Vespa galbula Pallas, 1771

Lelej, A. S. & Mokrousov, M. V., 2017, The types of Scoliidae (Hymenoptera), described by Eduard Eversmann, with some taxonomic notes and checklist of Russian Scoliidae, Far Eastern Entomologist 340 (340), pp. 1-17 : 10-11

Vespa galbula Pallas, 1771

Fig. 11

Vespa galbula f. maiores Pallas, 1771: 158, 473.

TYPE LOCALITY. Western Kazakhstan: Uralsk (former Yaitskij Gorodok),

Western-Kazakhstan Prov.

NEOTYPE (designated here), ♀, "Окр. Уральска / 7.VII.[1]908 / Д. Бородин и

Б. УВароВ. // Neotype ♀ / Vespa galbula Pallas, 1771 / Design. Mokrousov et /

Lelej, 2017" ( Fig. 11 ).

CURRENT STATUS. Valid species Colpa (Colpa) galbula (Pallas, 1771) ,

comb. n. (= Scolia sexmaculata Fabricius, 1781 , syn. n.; S. interrupta Fabricius,

1781, syn. n.; S. sareptana Eversmann, 1849 , syn. n.).

DISCUSSION. Vespa galbula Pallas, 1771 was described as species with three form – maiores (females), mediae (workers?) and minores (males?). According to description of Pallas, form "maiores" is Scolia sexmaculata Fabricius, 1781 ; forms

"mediae" and "minores" probably S. hirta (Schrank, 1781) , ♀ and ♂ respectively.

The name V. galbula Pallas, 1771 has priority over S. sexmaculata Fabricius, 1781

and Apis hirta Schrank, 1781 .

The syntypes of Vespa galbula Pallas, 1771 were collected in 1769 between

May (April in old style) and September along the route: Samara – Orenburg –

Yaitskij Gorodok (now Uralsk) – Inder Lake – Guriev (now Atyrau). Bischoff &

Bradley (1929) designated as lectotype of V. galbula Pallas, 1771 the specimen

" mediae form" from "Tauria" (Crimea) [Museum für Naturkunde der Humboldt

Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany]. This designation of the lectotype is invalid because the specimen from Crimea was collected by P.S. Pallas, who lived and investigated the Crimean Peninsula in 1793–1810 (Makaruev, 1877), much later and in other place than syntypes of V. galbula Pallas, 1771 (Art. 74.2 of Code)

(ICZN, 1999). The specimens of V. galbula from Samara, Orenburg Prov. and

Western Kazakhstan collected by P.S. Pallas probably lost; they are absent at

Museum für Naturkunde der Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany; not found at Zoological Institute, St. Petersburg and Zoological Museum of Moscow

State University ; The locality "Uralsk" (Western Kazakhstan) is the most probable place where the syntypes were collected by P.S. Pallas, moreover this place is located in the middle of possible collection localities and place where P.S. Pallas spent all July in 1769. Because of that we designate here the neotype of V. galbula

Pallas, 1771 and propose new synonymy. The neotype corresponds to the Pallas description for V. galbula forma maiores.

Figures

Fig. 11. Vespa galbula Pallas, 1771, Neotype, ♀. Habitus and labels.