Anterhynchium (Anterhynchium) fallax ( de Saussure, 1855 )

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 : 78-79

Anterhynchium (Anterhynchium) fallax ( de Saussure, 1855)

( Fig. 24 )

Rhynchium fallax de Saussure 1855: 175 ,

♀ —“L’Afrique occidentale” (holotype BMNH) Rhynchium luctuosum Gerstäcker 1857: 463 , ♁, ♀ —“Tette” (holotype ZMHB) syn. nov.

Diagnosis. This species can be recognized by: dorsal carinae of propodeum absent, lateral carinae of propodeum distinct with large and irregular denticulation, T2 shiny with sparse punctures, S2 regularly convex from base to apex, male clypeus with deep semicircular apical incision, F6–F10 of male with tyloids, coloration almost entirely black and wings with strong bluish reflections.

Typical material examined. Holotype of Rhynchium luctuosum : “ luctuosum / Gerst. // Rhynchium / luctuosum / Gerst // Type // Mozambique / Tette / Peters S. / 2668” ( ZMHB).

Description. MALE. Fore wing length 11.0–15.0 mm.

Head 1.25 × as wide as long in frontal view. Clypeus in lateral view almost entirely flat; 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 weakly carinate. Distance from posterior ocellus to occipital carina 2 × as long as the distance from posterior ocellus to inner eye margin. Gena 1.1 × as wide as eye at bottom of ocular sinus; occipital carina strong ventrally, becoming finer toward vertex. Scape 3.6 × as long as apically wide; F1 2.25 × as long as wide; F2–F6 longer than wide; F7–F10 subquadrate; F11 digitiform, apically rounded and weakly curved in lateral view, apex reaching base of F9; F6–F10 with tyloids. Mandibles 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; pretegular carina strong, preceded by a deep depression on ventral half. Mesoscutum 0.9 × 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 weak carina 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 0.8 × as long as wide, almost entirely parallel-sided, in lateral view with a strongly convex vertical face which continues in a longer flat horizontal face; T 2 in dorsal view wider than long, in lateral view regularly convex from base to apex; S 2 in lateral view regularly convex from base to apex.

Head with shallow flat-bottomed punctures, interspaces as long as punctures diameter on frons, becoming wider on vertex and gena; interantennal space and lower third of ocular sinus smooth and shiny. Clypeus densely micropunctate and appearing dull, with fine and shallow macropunctures denser basally. Pronotum, mesoscutum and scutellum with dense deep punctures, interspaces at most equal to punctures diameter and forming reticulation. Metanotum coarsely punctured on horizontal face and dorsal half of vertical face, interspaces forming carinae and spikes; ventral half of vertical face dull and impunctate. Mesepisternum, except epicnemium and posterior margin, with large flat-bottomed punctures, denser with interspaces reduced on dorsal part, sparser with interspaces equal to puncture diameters on ventral part. Metaepisternum and posterior margin of mesepisternum impunctate. Dorsal faces of propodeum with punctures like mesepisternum, but punctures larger and punctation becoming irregular towards posterolateral corners; posterior face finely and obliquely striate; lateral face dull, mostly smooth, with some shallow and irregular striae and punctures on posterior margin. T1–T2 moderately shiny with fine oblique punctures, interspaces many times larger than punctures diameter; T2 with a preapical band of larger and denser punctures not reaching apical margin; T3–T5 with dense deep oblique punctures; T6–T7 microsculptured with some indistinct punctures. S1 with irregular transverse striae; S2–S7 punctured like respective terga, but punctures spares and interspaces more shiny. Whole body covered by short black pubescence, some longer black setae on frons, mesoscutum, propodeum, mesepisternum and sterna.

Black; antennae dark-red, ferruginous below; legs dark-brown, black on outer face; wings strongly fuscous, almost black, with strong bluish reflections.

FEMALE. Fore wing length 13.5–16.0 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 0.25 × as deep as wide, apical teeth short and rounded; gena 1.25 × as wide as eye at bottom of ocular sinus; scape 3.8 × as long as apically wide; F1 2 × as long as wide; F10 bullet shaped; mandibles quadridentate; T 1 in dorsal view 0.8 × as long as wide; metasoma more sparsely punctate.

Distribution. Angola, Kenya?, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Sao Thomé, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe ( Bingham 1902; Cameron 1910b; Carpenter et al. 2009; de Saussure 1855; de Schulthess 1899; Gerstäcker 1857, 1862; Giordani Soika 1935b, 1937; Gusenleitner 2003, 2004a; Kohl 1893; Radoszkovsky 1881; Zavattari 1907) ( Fig. 20 ).

Remarks. The holotype of Rhynchium luctuosum Gerstäcker, 1857 was examined through pictures, allowing recognition of this taxon as a junior synonym of Anterhynchium fallax , as already proposed by Giordani Soika (1937: 323).

Gusenleitner (2003, 2004a) recorded A. luctuosum from Kenya and Tanzania, but these records probably should be attributed to A. cariosum , as four specimens of that species were found in OLML determined as A. luctuosum by Gusenleitner.

Figures

FIGURE 20. Distributional map of synagroide species-group.

FIGURE 24. Anterhynchium fallax (de Saussure, 1855). 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.