Xiphydria palaeanarctica, : Watanabe, 1956

Shinohara, Akihiko, 2019, The Xiphydria palaeanarctica group from Japan (Hymenoptera, Xiphydriidae), Zootaxa 4608 (3), pp. 531-542 : 534-535

Xiphydria palaeanarctica Semenov-Tian-Shanskij, 1921

( Figs 1 D–G; 2C, D; 3C, D; 4B)

Xiphydria palaeanarctica Semenov-Tian-Shanskij, 1921: 81; Semenov Tian-Shanskij & Gussakovskij, 1935: 121; Takeuchi, 1938: 181; Maa, 1949: 47; Watanabe, 1956: 8 (part); Verzhutskij, 1981: 54; Abe & Togashi, 1989: 559; Taeger et al., 2010: 120; Smith et al., 2011: 69; Sundukov & Lelej, 2012: 115 (part).

Xiphydria jezoensis Matsumura, 1927: 205 ; Matsumura, 1931: 80; Semenov Tian-Shanskij & Gussakovskij, 1935: 121;? Conde, 1935: 70; Watanabe, 1956: 7 (lectotype designation).

Summary of taxonomic characters. Head capsule black, with large elongate spot on lateral vertex, spot on inner orbit lateral to torulus and large elongate spot on gena along genal carina creamy white; lateral part of clypeus often dark amber; thorax black. Female: Length without ovipositor 11.5–19.0 mm. Antenna ( Fig. 3C ) black, with flagellum creamy white; most of flagellomere 1 and most of terminal flagellomere blackish; flagellomeres 2 and 3 sometimes partly blackish; with (?15)16–20 (usually 17 or 18) antennomeres (n=24); pedicel 1.3–1.7 (usually 1.4 or 1.5) × length of flagellomere 2 (n=20). Legs reddish brown, usually with coxae, trochanters, trochantelli black and tarsi blackish. Abdomen black with creamy white lateral spots usually on terga 3–8, spot on tergum 3 sometimes missing. Sawsheath length about 0.9–1.2 × basal plate length (n=18). Male: Length 8.5–12.5 mm. Antenna blackish brown, with 16 antennomeres (n=1); basal half of flagellum creamy white dorsally. Legs black, with apices of femora, tibiae and tarsi brown. Abdomen black with small whitish lateral spots on terga 4–7, those on 4 or 7 often missing; tergum 9 apically roundly produced, dorsally rounded, without median longitudinal keel ( Fig. 3D ).

Primary types examined. ♀ (holotype of Xiphydria palaeanarctica Semenov-Tian-Shanskij, 1921), not directly examined, photographs only ( Taeger 2019). ♀ (lectotype of Xiphydria jezoensis Matsumura, 1927 , Figs 1D , 2C, D ), “Sahoro, 6/15” “8” “Type Matsumura” “ X. jezoensis n. sp. det. Matsumura” “ Xiphydria jezoensis Mats. , Type” “ Xiphydria palaeanarctica Semenov , ♀, Det. C. Watanabe, 1946” “0000051222 Syst. Ent. Hokkaido Univ. Japan [SEHU]” (HU).

Other material examined. 21♀ 3³ (1♀ from North Korea, 3♀ 1³ from South Korea and 17♀ 2³ from Japan [Hokkaido]). See Appendix for collection data .

Distribution. Russia (Primorskij kraj, Baikal region, Sakhalin), China (Jilin), North and South Korea, Japan (Hokkaido).

Host plant. Unknown. Matsumura’s (1927) material of this species from Sapporo, identified as X. jezoensis or X. alnivora , was collected on Alnus trees, which may be a host plant. Kojima et al. (1962), Okutani (1967) and others recorded several species of plants as hosts of X. palaeanarctica , but their concept of X. palaeanarctica actually referred to X. ogasawarai or a mixture of X. ogasawarai and X. palaeanarctica . There is no reliable host record of X. palaeanarctica based on the reared (emerged) adults or observations of the oviposition.

Remarks. This species can be recognized by the black malar space ( Fig. 2D ), large number of the antennomeres (16–20 [usually 17 or 18]) ( Fig. 3C ), mainly reddish brown legs ( Fig. 1D, E ), and the creamy white lateral spots usually on the terga 3–8 of the abdomen ( Fig. 1D, E ) in the female, and by the black malar space, partly creamy white antennae ( Fig. 1F ) and the apically roundly produced, dorsally rounded tergum 9 of the abdomen ( Fig. 3D ) in the male.

In Japan, X. palaeanarctica is very rare and has been found only in Hokkaido. Beside a series collected in Sapporo about a century ago (type series of X. jezoensis ), I have examined only three specimens, one each collected in 1926, 1958 and 2016 (see Appendix). I was not able to examine the specimen recorded by Togashi (1991).

Conde’s (1935) female specimen from Primorskij kraj was identified as X. jezoensis and apparently fits X. palaeanarctica , although it has only 15 antennomeres. The 24 female antennae of X. palaeanarctica I have examined have 16 to 19 antennomeres. More material is needed for full understanding of the range of actual variation. I have examined a female specimen from Hakugan (=Baekam), North Korea, on which Takeuchi (1938) based his first record of X. palaeanarctica from Korean Peninsula. The species treated as X. palaeanarctica by Esaki et al. (1939) is a misidentification of X. eborata Konow, 1899 ( Shinohara & Kameda 2019). From the type material of X. alnivora, Watanabe (1956) designated a female specimen as a lectotype and a male specimen as an “ allolectotype ”. Actually the lectotype female belongs to X. ogasawarai while the “ allolectotype ” male belongs to X. palaeanarctica .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Xiphydria ogasawarai (A–C), X. palaeanarctica (D–G) and X. nagasei (H, I)—A, Holotype, female; B, lectotype of Xiphydria alnivora Matsumura, female; C, Hikawa-rindo, male; D, lectotype of X. jezoensis Matsumura, female; E, Maruyama, female; F, Meakan Spa, male; G, “allolectotype” of Xiphydria alnivora Matsumura; H, Futamata, male; I, holotype, female.

FIGURE 2. Head, female, Xiphydria ogasawarai (A, B), X. palaeanarctica (C, D) and X. nagasei (E, F)—A, Lectotype of X. alnivora Matsumura; B, Yunohana; C, D, lectotype of X. jezoensis Matsumura; E, F, holotype. Left arrow in B and arrows in D, F: genal carina; right arrow in B: occipital carina (crassa).

FIGURE 3. Antenna, female (A, C, E) and tip of male abdomen, dorsal view (B, D, F)—A, Xiphydria ogasawarai, Komotsurushi-yama; B, X. ogasawarai, Hikawa-rindo; C, X. palaeanarctica, “Sahoro”; D, X. palaeanarctica, Meakan Spa; E, X. nagasei, holotype; F, X. nagasei, Futamata.