Calligaster himalayensis (Cameron, 1904)

Nugroho, Hari, Ubaidillah, Rosichon & Kojima, Jun-ichi, 2016, Taxonomy of the Indo-Malayan presocial potter wasp genus Calligaster de Saussure (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Eumeninae), Journal of Hymenoptera Research 48, pp. 19-32 : 25-27

Calligaster himalayensis (Cameron, 1904)

Figs 5 , 9 , 13 , 16

Zethus himalayensis Cameron, 1904: 13, ♀, “Sikkim” (BMNH).

Calligaster himalayensis ; Bequaert 1928: 157 (holotype examined; possibly a valid species).

Zethus hymalayensis [!]; Giordani Soika 1941: 216 (incorrect spelling of Zethus himalayensis Cameron; syn. of C. cyanopterus de Saussure).

Diagnosis.

The characters which may allow us to differentiate C. himalayensis from C. cyanoptera are as follows [characters for C. cyanoptera are given in the brackets]: Metasomal segment I in dorsal view shorter and stouter (Fig. 9 ), about 1.8 times as long as its maximum width [slender, about 2.5 times as long as its maximum width (Fig. 7 )]; tergum I with dorsal striae inconspicuous, in consequence of strong and distinct punctures [dorsal striae conspicuous; tergum with nearly no punctures]; mesoscutum strongly punctured, also in areas along notauli [strongly punctured, but areas along notauli with no punctures]; scutellum and metanotum with denser, larger and deeper punctures than those in C. cyanoptera ; dorsal face of propodeum with strong punctures along the border with the posterior face [glossy, nearly without punctures]; lateral face of propodeum with denser and deeper punctures [punctures sparser, interspaces between punctures wider than diameter of a puncture]; male antennal scape yellow ventrally [black entirely]; interantennal space with paired yellow spots [usually absent in female, rarely absent in male]; female clypeus black entirely [black with wide reddish-brown transverse band ventrally]; male clypeus with large yellow spot occupying nearly entire disk of clypeus [closely paired yellow spots in ventral part, but occasionally lacking].

Material examined.

VIETNAM: 1♂ (IUNH), Me Linh , emerged from a nest collected on 9.iii.2005, F. Saito et al. [the nest, in its structure, is similar to that of C. cyanoptera we observed and that of C. williamsi described by Williams (1919)] ; 1♀ 1♂ (IEBR), Kim Hy National Park , Bac Kan, 5.viii.2012, L.T.P Nguyen et al .

Distribution.

Sikkim, China, Laos, northern parts of Vietnam.

Remarks.

Cameron (1904: 13) proposed Zethus himalayensis for a single female from "Sikkim [India]" and Bequaert (1928: 157) moved it to the genus Calligaster . Bequaert (1928: 157), having examined the holotype, mentioned that "Although similar to C. cyanopterus , it appears to differ in the shape of the clypeus and is possibly a valid species." Based on the comparison of our specimens from Vietnam [given under "Material examined"] with those of C. cyanoptera from Java and Bali, we recognized that C. himalayensis differs from the latter in having stronger and more distinct punctures.

Other than the locality given in the original description (Sikkim in India), C. himalayensis has been recorded from China ( Giordani Soika 1960; without giving any specific localities). We have herein firstly recorded the species from northern parts of Vietnam (new record), suggesting that C. himalayensis may occur along the eastern slope of the Himalayas from Sikkim to northern parts of Vietnam, and probably to southeastern parts of China.

Figures

Figures 1 - 9. Calligaster species. 1 - 9 Female 1, 2, 6 C. viridipennis 3, 7 C. cyanoptera 4, 8 C. williamsi 5, 9 C. himalayensis 1 Body, lateral view 2 Head, frontal view 3 - 5 Metasomal segments I-II, lateral view 6 - 9 Metasomal tergum I, dorsal view. Scale 1 mm.

Figures 10 - 18. Calligaster species. 10 - 13 Female. 14 - 18 Male 10, 14, 17 C. cyanoptera 11 C. viridipennis 12, 15, 18 C. williamsi 13, 16 C. himalayensis 10 - 13 Female clypeus 14 - 16 Male clypeus 17, 18 Apex of male antenna. Scale 1 mm.