Sphex finschii Kohl, 1890

Doerfel, Thorleif H. & Ohl, Michael, 2015, A revision of the Australian digger wasps in the genus Sphex (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae), ZooKeys 521, pp. 1-104 : 19-21

Taxon classification Animalia Hymenoptera Sphecidae

Sphex finschii Kohl, 1890

Sphex finschii Kohl, 1890: 412, sex not indicated (as Finschii , incorrect original capitalization). Lectotype: ♂, Papua New Guinea: New Britain: no specific locality (ZMB), designated by Hensen 1991: 21. Lectotype examined.

Material examined.

Lectotype. ♂, PAPUA NEW GUINEA:[province unknown]: New Britain [no specific locality] (ZMB).

Other material.

INDONESIA:Papua: Yerelua, 1♂, 26.07.1998, Balke & Konyorah (NHMW). PAPUA NEW GUINEA:Bougainville Province: Bougainville Island, 1♂, 1908, L. Cohn (ZMB), 1♂, 26.07.1923, E. O. Pockley (AMS); Buoni, Bougainville Island, 1♀, 20.10.1922, E. O. Pockley (AMS); Sininai, Bougainville Island, 1♀, 26.09.1922, E. O. Pockley (AMS), 1♀, 26.09.1923, E. O. Pockley (AMS); Central Province: Port Moresby, 1♀, 25.02.1939, C. Lupson (AMS); East New Britain Province: Vudanplata, 15 km W Keravat, 4°12'S, 152°00'E, 1♀, 1♂, 05.-13.06.2003, T. Osten (ZMB); Vunabaur, 30 km S Kokopo, 4°28'S, 152°19'E, 1♀, 1 ♂, 07.-12.06.2003, T. Osten (ZMB); Oro Province: Mount Lamington, 1♀, May 1927, C. T. McNamara (AMS); West New Britain Province: Lamavoro, 10 km S Hoskins, 5°28'S, 150°26'E, 1♂, 21.06.2003, T. Osten (ZMB); Makasili, 20 km E Hoskins, 5°28'S, 150°26'E, 2♀, 2♂, 19.-24.06.2003, T. Osten (ZMB).

Diagnosis.

This species is well characterized by its wings, which are largely hyaline but darkened at the base. It shares this trait with three other species. One of them is Sphex luctuosus that can be distinguished by claw teeth perpendicularly oriented to the inner margin of the claw, a character of the Sphex resplendens group (as a member of the Sphex argentatus group, Sphex finschii possesses obliquely oriented claw teeth). The second spe cies, Sphex argentatus , is identifiable by its distinctly tuberculate metanotum, while the tubercles are indistinct in Sphex finschii . The third species, Sphex fortunatus , has erect setae that are uniformly silvery on its clypeus, whereas Sphex finschii has black setae.

Description.

Body black. Costal cell of fore- and hindwing dark. Base of forewing membrane darkened, sometimes up to the medial cell’s distal margin, fuscous band at apex. Hindwing membrane darkened mainly near base. Wing veins dark brown to black. Appressed pubescence on clypeus and frons silvery, erect setae on clypeus black and on frons silvery. Clypeus with glabrous ridge dorsomedially. Pubescence on mesosoma silvery, denser laterally on scutum. Scutellum convex, with shallow medial impression. Metanotum markedly raised, tubercles indistinct. Pubescence on propodeal enclosure sparse and fine, leaving sculpture fully visible. Length of petiole nearly 1.7 × length of flagellomere II. Tomentum moderately dense on metasomal tergum II.

Female: Body length 21.6-29.2 mm. Forebasitarsal rake with nine long spines. Free clypeal margin with 3 faint lobes medially, distance between them less than 1/8 length of flagellomere II. Distance between hind- ocelli 0.9 × their shortest distance to compound eyes. Tomentum moderately dense on metasomal tergum I.

Male: Body length 20.4-25.2 mm. Free clypeal margin truncate, concave medially. Area adjacent to it glabrous. Distance between hind- ocelli 1.1 × their shortest distance to compound eyes. Tomentum dense on metasomal tergum I. Metasomal terga V and VI with few black bristles. Metasomal sterna II–IV mostly glabrous, V–VII with increasingly dense fringes of dark and silvery setae laterally on apical margin. Metasomal sternum VIII entire, covered with silvery pubescence, its lateral margin straight.

Geographic distribution.

Although Sphex finschii is listed by Cardale (1985) and Hensen (1991), no specimen was found that has actually been collected in Australia. Individuals examined during this study come from New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, or Indonesia.