Angiopolybia zischkai Richards, 1978

Barroso, Paulo Cézar Salgado, Somavilla, Alexandre, Broad, Gavin R., Menezes, Rodolpho Santos Telles & Oliveira, Marcio Luiz De, 2024, Contributing to the understanding of Angiopolybia Araujo, 1946 (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Polistinae): a new species, and descriptions of the nest of A. obidensis and male of A. zischkai, Zootaxa 5536 (2), pp. 315-324 : 320-321

Angiopolybia zischkai Richards, 1978

( Figs 15–22 )

Comparative diagnosis. The male of A. zischkai is particularly similar to that of A. pallens . However, the male of A. zischkai differs by the lobe of the paramere, which is not curved downwards; the parameral spine with long bristles; apical portion of aedeagus wider in the anterior half; aedeagus denticulation in the form of large, wide denticles in the posterior half and small, slender denticles in the anterior half; digitus without a projection adjacent to the basal articulation; cuspis with small bristles, dense throughout the area.

Material examined. 1♂, Costa Rica, Alajuela Province, Bijagua , 20 km S Upala, 6.I.1991 (F.D. Parker), AMNH _ IZC 00390604 [ AMNH] .

Description of male (hithertho unkonown). Size. Head 1.12 mm long, 2.03 mm high, and 2.39 mm wide; mesosoma 4.42 mm long, fore wing 7.1 mm long, and hind wing 5.44 mm long; metasoma 6.08 mm long. Head. Lateral ocelli 0.18 mm, and median ocellus 0.2 mm diameter. Frons with interantennal space 1.63 times height of antennal socket. Anterior tentorial pit closer to eye than to antennal socket. Antennal socket 0.24 mm high. Clypeus 1.1 times higher than wide and apex less acute than in female. Pubescence stronger than in female. Gena less than half of width of eye at level of ocular sinus. Mesosoma. Propodeum with translucent posterior submedian mark anterior to propodeal valve, not inserted in a round depression. Propodeal valve complete and expanded, median region one-third of height of antennal socket. Fore wing with prestigma as long as wide. Hind wing with six hamuli. Metasoma. Tergum I 1.8 times longer than broad. Tergum II 0.75 times longer than wide. Color. Yellow in general. Black: central large spot on vertex, lateral large band across frons, from ocellar area to upper margin of antennal socket, transverse large band anterior to occipital carina, mesoscutum, except two median bands, spot on upper region of mesepisternum, terga III–VII, except posterior thin bands, and metasomal sterna IV–VI, except posterior thin bands. Brown: large band anterior to pronotal carina and dorso-lateral band on pronotum, small spot above dorsal groove and spot posterior to scrobal furrow, tegula, inner region of subalar metapleural area, scutellum, posterior half of metanotum, longitudinal median band and lateral band on propodeum, and terga I and II, except posterior thin band on tergum II. Yellowish brown: antennal segments, except inner region of pedicel. Fore wing with yellowish cells, hind wing with hyaline cells; yellowish-brown venation, except reddish-brown veins costa, subcosta+radius, media+cubitus, media and radial sector. Genitalia ( Figs 18–22 ). Paramere 1.5 mm long and 0.7 mm wide; parameral spine one-seventh length of paramere, curved upwards and with long and sparse bristles; lobe with a rounded apex and not curved downwards. Aedeagus 1.4 mm long; enlarged valve with a small emargination at tip; apical portion 0.53 mm long and straight, ventral margin with denticles directed anteriorly; denticulation with large denticles in posterior half and small denticles in anterior half, more sclerotized than the rest of apical portion; small bristles closer in lower half, sparse in upper half; median expansion without denticles and with acute apex; lateral apodeme not flattened dorsoventrally at apex; basal apodeme arched to venter. Digitus 1.8 times longer than wide; apical process not curved in upper half and with medium bristles and sparse; rounded anteroventral lobe with strip of black scale-like bristles crossing it obliquely at base of digitus; bristles absent in basal articulation. Cuspis approximately 0.45 mm long, with six black scale-like bristles on lateral lobe, small dense bristles throughout cuspis.

Comments. The described male of Angiopolybia zischkai is from Costa Rica, where the species was previously recorded by Valverde et al. (2019) and Barroso et al. (2022). Despite some differences between males and females, such as the male having a slenderer clypeus with stronger pubescence, a narrower gena, and slightly shorter terga I and II (female redescribed by Barroso et al. 2022), the male specimen was associated with the female based on the collection of females from the same locality, as well as the identification key, redescription and diagnosis provided by Barroso et al. (2022).

Figures

FIGURES 15–22. Angiopolybia zischkai Richards, ♂. 15. Habitus, lateral view. 16. Habitus, dorsal view. 17. Head, frontal view. 18. Paramere. 19. Aedeagus, lateral view. 20. Aedeagus, ventral view. 21. Digitus. 22. Cuspis. Scale bar: 1 mm for 15–17 and 0.5 mm for 18–22.