Symmorphus (Symmorphus) jucundus ( Gusenleitner, 2008 ) Selis & Nguyen, 2024

Selis, Marco & Nguyen, Lien Thi Phuong, 2024, The Oriental species of the genus Pseudonortonia Giordani Soika (Hymenoptera Vespidae: Eumeninae), Zootaxa 5477 (2), pp. 171-194 : 189

Symmorphus (Symmorphus) jucundus ( Gusenleitner, 2008) comb. nov.

( Fig. 11 )

Pseudonortonia jucundus Gusenleitner 2008: 1495 , ♀, ♂ —“ Thailand NW, Chiang Dao , 8 km W Chiang Dao ” (holotype female OLML).

Material examined. HOLOTYPE OF PSEUDONORTONIA JUCUNDUS : ♀, labeled: “THAILAND WN / Chiang Dao , 8kmW / Chiang Dao, Waldbach / 10.-12.3.07, lg. Risch // Pseudonortonia / jucundus nov. spec. ♀ / J.Gusenleitner,det.2008 / Holotypus // HOLOTYPUS [red label] // Biologiezentrum Linz / Austria (LI) / ex. Coll. J. Gusenleitner / Eingang 2023” ( OLML). THAILAND: same data as holotype, 1♂ ( OLML, paratype of Pseudonortonia jucunda ).

Distribution. Thailand ( Gusenleitner 2008).

Notes. Gusenleitner (2008) compared this taxon to Pseudonortonia bhamensis and differentiated it by the sparser sculpture of the mesosoma, the obliquely sloping propodeum and the coarse preapical punctures of T2. Examination of the type series however revealed that Pseudonortonia jucunda (not jucundus , since Pseudonortonia is feminine in gender) is in fact a Symmorphus Wesmael. The characters that support this new placement are those already listed by Cumming (1989) as diagnostic of Symmorphus : T1 longitudinally furrowed behind transverse carina, female with cephalic foveae widely separated ( Fig. 11E ), and male with simple antennal apex ( Fig. 11G ).

The strongly elongate T1 observed in this species is an uncommon feature in the genus Symmorphus , being currently known in two Central American species only: S. centralis Carpenter & Grandinete and S. chiriquiensis (Gusenleitner) ( Grandinete et al. 2016). This character immediately allows the recognition of S. jucundus from all other known Old World species of the genus.

Figures

FIGURE 11. Symmorphus jucundus (Gusenleitner, 2008), comb. nov. A–E, female holotype. F–G, male paratype. A, habitus, dorsal view. B, habitus, lateral view. C, labels. D, F, head, frontal view. E, head, dorsal view. G, flagellum, lateral view. Credits: Martin Schwarz OLML 2023.