Brachypipona orientalis Gusenleitner, 2004

Fateryga, Alexander V., Proshchalykin, Maxim Yu., Maharramov, Mahir M. & Astafurova, Yulia V., 2021, New records of solitary vespid wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Masarinae and Eumeninae s. l.) from the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan, Zootaxa 5027 (1), pp. 36-60 : 45-46

Brachypipona orientalis Gusenleitner, 2004

( Figs 24–26 )

Brachypipona orientalis Gusenleitner, 2004: 1102–1103 , ♀ (type locality: “Türkei, Gürün ” [ Turkey]).

Material examined. Sharur, Akhura, 39°33′N, 45°13′E, 1640 m, 13. VI .2019, 1 ♂ [ CAFK] .

Description of male (hitherto unknown). Body length (from head to apical margin of T2) 6 mm; fore wing length 5 mm.

Structure: Head 1.2× as wide as long in frontal view. Clypeus 1.2× as wide as long; its apical emargination 0.5× as deep as wide, taking 1/4 of clypeal width, lateral teeth acute. Antenna reaches mid coxa. F11 slender and long, its apex reaches middle of posterior half of F8. Vertex as long as upper portion of compound eye, more or less convex. Occipital carina distinct laterally and indistinct dorsally. Anterior face of pronotum with pair of shallow median foveae; pronotal carina distinct, forming very small, nearly rectangular angles at anterolateral corners of pronotum. Epicnemial carina distinctly developed. Scutellum convex. Metanotum irregularly crenulated dorsally. Propodeal shelf obsolete. Propodeal valvula entire, acute at dorsal end. T1 1.6× as wide as long in dorsal view, rounded in lateral view. T2 uniformly convex through entire length. S2 more or less uniformly convex in lateral view; basal longitudinal furrow on S2 obsolete.

Punctation: Clypeus finely punctured; interstices reach approximately 1.5 puncture diameters, shining. Frons, vertex, and temples with much denser and larger punctures than those on clypeus; puncture diameter reaches 1/2 diameter of lateral ocellus; interstices not reach puncture diameter.Anterior face of pronotum with punctures similar to those on frons, vertex, and temples but sparser. Dorsal and lateral parts of pronotum, scutum, mesepisterna, and scutellum with sculpture similar to that on frons, vertex, and temples or somewhat coarser. Tegula deeply punctured with punctures similar in size to those on frons, vertex, and temples but much sparser; interstices reach approximately 2 puncture diameters, shining. Upper half of posterior face of metanotum with irregular sculpture of punctures with indistinct interstices; lower part smooth. Metapleura and propodeum shallowly indistinctly punctured and strigate, more or less matt. T1 mainly with punctures similar in size to those on scutum but with more distinct interstices with microsculpture; punctures diminish in size and become sparser towards apex of tergum. T2 with similar but somewhat finer sculpture than on T1. Punctures on T3–T7 smaller than those on apical bands of T1–T2; interstices matt. S2 punctured similarly as T2 but sparser; interstices shining, also with microsculpture. Punctures on S3–S7 similar in size to those on corresponding terga; interstices slightly shining.

Pilosity: Most parts of body almost bare. Mandibles, tibiae, and tarsi with unnoticeable straight short sparse pale setae, approximately as long as width of first labial palpomere at posterior end.

Color: Basically black. Following parts yellow: mandible except teeth, labrum, clypeus, large triangular spot on frons connected with clypeus, spots along inner margins of eyes from clypeus to ocular sinuses, scape except dorsal face, small spots on temples at dorso-lateral corners of head, broad band on dorsal face of pronotum, spot on dorsal mesepisternum, tegula, posterior half of scutellum, fore legs from base of femora, spots on mid and hind coxae ventrally, mid legs from middle of femora, hind legs from apex of femora, broad apical bands on T1 and T2 extended laterally, apical bands on T3–T6 and S2–S5, central apical spot on S6. Pedicel, F1–F9 ventrally, and also entire F10–F11 ferruginous. Wings fuscous, particularly on median, first submarginal, and marginal cells.

Distribution. * Azerbaijan, Turkey, Iran.

Remarks. This species is very closely related to Brachypipona longicornis ( Morawitz, 1895) in its pronotal carina producing laterally in the form of a small but distinct angle, epicnemial carina in the form of a well developed keel, mesepisternum densely punctured with narrow interstices which are several times less than the puncture diameter, and a black and yellow color pattern. The male lectotype of B. longicornis was examined; it differs from B. orientalis by the apical emargination of the clypeus which is 0.4× as deep as wide and the antenna reaching the hind coxa. Another similar species is B. montana Gusenleitner & Schmid-Egger in Schmid-Egger et al., 2021 known by males only, the latter taxon has the clypeus which is longer than wide and a richer yellow pattern on the body (particularly spots on the propodeum). The described male was determined as belonging to B. orientalis according to its distribution and the abovementioned characters shared with the closely related B. longicornis . One more species of this complex (which is characterized by a black and yellow color pattern and yellow clypeus in the female) is B. kurzenkoi Fateryga, 2020 known by females only; it has pronotal carina weakly developed, epicnemial carina indistinct, and more sparsely punctured mesepisternum, with shining interstices reaching the puncture diameter.

Figures

FIGURES 21–26. Males of Brachyodynerus kusdasi Gusenleitner, 1967 (21–23) and Brachypipona orientalis Gusenleitner, 2004 (24–26) from the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan. 21, 25, habitus in dorsal view. 22, 26, habitus in lateral view. 23–24, head in frontal view.