Antepipona varentzowi ( Morawitz, 1895 )

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 : 40-42

Antepipona varentzowi ( Morawitz, 1895)

( Figs 3–10 )

Odynerus varentzowi Morawitz, 1895: 474–476 , ♀ (type locality: “ Transcaspia : Cheirabad ” [ Uzbekistan]).

Odontodynerus laevigatus Blüthgen, 1951a: 180–182 , ♂ (type locality: “ Kulp ” [ Armenia]), syn. nov.

Published records. Fateryga et al. (2019): 27 (Ordubad, Aghdara; Babek, Shikhmakhmud [part]), as Antepipona specifica , misidentification.

Material examined. Julfa, 5 km N Dize , 39°03′N, 45°45′E, 965 m, 20. VI .2019, 1 ♀ [ CAFK] .

Distribution. Armenia, * Azerbaijan, Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan.

Remarks. In our previous paper (Fateryga et al. 2019), we reported Antepipona specifica ( Morawitz, 1895) (two females and a male) from the Nakhchivan Autonomous republic of Azerbaijan (the material was identified by Josef Gusenleitner, Linz, Austria). Detailed examination of those three specimens revealed that they belonged to two distinct species. One female was indeed A. specifica ( Figs 1–2 ) but another one ( Figs 3–4 ) and the male ( Figs 5–7 ) belonged to A. varentzowi as well as a newly collected female.

Antepipona varentzowi ( Morawitz, 1895) was described from Uzbekistan in the same paper with A. curialis ( Morawitz, 1895) from Tajikistan (type locality: “Turkestan: Serafschan: Jori”) and A. specifica from Turkmenistan (type locality: “Transcaspia: Askhabad; Tschuli”). These three nominal species form confused complex with A. vagabunda ( von Dalla Torre, 1889) , described also from Turkmenistan [type locality: “Askhabad ou ses environs” ( Radoszkowski 1886)], and A. laevigata ( Blüthgen, 1951a) , described from Armenia. Blüthgen (1939) considered Odynerus specificus Morawitz, 1895 synonymous with Odontodynerus vagabundus ( von Dalla Torre, 1889) but he later described O. laevigatus Blüthgen, 1951a and compared it, besides O. orbitalis ( Herrich-Schäffer, 1839) , with O. specificus , not O. vagabundus . Giordani Soika (1970a) listed four species of this group in the genus Antepipona de Saussure, 1855 : A. varentzowi , A. vagabunda , A. curialis , and A. laevigata . Van der Vecht & Fischer (1972) treated all five taxa as distinct species (those accepted by Giordani Soika 1970a plus A. specifica ). Gusenleitner (1986) synonymized A. specifica and A. curialis (the former name was selected as the valid one). At the same time, he stated that Giordani Soika (1970a) misidentified A. laevigata as A. varentzowi . According to Gusenleitner (1986), A. laevigata has punctures on the clypeus forming visible longitudinal lines, very short F 11 in the male (reaching just the middle of F9), setae on the frons as long as the distal diameter of the scapus, characteristically impressed pronotum, and a very sparse punctation on T2 (interstices significantly exceed the puncture diameter); A. specifica has punctures on the clypeus not forming visible longitudinal lines, longer F 11 in the male (reaching the distal end of F8), setae on the frons as long as not mush than a half of the distal diameter of the scapus, convex pronotum, and a dense punctation on T2 (interstices not exceed the puncture diameter). At the same time, Gusenleitner (1986) did not mention A. vagabunda in his revision. In a further paper ( Gusenleitner 2013), he repeated his opinion on the misidentification of A. laevigata as A. varentzowi by Giordani Soika (1970a) but also listed A. curialis as a species distinct from A. specifica and stated that Giordani Soika (1970a) misidentified the latter taxon as the former one. In the same paper he listed A. vagabunda as a valid species; A. varentzowi was not listed specifically but was mentioned as a valid species in the note to A. laevigata . Thus, Gusenleitner (2013) again treated all five nominal taxa as valid species.

We were able to study the type material of three of the five taxa: Antepipona varentzowi , A. curialis , and A. specifica (all in ZISP). Examination of the holotype of A. varentzowi ( Figs 8–10 ) revealed that it corresponded exactly to Blüthgen’s (1951a) and Gusenleitner’s (1986) description of A. laevigata but not Gusenleitner’s (1986) description of A. varentzowi . At the same time, Gusenleitner’s (1986) description of A. varentzowi corresponded well to the syntypes of A. specifica ( Figs 11–15 ) and, in less degree, to the syntypes of A. curialis ( Figs 16–20 ). Therefore, we consider that Gusenleitner (1986) misidentified A. specifica as A. varentzowi and that confusion caused the incorrect treatment of the latter name as a species distinct from A. laevigata . We consider A. laevigata , syn. nov. being synonymous with A. varentzowi . As for A. curialis , it differs from A. specifica by the punctation on T2: sparse in A. curialis ( Figs 16, 18 ) and dense in A. specifica ( Figs 11, 13 ). At the same time, A. varentzowi varies in this character: the holotype has sparse punctuation ( Fig. 8 ) but the specimens from Azerbaijan, as well as a female from Kazakhstan examined in FSCV, have dense punctation ( Figs 3, 5 ). The structure of the pronotum is also variable in A. varentzowi : the holotype has the structure exactly described by Gusenleitner (1986) for A. laevigata but some other specimens (including all the material examined from Azerbaijan) have rather convex pronotum. Most probably, A. curialis is conspecific with A. specifica and also with A. vagabunda but the type material of the latter taxon should be examined.

Females of Antepipona varentzowi can be distinguished from A. specifica by the punctuation on the frons: much denser and finer at its center than laterally ( Figs 4 , 9 ) versus evenly coarse ( Figs 2 , 12, 17 ). Another character is the setation: the former species has much longer setae on the frons than the latter one. Males can be easily recognized by F11: it reaches just the middle of F 9 in A. varentzowi ( Fig. 7 ) while reaches the distal end of F 8 in A. specifica ( Figs 15, 20 ). The structure of the clypeus (in both females and males) is also somewhat different between the taxa but it is not useful without a comparative material.

Figures

FIGURES 1–7. Antepipona specifica (Morawitz, 1895) (1–2) and A. varentzowi (Morawitz, 1895) (3–7) from the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan. 1, 3, 5, habitus in lateral view (1, 3, ♀; 5, ♂). 2, 4, 6, head in frontal view (2, 4, ♀; 6, ♂). 7, apex of antenna (♂).

FIGURES 8–10. Odynerus varentzowi Morawitz, 1895, ♀, holotype. 8, habitus in lateral view. 9, head in frontal view. 10, labels.

FIGURES 11–20. Syntypes of Odynerus specificus Morawitz, 1895 (11–15) and O. curialis Morawitz, 1895 (16–20). 11, 13, 16, 18, habitus in lateral view (11, 16, ♀; 13, 18, ♂). 12, 14, 17, 19, head in frontal view (12, 17, ♀; 14, 19, ♂). 15, 20, apex of antenna (♂).