and straight ( Fig. 3c ), while in Minagenia all digiti are curved and bulbous at the apical third.

Minagenia pempuchiensis belongs to Nipponodipogon Ishikawa, 1965 , which was originally proposed as a subgenus of Dipogon Fox, 1897 , raised to genus level by Lelej & Loktionov (2012) and remained so in a revision by Shimizu et al. (2015). Continued use of this genus name is ongoing ( Loktionov et al. 2017), but there are some suggestions that it is indeed a subgenus of Dipogon , or all of the subgenera of Dipogon need to be elevated to the generic level (unpub. data). This species belongs with Nipponodipogon based on the following combination of male characters: fore wing CuA vein reaches wing margin; SGP long, narrow, extending past last tergite; LA3 about 2 × its width; forewing SMC2 width less than 2.5 × its height; hind wing anal lobe of normal length, not noticeably small.

This is a new combination for the genus Nipponodipogon . In the Shimizu et al. (2015) key, the species will key out to either N. nagasei ( Ishikawa, 1965) or N. rossicus ( Lelej, 1986) based on T1 being not petiolate, and tibial spurs (to some extent) being stramineous. However, both of these species have wide and flat parameres, with a basal shelf and long ( N. nagasei ) or short ( N. rossicus ) setae on the margins. Nipponodipogon pempuchiensis has thin, flat parameres with longer setae at the rounded tip, and some setae along the ventral face and margins ( Fig. 3c ). In addition, the SGP of both N. nagasei and N. rossicus have lateral projections at the base, while N. pempuchiensis does not.

Species of this genus were known from Russia and the Japanese Archipelago ( Shimizu et al. 2015). More recently, the distribution of Nipponodipogon had been extended to include the Oriental region by Loktionov et al. (2017) with the description of two new species ( N. orientalis Loktionov, Lelej & Xu, 2017 and N. shimizui Loktionov, Lelej, & Xu, 2017 ) from China based on male and female specimens. Two other species, N. gusenleitnerorum Loktionov & Lelej, 2018 and N. indica Loktionov, 2020 , were described from Laos and India, respectively, based on females only ( Loktionov & Lelej 2018; Loktionov 2020).

There are five species of Nipponodipogon that have unknown males ( N. gusenleitnerorum , N. hayachinensis ( Ishikawa, 1968) , N. kurilensis ( Lelej, 1986) , N. mandibularis ( Ishikawa, 1965) , and N. indicus Loktionov, 2020 ), and it is possible that N. pempuchiensis may actually be the male for one of these species. Both specimens of N. pempuchiensis examined here were collected in Taiwan. Females of N. gusenleitnerorum occur in Laos ( Loktionov & Lelej 2018), while females of N. mandibularis and N. hayachinensis occur in Japan ( Shimizu et al. 2015), and it is possible the N. pempuchiensis male could be associated with one of those species. Genetic analysis has not been done on this group, but would help determine sex associations. The female of this species, thus, remains unknown.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Genitalia and subgenital plate illustrations of Minagenia brevicornis Banks and Nipponodipogon pempuchiensis (Tsuneki). Minagenia brevicornis paratype MCZ_17170 genitalia slide, male, a) genitalia, ventral view on left side, dorsal view on right, b) SPG, ventral view. Nipponodipogon pempuchiensis, EMUS_800, male, c) genitalia, ventral view on left side, dorsal view on right, and d) subgenital plate, ventral view.