Angiopolybia zischkai Richards, 1978

Barroso, Paulo Cezar Salgado, Menezes, Rodolpho Santos Telles, de Oliveira, Marcio Luiz & Somavilla, Alexandre, 2022, A systematic review of the Neotropical social wasp genus Angiopolybia Araujo, 1946 (Hymenoptera: Vespidae): species delimitation, morphological diagnosis, and geographical distribution, Arthropod Systematics & amp; Phylogeny 80, pp. 75-97 : 75

Angiopolybia zischkai Richards, 1978

Figs 3a-d , 7h

Angiopolybia zischkai Richards, 1978: 30 (list of mimicry), 231 (key, fig. 94), 234 (description); Andena et al., 2007: 59 (phylogenetic discussion), 60 (table 2 - character matrix), 62 (fig. 3A, 5 - cladogram), 63 (key), 64 (locality of examined specimens) [examined by images].

Type locality.

Zumbi, Ecuador.

Diagnosis.

Anterior wing of 8-9.5 mm; eyes with medium-sized and sparse bristles; rounded gena; pronotal lamella low on the anterior margin, one fifth of the height of antennal socket; pronotal lobe not developed in the lateral anterior region, below of the pronotal fovea; defined pronotal fovea, but little deep; axillary fossa with anterior margin directed to the posterior region; posterior submedian translucent mark of the propodeum inserted in a round depression; metapleural basalar area with divergent upper and lower margins.

Redescription of female (Fig. 3a-c).

Size. (1) Head 1.03 mm long, 2.09 mm high, and 2.24 mm wide; (2) mesosoma 3.54 mm long, anterior wing 9.42 mm long, and posterior wing 6.10 mm long; (3) metasoma 5.9 mm long. Head. (1) Lateral ocelli with 0.16 mm and median ocellus with 0.18 mm of diameter, not inserted in a declivity of the vertex and the lateral ocelli separated from the eyes for twice its diameter. (2) Compound eyes with medium-sized and sparse bristles. (3) Frons with interantennal space with 1.75 times the height of antennal socket. Anterior tentorial fovea closer to the antennal socket than to the eye. Central region of the frons with long bristles. (4) Antennal socket 0.24 mm high. (5) Clypeus 0.9 times higher than wide, contact with eyes for a distance greater than twice the height of antennal socket, and lateral lobe touching the eye. Long bristles all over the clypeus and very long bristles on the apical margin. (6) Gena with half of the width of the eye at the level of the ocular sinus. Mesosoma. (1) Anterior lamella of pronotum with height of one fifth of the height of antennal socket. Pronotal fovea with ellipsoid shape, little deep and with slight anterior prominence. (2) Mesoscutum subconvex and as long as wide. (3) Tegula 1.5 times longer than wide. (4) Axillary fossa with anterior margin directing to the posterior region. (5) Propodeum with translucent posterior submedian mark, anterior to the propodeal valve, inserted in a round depression. Propodeal valve complete and expanded, median region with two thirds of the height of antennal socket. (6) Anterior wing with prestigma as long as wide. (7) Posterior wing with eight hamuli. Metasoma: (1) Metasomal tergum I 2.1 times longer than wide. Tergum with angulation in the posterior third, in lateral view. (2) Metasomal tergum II 0,82 times longer than broad. Color. Dark brown in general. Yellow: lateral of the vertex, lateral of the frons, clypeus (but dark brown disc), interantennal region, mandibles, malar space, gena, slender band contouring the posterior margin of the pronotum, outer margins of the tegula, wide spot at along the anterior margin of the scrobal furrow and along the dorsal groove of the mesoepisternum, anterior half of the metanotum, submedian longitudinal band on the propodeum, lateral margin of the propodeum, upper region of the metapleural basalar area. Yellowish brown: FL7-10 of the antenna, anterior and median coxae, trochanters, femora, tibiae and tarsi (but with dorsal brown spots). Black: ocellar area, FL1-6 of the antenna, mesoscutum and metasoma. Wings with hyaline cells, except yellow in the costal, medial, submarginal I and marginal; and yellowish-brown venation, except brown in the veins C, Sc+R, M+Cu, M and in the beginning of the Cu.

Male.

Unknown.

Morphological variation (Fig. 7h).

We found a specimen with yellow color and black marks, and the abdomen, apparently, wider in dorsal view.

Nest.

Not described, but Valverde et al. (2019) in the identification key of social wasps from Costa Rica commented that the nest envelope resembles an inverted flask.

Comparative comments.

Angiopolybia zischkai resembles A. pallens , but it is distinguished by the pronotum without a developed lobe in the lateroanterior region, which is present in A. pallens ; metapleural basalar area with divergent upper and lower margins, which are parallel in A. pallens ; and pronotal fovea with translucent mark of elliptical shape, which is circular in A. pallens .

Additional comments.

One specimen designated as holotype of Angiopolybia brunnescens (Fig. 7h ) but not described by Richards (specimen deposited in the NHM) is an A. zischkai specimen with more yellowish coloration, similar to the color of some A. pallens . The two specimens with the labels: Paratype / PERU: 1.609, Maracapata [Marcapata] ( Perú) / Stelopolybia infernalis Ducke rev.11. [1911] (1 ♂, MZUSP), and 1.609, Maracapata [Marcapata] ( Perú) / Stelopolybia infernalis Ducke rev.11. [1911] / A. pallens (Lep.) f. zischkai , Rich. 4 ♀ (1 ♀, MZUSP), that are two of the paratypes of A. zischkai , are specimens of A. pallens with coloration resemble to the holotype of A. zischkai . Although Gomes et al. (2018, 2020) reported A. zischkai samples from the Brazilian states Rondônia and Acre, we did not find A. zischkai for these regions.

Holotype.

♀, Holotype / Zumbi, Rio Zamora, 700M, Ecuador / XI.2.41, D.B.Laddey / Angiopolybia pallens ssp., Angiopolybia zischkai Rich., ♀ Holotype / AMNH_IZC 00332335 ( AMNH, New York) (Fig. 3 ). Type specimen analyzed by images.

Type material examined.

Paratype: Paratype / PERU: Dept. Huanuco, Divisoria, 7.viii.1949, J.M.Schuncke., B.M.1952-645 / Angiopolybia zischkai Rich., ♀, paratype (1 ♀, NHM).

Additional material examined.

We examined three females of A. zischkai ; see supplementary material S1.

Geographic distribution.

Bolivia: Cochabamba; Colombia: Amazonas, Cundinamarca, Magdalena, Putumayo, Valle del Cauca (new record); Costa Rica: Heredia; Ecuador: Orellhana, Zamora-Chinchipe; Panama: Colón; Peru: Cuzco, Huánuco, Junín, Loreto, Pasco, Ucayali (Fig. 10b ).

Figures

Figure 3. Holotype, female of Angiopolybia zischkai Richards, 1978: a. lateral view, b. head in frontal view, c. dorsal view, d. labels of type specimen. Scale: 1 mm. Source: Steve Thurston, AMNH.

Figure 7. Morphological variation of Angiopolybia species. Angiopolybia pallens: a. Cayenne, French Guiana; b. Amazonas, Brazil; c. Bahia, Brazil; d. Sao Paulo, Brazil; e. Loreto, Peru; f. Napo, Ecuador; g. Chapare, Bolivia. Angiopolybia zischkai: h. Pipeline, Panama. Angiopolybia obidensis: i. Roraima, Brazil. Angiopolybia paraensis: j. Roraima (brown and yellow specimen), Brazil; k. Napo, Ecuador (brown specimen); l. Crique Alama, French Guiana (dark brown specimen). Scale: 1 mm.

Figure 10. Map of South and Central America showing the geographic distribution of Angiopolybia species: a. Angiopolybia pallens, b. Angiopolybia zischkai, c. Angiopolybia obidensis, and d. Angiopolybia paraensis.