Pseudodynerus griseus ( Fox, 1902 )

Ferreira, Wellington D., Grandinete, Yuri C., Lopes, Rogério B. & Hermes, Marcel G., 2015, A new contribution to the knowledge of Neotropical Eumeninae (Hymenoptera, Vespidae), Zootaxa 3981 (1), pp. 117-124 : 122

Pseudodynerus griseus ( Fox, 1902)

Examined material: Brazil, Ceará: 1 ♂ ( INPA), ‘ BRASIL, Ceará\ P. N. Ubajara\ -3.83830º/-40.89803º\ 14- 19.ii.2013 846 m. a.’ ‘Busca ativa\ A. Sommavila & M. L. Oliveira leg. ’.

Distribution. Brazil (Ceará [new record], Minas Gerais, Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul).

Remarks. The collecting records for this species were restricted to latitudes above 15º S in the Brazilian States of Minas Gerais, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul ( Hermes & Melo 2008). The specimen examined is a male, with strongly depressed lateral surface of pronotum and lateral angles of propodeum prominent in posterior view. This last character (lateral angles of propodeum clearly prominent versus somewhat rounded) may be tricky, but the specimen in hand fits better the mentioned condition.

The genitalia of the specimen was removed and examined as well, and compared to related species (e.g. P. subapicalis ). Despite from being clearly distinct from related species, the genitalia fits perfectly the description and drawings provided by Hermes and Melo (2008) for P. gr i s e us. Until more specimens are collected to either corroborate or refute our identification, we defer attributing this male specimen to any other taxon in the genus, or even associating it with species whose males are unknown but have close collecting records (e.g. P. carpenteri Hermes & Melo ).

This record extends considerably the putative distributional range of P. g r i s eu s (the nearest northern previous record is around two thousand kilometers southward). It may be possible that additional collecting efforts reveal this species to be related to the Atlantic Forest biome along the Brazilian coast, with some introgression in transition areas between this forest and the Cerrado. This assumption may find some support when P. serratus ( Fox, 1902) , the sister-species of P. g r i s e u s, is considered: the first occurs westward in South America, ranging from dry areas in Argentina to the Cerrado of Mato Grosso in the Brazilian border with Bolivia; the two species overlap in south Brazil, in the remnants of Atlantic Forest in the State of Santa Catarina ( Hermes & Melo 2008, Fig. 118).