Polemistus braunsii ( Kohl, 1905 )

Gadallah, Neveen S., Edmardash, Yusuf A., Abu El-Ghiet, Usama M. & Al-Fifi, Zarrag I. A., 2024, New additions to the crabronid fauna of the Arabian Peninsula and Saudi Arabia (Hymenoptera: Apoidea (Spheciformes): Crabronidae), new distribution records and new species, Zootaxa 5403 (5), pp. 549-570 : 566-568

Polemistus braunsii ( Kohl, 1905)

Fig. 13 (A–D)

Passaloecus braunsii Kohl, 1905: 361 , ♂.

Diagnosis. Body length 4.5 mm, entirely black ( Fig. 12A, B, D ), pronotal lobe ivory white ( Fig. 13A ); sting reddish ( Fig. 13A ); scape and pedicel clear yellow ( Fig. 13B ); legs black with few white markings, hindtibia whitish at base ( Fig. 13A, D ); wings hyaline, with dark brown stigma and veins ( Fig. 13C ). Eye with inner carina well-develop along its whole length ( Fig. 13B ); clypeus densely covered with silvery pubescence obscuring underlying integument and apex ( Fig. 13B ); frontal depression densely punctato-rugose ( Fig. 13B ); scutum widely obliquely rounded antero-laterally, with distinct crenulate notauli extending to posterior margin, joining posteriorly in U-shape ( Fig. 13D ).

Material examined: 1♀, Fifa Mountain (Development Authority Farm-almukhafih), 1260 m [17º16’07ʺN 43º07’32.3ʺE], May, 2023, Malaise trap in coffee orchard, Usama Abu El-Ghiet collector .

Distribution: Tropical Africa ( Pulawski 2023), Saudi Arabia (new record).

Comments. The genus Polemistus with its species P. braunsii is a first recorded for the Arabian Peninsula and Saudi Arabia. Characters of our female specimens agree with Leclercq’s key (1959: 51, couplet 5).

Figures

FIGURE 12. Carinostigmus levifrons (Arnold, 1947) (♀): A, fore and hind wings; B, frontal view of head; C, dorsal view of head and thorax; D, last gastral terga.

FIGURE 13. Polemistus braunsii (Kohl, 1905) (♀): A, habitus laterally; B, frontal view of head; C, forewing; D, dorsal view of head, thorax and base of gaster.