Tachytes xenoferus Rohwer, 1911

Gadallah, Neveen S., Abu El-Ghiet, Usama M. & Edmardash, Yusuf A., 2021, New data on the crabronid fauna of Saudi Arabia (Hymenoptera: Apoidea (Spheciformes): Crabronidae) from Jazan Province, with the description of three new species and the hitherto unknown male of Miscophus chrysis Kohl, 1894, Journal of Natural History 55 (27 - 28), pp. 1697-1748 : 1725

Tachytes xenoferus Rohwer, 1911

( Figure 14 a-e) Tachytes xenoferus Rohwer, 1911: 581 , ♀, ♂.

Diagnosis

Characterised by the following combination of characters: body including legs entirely black ( Figure 14 (a)); antenna with F1 as long as or slightly longer than F2 (in male F1 shorter than F2 ( Figure 14 (b))); F 3-8 in male orange beneath ( Figure 14 (b)) (weak on F5, F 6 in female); propodeum with some pale pubescence dorsally that does not conceal integument beneath ( Figure 14 (c)), not striated laterally; wings hyaline; hind femur without concavity baso-ventrally in our male specimens; middle metatarsus produced apico-ventrally in male ( Figure 14 (d)); gastral S2 impunctate apico-centrally in female ( Figure 14 (e)), without erect setae at base in male; S8 without setae in male.

Records from Saudi Arabia

Hadasham ( Gadallah and Assery 2004 as Tachytes diversicornis Turner, 1918 ), Jazan (present study).

General distribution

Algeria, Burkina Faso, Egypt, Ghana, India, Iran, Israel, Mali, Niger, Oman, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates.

Comments

Characters of this species agree with those of Tachytes diversicornis Turner (see couplet 5 for females, and couplet 8 for males in Guichad’s key, 1994b). The characters for both female and male also agree with the characters mentioned by Pulawski (2006, p. 167).

Material examined

2 ♂, 1 ♀, Jazan (Samba), 17º02 ʹ 44.8 ʺ N 42º39 ʹ 31.4 ʺ E, 18.xii.2020, on Citrus aurantiifolia (Christmas) [Malaise trap], leg. Usama Abu El-Ghiet; 1 ♀, Jazan (Damad), 17º08 ʹ 05.1 ʺ N 42º45 ʺ 58.8 ʺ E, 20–25.xii.2020, on Moringa oleifera Lam. (Moringaceae) [Malaise trap], leg. Usama Abu El-Ghiet.

Figures

Figure 14. Tachytes xenoferus Rohwer (female): (a) Lateral habitus; (b) Fronto-lateral view of head; (c) Dorsal view of thorax (part); (d) Middle tarsus (part) (apical protrution of metatarsus indicated); (e) Basal gastral sterna (apico-central impunctate area of S2 indicated).