Anterhynchium (Anterhynchium) synagroide ( de Saussure, 1852 )

Selis, Marco & Carpenter, James M., 2023, Revision of the Afrotropical species of the genus Anterhynchium de Saussure (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Eumeninae), Zootaxa 5233 (1), pp. 1-102 : 81-84

Anterhynchium (Anterhynchium) synagroide ( de Saussure, 1852)

( Fig. 25 )

Rygchium synagroides de Saussure 1852: 102 (key), 103, pl. 14 figs. 2–2a, ♁—“ Le Gabon et l’Afrique tropicale” (holotype MNHN).

Rhynchium sichelii de Saussure 1855: 176 , ♁—“L’Afrique tropicale” (holotype MNHN).

Synagris odontophora Schletterer 1891: 21 , pl. 1 figs. 1–2, ♁, ♀ —“Equateur-Congo” (syntypes RBINS).

Odynerus synagroides var. alpha von Schulthess 1924: 1 , ♁, ♀ —“N.-O.- Rhodesia Delagoa-bay, Rikatla” (syntypes ZMUZ and OUMNH). Syn. nov.

Odynerus synagroides var. beta von Schulthess 1924: 1 , ♁, ♀ —“D.-O.-Afrika Ukerewe N.-O.- Rhodesia Delagoa, Rikatla” (syntypes ZMUZ and OUMNH). Syn. nov.

Diagnosis. This species can be recognized by combination of following characters: coloration black with last three or four terga orange and covered by orange-goldish pubescence, posterior lobe of tegula not equaling parategula, dorsal faces of propodeum entirely punctured, propodeum with lateral and inferior carinae denticulate, T1–T2 with interspaces equal to or shorter than punctures diameter, S2 medially depressed and without median longitudinal furrow, clypeus of male deeply emarginate and with large punctures, tyloids only on apical half of antenna, F11 of male claw-shaped, mid femur of male simple, vertex of female with foveae placed in deep depression punctured like rest of surface.

Description. MALE. Fore wing length 12.0– 16.5 mm.

Head 1.2 × as wide as long in frontal view. Clypeus in lateral view weakly convex; in frontal view 1.1 × as long as wide, apical margin with deep semicircular incision, incision 0.5 × as deep as wide, apical teeth long and triangular, sharply pointed apically. Interantennal space carinate. Distance from posterior ocellus to occipital carina 2.6 × as long as the distance from posterior ocellus to inner eye margin. Gena 1.2 × as wide as eye at bottom of ocular sinus; occipital carina complete, lamellate, shorter dorsally. Scape 3.4 × as long as apically wide; F1 2.4 × as long as wide; F2–F10 longer than wide; F11 digitiform, apically rounded and weakly curved in lateral view, apex reaching base of F9; F6–F10 with tyloids. Mandible tridentate, apical tooth long and weakly curved apically, mid tooth forming a weakly convex cutting margin, inner tooth triangular; space between mid and inner teeth deep and wide, rounded at bottom. Pronotal carina complete, elevated into a very short lamella on sides of dorsal face; pretegular carina fine, preceded by a shallow depression on ventral half. Mesoscutum 0.95 × as long as wide between tegulae, distinctly convex in lateral view. Scutellum convex, with a median longitudinal furrow deeper on posterior half. Metanotum angled in lateral view, with a short horizontal face and a longer vertical face, faces separated by a crenulate margin depressed on middle line. Tegula elongate, outer margin weakly convex, posterior lobe triangular and short, not reaching apex of parategula. Parategula large and straight, dorsally convex, with rounded apex. Mesepisternum weakly convex, epicnemial carina complete and strong, becoming lamellate ventrally and forming an elevated angle on ventral corner. Propodeum in lateral view oblique; sides of posterior face flat and angularly meeting on median line, therefore posterior face large and weakly depressed; dorsal face convex; lateral face flat with apical depression; dorsal carinae absent, therefore dorsal and posterior faces are not clearly separated; lateral carinae strong and denticulate, with larger teeth on posterolateral angles of propodeum. T 1 in dorsal view 0.75 × as long as wide, sides converging anteriorly, anterior margin broadly rounded; in lateral view with flat vertical and horizontal faces, transition between faces strongly convex; T 2 in dorsal view wider than long, in lateral view weakly convex, with preapical shallow depression; S2 medially depressed, in lateral view more convex basally. Mid femur basally depressed on ventral face.

Head with deep flat-bottomed punctures, interspaces densely micropunctate, shorter than punctures diameter on frons, wider on vertex and gena; interantennal space and lower third of ocular sinus smooth. Clypeus densely micropunctate on basal half and longitudinally microstriate apically, with small deep punctures, interspaces several times as long as punctures diameter. Pronotum, mesoscutum and scutellum with very dense and deep punctures, interspaces forming a narrow reticulation, some punctures confluent with each other; ventral corners of pronotum with larger interspaces, densely micropunctate; interspaces larger and flattened in middle of posterior half of mesoscutum. Horizontal face of metanotum roughly punctured,interspaces irregular and reduced to sharp carinae and spines;vertical face of metanotum microreticulate with some shallow large punctures dorsally. Mesepisternum, except epicnemium and posterior margin, with large flat-bottomed punctures, interspaces reduced to narrow reticulation. Metaepisternum densely microreticulate, almost dull, with some short striae on anterior margin. Dorsal faces of propodeum roughly punctured, large flat-bottomed punctures with narrow and sharp interspaces; posterior face microstriate, with sparse oblique irregular striae, some shallow punctures on dorsal margin; lateral face with irregular fine transverse striae and some shallow larger punctures. T1 dull, very finely micropunctate, with deep oblique punctures, interspaces equal to larger than punctures diameter, lateral margins coarsely punctured; T2 similar to T1, but punctures larger, especially on apical depressed area; T3–T6 punctured similar to apical part of T2, interspaces becoming progressively larger; T7 densely micropunctate and dull. S1 smooth and shiny on basal petiole, enlarged apical part transversely rugose with shallow flat-bottomed punctures on sides; S2 microreticulate and shiny, with deep oblique punctures, denser on sides; following sterna micropunctate and with punctures similar to S2, punctures becoming progressively fewer on apical sterna. Body covered by short and dense pubescence, black on head, mesosoma and black parts of metasoma, orange on orange parts of metasoma; some longer black setae on frons, mesepisternum, posterolateral angles of propodeum, S1 and base of S2.

Black; following parts red: clypeus, mandible, sopraclipeal area, antennae below, most of temple, dorsal margin of anterior face of pronotum, most of legs, sides of T1, S1; T4–T7 entirely orange, T3 entirely black to entirely orange; wings strongly fuscous, with purplish reflections.

FEMALE. Fore wing length 14.0–20.0 mm.

Like male, except: head 1.2 × as wide as long in frontal view; clypeus in frontal view short pyriform, as long as wide, apical margin narrow and shallowly incised, incision 0.2 × as deep as wide, apical teeth rounded and pointing out, apically rounded; gena 1.2 × as wide as eye at bottom of ocular sinus; cephalic foveae placed in a deep depression, about as broad as ocellar triangle; scape 3.6× as long as apically wide; F1 2.3 × as long as wide; F10 bullet-shaped; mandibles quadridentate; T 1 in dorsal view 0.7× as long as wide; clypeus more densely punctured.

Distribution. Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic *, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia *, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia *, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Republic of Guinea, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Yemen?, Zambia, Zimbabwe ( Bequaert 1918, 1938; Berland 1953; Bingham 1902; Carpenter et al. 2009; de Saussure 1852, 1855, 1863, 1890; du Buysson 1922; Giordani Soika 1935b, 1937, 1940, 1961, 1977, 1982, 1989; Guiglia 1939; Gusenleitner 1992, 2000a, 2004a, 2005; Longstaff 1912; Marshall 1902; Medler 1980; Radoszkovsky 1881; Roubaud 1908, 1916; Salt & Bequaert 1929; Schletterer 1891; Schouteden 1919; Stadelmann 1898; von Schulthess 1899, 1913a, 1913c, 1924, 1928a, 1929) ( Fig. 20 ).

Remarks. This species counted six additional subspecies, namely alpha (von Schulthess, 1924), argenteopilosellum ( Giordani Soika, 1937) , beta (von Schulthess, 1924), cariosum Giordani Soika, 1987 , gamma (von Schulthess, 1924) and sulphureomaculatum (von Schulthess, 1928) . The subspecies argenteopilosellum, cariosum and sulphureomaculatum are raised to specific rank, the subspecies gamma is considered as a possible synonym of argenteopilosellum , and the subspecies alpha and beta are here synonymized with the typical form. These two subspecies were recognized solely based on the coloration of T3: entirely black in typical synagroide , entirely orange in alpha and with an apical orange band in beta. This character cannot be considered discriminative, as many transition forms can be found in the whole range of this species, and no morphological differences can be found, therefore the subspecies alpha and beta are synonymized under the typical one.

Bingham (1898: 110) recorded this taxon from “ Lahej ”, now part of Yemen. No subsequent records from the Arabian peninsula are known and this species is not mentioned in recent monographs on the Vespidae of Arabian Peninsula ( Carpenter & Gadallah 2020; Guichard 1986), therefore the record is considered doubtful.

Malagasy species

1 Propodeal angles produced into one to four thick spines. Pronotal carina distinct but not lamellate. Gena length about half as length of dorsal lobe of eye in dorsal view. Male F11 short, weakly curved and barely reaching apex of F8. Male mid femur normal. Black and dark red-brown with apical yellow border or lateral spots on T1, male with T4–T6 and respective sterna dark ferruginous, wings hyaline-ferruginous......................... Anterhynchium grandidieri (de Saussure) ( Fig. 29–30 )

- Propodeal angles rounded, not produced into spines. Pronotal carina shortly but distinctly lamellate. Gena about as long as length of dorsal lobe of eye in dorsal view. Male F11 different. Male mid femur basally depressed ventrally............. 2

2 T1 short, basally subtruncate, lateral margins nearly parallel in dorsal view. Punctation finer and less coarse, interspaces on mesosoma not forming reticulation. Punctation of T2 dense and uniform, interspaces equal to or slightly larger than punctures diameter. F8 of male deeply emarginate apically to accommodate apex of F11, F9 strongly depressed ventrally, F11 weakly curved in lateral view, flattened dorsoventrally and reaching half length of F8. Male clypeus chagrined, not punctured, entirely yellow. Dark red brown with apical yellow lines on T1–T2 and S2, wings hyaline with orange tinge............................................................................ Anterhynchium andreanum (de Saussure) ( Fig. 27–28 )

- T1 campanulate, basally rounded, lateral margins divergent posteriorly in dorsal view. Punctation larger and coarse, interspaces on mesosoma forming strong reticulation. Punctation of T2 not uniform, shallow and very sparse in the middle, becoming deeper and very dense on lateral margins. F8 of male not deeply emarginate apically, F9 not depressed, F11 strongly curved in lateral view, circular in section and reaching base of F9. Male clypeus distinctly punctured, orange-brown with a median longitudinal yellow line. Black-brown, wings strongly fuscous in the basal half, hyaline in the apical half....................................................................... Anterhynchium madecassum (de Saussure) ( Fig. 31–32 )

Figures

FIGURE 20. Distributional map of synagroide species-group.

FIGURE 25. Anterhynchium synagroide (de Saussure, 1852). A, habitus of female. B, head of male in frontal view. C, head of female in frontal view. D, head of female in dorsal view. E, flagellum of male in lateral view. F, T2 in dorsal view.

FIGURE 27. Anterhynchium andreanum (de Saussure, 1890), male lectotype. A, habitus. B, labels. C, head in frontal view. D, mid femur in frontal view. E, flagellomere in ventral view.

FIGURE 28. Anterhynchium andreanum (de Saussure, 1890). A, genitalia of lectotype: aedeagus in lateral view, aedeagus in ventral view, digitus and volsella in lateral view. B, habitus of female. C, head of female in frontal view.

FIGURE 29. Anterhynchium grandidieri (de Saussure, 1890). A, habitus of male. B, head of male in frontal view. C, head of female in frontal view. D, flagellum of male in lateral view.

FIGURE 30. Anterhynchium grandidieri (de Saussure, 1890). A, head of female in dorsal view. B, propodeum in lateral view. C, male genitalia: aedeagus in lateral view, aedeagus in ventral view, digitus and volsella.

FIGURE 31. Anterhynchium madecassum (de Saussure, 1852). A, habitus of male. B, head of male in frontal view. C, head of female in frontal view. D, flagellum of male in lateral view.

FIGURE 32. Anterhynchium madecassum (de Saussure, 1852). A, head of female in dorsal view. B, mid femur of male in frontal view. C, male genitalia: aedeagus in lateral view, aedeagus in ventral view, digitus and volsella in lateral view.