On two Asian species of the genus Mellinus Fabricius, 1790 (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae)

2008·3.7 MB·English

by  Suresh K Gupta

HYM. RES.
J.
Vol. 17(2), 2008,pp. 210-215
On Two Asian Species of the Genus Mellinus Fabricius, 1790
(Hymenoptera: Crabronidae)
Suresh K. Gupta, Severiano F. Gayubo, and Wojciech Pulawski
J.
(SKG) Northern Regional Station, Zoological Survey ofIndia, 218, Kaulagarh Road, Dehradun, 248
195, India; email: [email protected]
(SFG) Area de Zoologia, Facultad de Biologia, Universidad de Salamanca E-37071, Salamanca,
Spain; email: [email protected]
(WJP) Department ofEntomology, California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Drive,
San Francisco, California 94118, USA; email: [email protected]
—
Abstract. Mellinus obscurus Handlirsch, 1888, currently recognized as a subspecies of arvensis
(Linnaeus,1758),isrestoredtofullspeciesstatusbasedontheunusualstructureofitsantennalsocket.
Mellinus orientalis is described from India and Nepal; its main diagnostic characters are a finely
sculpturedpropodealenclosureandacarinaseparatingthepropodealposteriorsurfacefromtheside.
The following are the abbreviations used um); Tsuneki, 1969c:64 (Japan: Mount Hyo-
in the text below: nosen); Nambu, 1973:152 (Japan: Saitama
Prefecture); Suda, 1973:123 (Japan: Yamana-
CAS: CaliforniaAcademyofSciences, shi Prefecture); Siri and R. Bohart, 1974:170
San Francisco, California, USA (in key to world Mellinus), 174 (in review of
USAL: Area de Zoologia, Facultad de world Mellinus); Nambu, 1975:72 (Japan:
Biologia, Universidad de Sala- Saitama Prefecture); R. Bohart and Menke,
manca, Spain 1976:449 (listed); Kazenas, 1980:84 (first rec-
ZSL Northern Regional Station, ord from Russia: Primorskiy Kray and Kuril
Islands);Tsuneki,1982:18(knownfromKorea;
Zoological Survey of India,
asobscrus),1982b:36(firstrecordfromTaiwan:
Dehradun, India. Chiay Prefecture: Mount Ali); Miyatake,
1996:103 (specimens in Hiroshi Aoki collec-
Mellinus obscurus Handlirsch, species tion). - As Mellinus arvensis obscurus: Nem-
status restored kov in Nemkov, Kazenas, Budrys, et Antro-
pov, 1995:455 (newstatus,inkeytoSphecidae
Mellinus obscurus Handlirsch, 1888:289, E. Ho- of Russian Far East); Nemkov, 2005:157
lotype: E, Korea: no specific locality (KRA- (Russia: Sakhalin Island), 2006:169 (Russia:
KOW). - Dalla Torre, 1897:561 (in catalog of Primorskiy Kray: Kedrovaya Pad' Nature
world Sphecidae); Maidl and Klima, 1939:39 Reserve);neeBoesi,Polidori,Gayubo,Tormos,
and 43 (in catalog of world Astatinae and Asis, andAndrietti, 2007:184
Bembicinae); Yasumatsu, 1943:2 (China: He- (= Mellinus orientalis); Nemkov, 2007:74 (Rus-
bei Province, Inner Mongolia, description of sia: Kuril Islands: Iturup and Kunashir Is-
T); Tsuneki, 1965:26 (in key to Bembicinae of lands), 2008:20 (inkeytoMellinus ofRussia).
Japan and Korea): Haneda, 1968:46 (Japan); Mellinus tristis Perez, 1905:156, E. Holotype or
Tano, 1968:33 (Japan); Tsuneki, 1969a:18 syntypes: E, Japan: no specific locality but
(Japan: Sapporo area: nesting habits, prey,), presumably Tokyo area (MNHN). Synony-
1969b:26 (Japan: specimens in Osaka Muse- mized with Mellinus obscurus by Tsuneki,
Volume 17, Number2, 2008 211
1965:26. - Perez, 1905:26 (listed); Maidl and 2007:184 (Nepal; nesting habits, adult mor-
Klima, 1939:42 (in catalog ofworld Astatinae phology, description of larva).
and Bembicinae); Tsuneki, 1946:85 (prey —
records). - As Mellinus obscurus tristis: Name derivation. Orientalis, a Latin mas-
Yasumatsu, 1943:3 (comparisonwithMellinus culine and feminine adjectivemeaning Orien-
obscurus); Maruyama, 1948:7 (nesting habits); tal;withreference to th—is species distribution.
Tsuneki and Shimoyama, 1963:48 (Japan: Taxonomic history. Gupta (1997) first
Towada Prefecture). recorded Mellinus from the Oriental Re-
We have not seen the type of Mellinus gion, but he determined his specimens to
obscurus, but there is little doubt about the genus only. Boesi et al. (2007) examined 17
interpretation of this species, as it is the females from Nepal, comparing them to
only member of the genus that occurs in the European Mellinus arvensis and the
the Asian Far East. It was described as a Japanese M. arvensis obscurus. They dis-
full species,butdifferentiated fromarvensis cussed several sculptural, setal, and chro-
only by chromatic characters (Handlirsch, matic characters, but not the antennal
1888; Siri and Bohart, 1974; Nemkov et al, socket nor the pygidial plate, and conclud-
1995, 2008). In arvensis the mesopleuron, ed that the Nepalese specimens were
scutellum, gastral terga II, III and V conspecific with arvensis obscurus. We
(female) or VI (male) are marked with consider all these specimens to represent
yellow, and the hindtibia is yellowish a distinct ne—w species, Mellinus orientalis.
brown, whereas these body parts, except Diagnosis. As in the Palearctic arvensis
tergum III (and occasionally other terga), (Linnaeus), crabroneus (Thunberg), obscurus
are black in obscurus. In addition, arvensis Handlirsch, and also the Mesoamerican
occurs in Europe, Turkey, Kazakhstan, and costaricae (Bohart) recently transferred to
east to the Irkutsk area and Altai Mts. in Mellinus from Trachogorytes by Pulawski
Siberia, while obscurus is known from the (2007), orientalis has a well-defined carina
Russian Far East, Korea, Japan, China that separates the propodeal posterior
(Hebei Province and Inner Mongolia), and (oblique) surface from the side. It differs
Taiwan. Because the differences between from these four species by five characters:
arvensis and obscurus were in color only, 1. its propodeal enclosure is finely rugose
and because they appeared to be vicariant on a narrow median zone (rather than
species, Nemkov et al. (1995) downgraded conspicuously rugose on a large portion of
obscurus to a subspecies of arvensis. Melli- the enclosure, compare Figs, lc and 2b), 2.
nus obscurus, however, strikingly differs thegasterisallblackortergumIIIhasapair
from all its congeners in having the of lateral pale spots (at least tergum II has
antennal socket with an overhanging fron- pale spots in the other four species), 3. the
tal lobe (compare Figs la,b and 2a). In our female pygidialplate is punctate over more
opinion, this difference alone suffices to thanhalfits lengthandridged onlyapically
treat obscurus as a full species. (rather than punctate basally and ridged
We have examined 7 9, 6 S from Japan over more than half of its length, compare
and 1 9 and 1 $ from Kuril Islands, Russia. Figs, le and 2d), 4. male flagellomeres VI-
IX eachhas a narrow, almostlinear placoid
(rather than a broadly elliptical placoid;
Mellinus orientalis Gupta, Gayubo, and male unknown in costaricae), and 5. gono-
Pulawski, sp. nov. coxite narrowed apically (rather than con-
Mellinus sp.: Gupta, 1997:102 (first record of spicuously broad (compare Fig. If and 2e).
Mellinus from Oriental Region). Also, the erectsetae on tergumI are shorter
As Mellinus arvensis obscurus: Boesi, Polidori, in orientalis than in arvensis and obscurus
Gayubo, Tormos, Asis, and Andrietti, (compare Figs. Id and 2c).
212 Journalof HymenopteraResearch
^HB
h
B«
&;-.- . '/,:
Hfl l^^iHsMip mm
0.2
Fig. 1. MellinusobscurusHandlirsch: a-femaleheadindorsalviewshowingantennalsockets;b-malehead
indorsalviewshowingantennalsockets;c-propodealenclosureoffemale;d-femaletergumIinlateralview;
e-pygidialplate offemale; f-male genitalia indorsal view.
—
Description. Clypeal free margin with median area (Fig. 2b) that is slightly
three well-defined teeth. Tentorial pit narrower than midocellar width (the ru-
closer to antennal socket than to inner eye gose area is no longer than midocellar
orbit (0.7:1.0) in female, equidistant in width in some specimens, and extends to
male. Frontal and scutal punctation slight- about enclosure midlength in others);
ly finer than in arvensis. Mesopleuron propodeal side punctate, unsculptured
punctate. Propodeal enclosure microscopi- anteriorly, separated from posterior
cally areolate and with finely rugose (oblique) surface by longitudinal carina
Volume 17, Number2, 2008 213
Fig. 2. Mellinus orientalis Gupta, Gayubo, and Pulawski: a - female head in dorsal view showing antennal
sockets; b -propodeal enclosure of female; c - female tergum I in lateral view; d -pygidial plate of female;
e-male genitalia in dorsal view.
that starts about two midocellar widths sternum I (setal length about 0.5 X mid-
behind propodeal spiracle; posterior sur- ocellar width, Fig. 2c).
face punctured. Tergum I narrow, its Head, thorax, propodeum, and gaster
maximum width 2.0 X basal width (mea- black except the following are pale yellow:
sured just behind gastro-propodeal articu- narrow paraorbital stripe (extending to
lation) in female, 1.7 X in male. about orbit midheight), scapal venter,
Setae erect on dorsum of peduncle of ventral half of clypeus in Nepalese speci-
tergum I, markedly shorter than those on mens (clypeus allblackin Indian male and
214 Journalof Hymenoptera Research
with two admedian and two small lateral Crabronidae) in Nepal. Florida Entomologist 90:
spots in Indian female), and pair of spots 184-190.
on pronotal collar in some Nepalese Dalla Torre, C. G. 1897. Catalogus Hymenopterorum
hucusque descriptorum systematicus et synonymicus,
specimens. Legs black except inner fore- Volumen VIII: Fossores (Sphegidae). Guilelmi
tibial surface pale yellow in Nepalese Engelmann, Lipsiae [= Leipzig]. 749 pp.
specimens, partly yellowish brown in Gupta, S. K. 1997. Hymenoptera. Pp. 97-104 in:
Indian female, and dark brown in Indian ZoologicalSurveyofIndia.FaunaofConservation
male; and apical tarsomeres yellowish Areas9:FaunaofNandaDeviBiosphereReserve.
Handlirsch, A. 1888. (1887) Monographic der mit
brown to brown. Tergum III with pair of Nysson und Bembex verwandten Grabwespen. II.
lateral pale spots in most Nepalese speci- Sitzungsberichte der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wis-
mens (all black in two). senschaften. Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche
Q. - Pygidial plate punctate over more Classe. AbtheilungI96: 219-311, pis I-II.
than half its length, ridged on remaining Kazen(aHsy,meV.noLp.t1e9r8a0.,MaStpehreicaildyake)fauDnael'rnoeyguoshcVhoiskthokoas
apical portion (Fig. 2d). Length: 9.5- SSSR [= Contributions to the diggerwasp fauna
mm.
12.0 (Hymenoptera,Sphecidae)oftheSovietFarEast].
- Flagellomeres VI-IX each with pp. 80-94 in: Lehr, P. A. ed. Taxonomiya naseko-
o*.
narrow, almost linear placoid. Genitalia: mykh Dal'nego Vostoka. Akademiya Nauk SSSR,
Fig. 2e. Length 7.5 mm. Dal'nevostochnyi Nauchnyi Tsentr, Vladivostok.
— 122pp. (in Russian).
Geographic distribution. Northern India, Haneda,Y. 1968.Contributionfrommycabinetstothe
Nepal. knowledgeoftheJapaneseHymenoptera. TheLife
— Study (Fukui) 12,42-48 (inJapanese).
Records. Holotype: 9, INDIA: Uttarak- Maidl, F. and A. Klima. 1939. Pars 8: Sphecidae I.
hand: Dwali in Almora District, 2734 m, 31 (Astatinae - Nyssoninae). In: Hedicke, H. ed.
Aug 1990, P.C. Tak & party (ZSI: NRS/ZSI/ Hymenopterorum Catalogus. Dr. W. Junk, Verlag
A9837). Paratypes: INDIA: Himachal Pradesh: furNaturwissenschaften, 's-Gravenhage. 150 pp.
Dalhousie, 2132 m, 17 Aug 1972, Gulati (1 S, Maryuama, K. 1948. Habits of a Diptera-hunter,
ZSI: NRS/ZSI/A9838); Narkanda [ca 2700 m], Mellinus obscurus tristis Perez (Hymenoptera).
b21etJwueneen1D97w2a,lMiaaynadnPkhu(1rk<$i,aCAinS)A.lmUottraaraDikshtarincdt:, MiyatMaukseh,iY1.9:1979-61.1.AlistoftheinsectcollectionbyMr.
92,,7C3A4S-)3.,2N6E0PmAL,:1 ESaesptte1r9n9R0,egPi.oCn.:TSaoklu&Kphaurtmyb(u1 MH[iSurpsoheseuhciimdAaoofekNoia.ntupSrppae.lciH1ai0ls1t-Po1ur0by3l]i2.c8a:t1io-n1s32fr(oimnJtahpeanOessaek)a.
District: Sagarmatha National Park at 27°45- Nambu, T. 1973. Saitama-ken dobutsushi kiso chosa.
28°07'N 86°28'-87°07'E, Roberto Boesi, 30 May Rikuseikontyuruichosahokoku.Makushimoku
2003 (1 9, USAL); 26 June 2003 (2 9, CAS; 3 9, - Hymenoptera [= Studies on the Saitama
USAL), 30June 2003 (1 9, USAL), 6July 2003 (7 Prefecture fauna. A report on the terrestrial
9, USAL); 10 July 2003 (1 9, CAS; 2 9, USAL). entomofauna. Order Hymenoptera]. Saitama-ken
Dobutsushi Kari-no Moku Roku [=Preliminary Re-
ACKNOWLEGMENTS portsontheSaitamaPrefectureFauna]3:147-154(in
Japanese).
WethankArnold S. Menke and RobertL. Zuparko . 1975. Kontyu-ko makushi moku Saitama-no
for their critical reading ofthe manuscript and many hati [= Wasps of Saitama (Insecta, Hymenop-
excellentsuggestions. AprilNobilegeneratedillustra- tera)]. Saitama-ken Dobutsushi Kari-no Moku Roku
tions usingAuto-Montage. [= Preliminary Reports on the Saitama Prefecture
Fauna]4: 49-82 (inJapanese).
LITERATURE CITED Nemkov, P. G. 2005. Fauna royushchikh os (Hyme-
noptera, Sphecidae, Crabronidae) ostrova Sakha-
Bohart, R. M. andA. S. Menke. 1976. Sphecid Wasps of lin - E)igger wasp fauna (Hymenoptera, Spheci-
the World. A generic revision. University of Cali- dae, Crabronidae) of Sakhalin Island., in: Flora
forniaPress,BerkeleyLosAngelesLondon,1 color and Fauna ofSakhalin Island (Materials ofInterna-
plate, IX+695 pp. tional Sakhalin Project). Part 2. Dalnauka, Vladi-
Boesi, R.,C. Polidori, S. F. Gayubo,J. Tormos,J. Asis, vostok, (in Russian), pp. 141-167.
and F. Andrietti. 2007. Nestingbiology, morpho- . 2006. Kfaune royushchikh os (Hymenoptera:
logical remarks, and description of the mature Sphecidae, Crabronidae) zapovednika «Kedro-
larva ofMellinusarvensis obscurus (Hymenoptera: vaya Pad'» -Contribution to the fauna ofdigger
Volume 17, Number2, 2008 215
wasps(Hymenoptera:Sphecidae,Crabronidae)of Tano, T. 1968. Contribution from my cabinets to the
Kedrovaya Pad Nature Reserve. Pp. 166-170 in: knowledgeoftheJapaneseHymenoptera. TheLife
Makarchenko, A. ed. Rastitel'nyi i zhivotnyi mir Study (Fukui) 12: 32-36 (inJapanese).
zapovednika «Kedrovaya Pad'» -Flora and Fauna of Tsuneki,K. 1946.PreyrecordsofMellinustristisPerez.
Kedrovaya Pad Nature Reserve. Dalnauka, Vladi- Matsumushi 1: 85.
—vostok. 268 pp. (inRussian). . 1965. A guide to the study of the Japanese
. 2007. Rauna royushchikh os (Hymenoptera: Hymenoptera (22) (10). Nyssoninae ofJapan and
Sphecidae, Crabronidae) Kurilskikh ostrovov - Korea (1). TheLifeStudy (Fukui) 9: 24-33.
The digger wasp fauna (Hymenoptera: Spheci- . 1969a.GleaningsonthebionomicsoftheEast-
dae, Crabronidae) of Kuril Islands. Euroasian Asiatic non-social wasps (Hymenoptera). IV.
—EntomologicalJournal 6: 67-76 (in Russian). Some species of Bembicini, Stizini, Gorytini,
. 2008. A keyto the digger wasps ofthe genus Mellinini and Alyssonini. Etizenia 41: 1-19.
Mellinus(Hymenoptera,Crabronidae,Mellininae) . 1969b. Chrysidoidea and Sphecoidea in the
—ofthe Russia. FarEastern Entomologist 185: 19-20. collectionoftheOsakaMuseumofNaturalHistory.
, V. L. Kazenas, E. R. Budrys, and A. V. TheLifeStudy(Fukui) 13: 23-28 (inJapanese).
Antropov. 1995. Nadsem. Sphecoidea. 67. Sem.
Sphecidae - Royushchiye osy. Pp. 368-480 in: Hy.o1n9o6s9ec.n.AddTihteioLnifteotShteuSdpyhe(cFiudkuaie)-Fa13u:na6o4fM(ti.n
Lehr, P. A. ed. OpredeliteV nasekomykh Dal'nego
Japanese).
VostokaRossiivshesti tomakh. TomIV. Setchatokry-
lNyaieu,kas,koSrapniokntn-iPtestye,rbpuerrge.po6n0c4ha+to2kruylnyniue.mbeChraesdt'pp1.. the. 1li9s8t2ao.f SthpehescpiedcaieesforfomthNeofratmhilKyorkenaow(InI)fwriotmh
the Korean Peninsula (Hymenoptera). Special
(inRussian).
Perezc,enJt.ra1l9,05.paHrymMe.noHpatremraensdr,ecmueiinlilsitsredanplsenleipJoatpeonn- 2P0u:bl1i-c2at2i.ons oftheJapan HymenopteristsAssociation
tiaire de France a Tokio. Bulletin du Museum . 1982b. Studies on the new material of
Sphecidae, Chrysididae and Mutillidae from
d'HistoireNaturelle 1905: 23-39, 79-87, 148-158.
Pulawski,W.J.2007.ThestatusofLirismagnificusKohl, Formosa and the Southern Ryukyus (Hymenop-
1884, and Trachogorytes costaricae R. Bohart, 2000 tera). Special Publications oftheJapan Hymenopter-
(Hymenoptera:Crabronidae:Crabroninae,Bembi- istsAssociation 23: 15-45.
cinae).JournalofHymenopteraResearch16:293-296. and K. Shimoyama. 1963. Sphecidae and
Siri, M. L. and R. M. Bohart. 1974. A review of the Chrysididae collected in the District of Towada,
genus Mellinus (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae). The Japan. TheLifeStudy(Fukui)7:48-50(inJapanese).
Pan-Pacific Entomologist50: 169-176. Yasumatsu, K. 1943. Notes on some East-Asiatic
Suda, H. 1973. Sphecidae of Yamanashi Pref., Japan. SphecoideainthecollectionoftheMuseeHeude.
TheLifeStudy (Fukui) 17: 121-124 (inJapanese). Notes d'EntomologieChinoise 10: 1-32.