Unexpected diversity in Central European Vespoidea (Hymenoptera, Mutillidae, Myrmosidae, Sapygidae, Scoliidae, Tiphiidae, Thynnidae, Vespidae), with description of two species of Smicromyrme Thomson, 1870
Author
Schmid-Egger, Christian
Fischerstr. 1, 10317 Berlin, Germany
Author
Schmidt, Stefan
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5751-8706
SNSB-Zoologische Staatssammlung Muenchen, Munich, Germany
schmidt.s@snsb.de
text
ZooKeys
2021
2021-10-14
1062
49
72
http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1062.70763
journal article
http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1062.70763
1313-2970-1062-49
BA1B319F27F54C80A918E6EE3A7A581B
AC2D3D77749F509095B878408B98941A
Smicromyrme (Smicromyrme) rufipes
Figures 1-7
, 23
Mutilla rufipes
Fabricius, 1877: 313 "Habitat Halae Saxonum Dom. Hybner".
Type material.
lost (
Petersen 1988
).
Neotype.
(here designated) Germany • female; Brandenburg, Bad Freienwalde, Gabower
Haenge
;
52.826°N
,
14.080°E
; 15 Aug. 2001; Schmid-Egger leg.; coll. ZSM, BC ZSM HYM 10552.
Additional material examined.
Apart from the material shown in the list of specimens analysed by DNA barcoding (Suppl. material 1), an additional
78 females
from several locations across
Germany
were examined morphologically, including the
German
states of
Brandenburg
,
Berlin
,
Hamburg
,
Baden-Wuerttemberg
,
Rhineland-Palatinate
,
Sachsen-Anhalt
,
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
.
Remarks.
To allow accurate identification of the taxon, a female specimen with full barcode sequence was selected as a neotype. The species was originally described from Halle in Sachsen-Anhalt, about 200 km south-west of the locality from where the neotype was collected. The species agrees with the descriptions of
Petersen (1988)
and
Lelej and Schmid-Egger (2005)
. For diagnosis and identification see the key to males and females below but note that males cannot be distinguished by morphology from
S. burgeri
sp. nov.
Male colour variation.
The males of
S. rufipes
occur in two colour variants without transitional forms (
Petersen 1988
). We examined 88 males from eastern Germany and Hamburg, which we expected to belong to
S. rufipes
, because no records of
S. burgeri
sp. nov. females are known from these areas. Of those, 52 (59%) are all black and 36 (41%) have at least collare, mesoscutum, and scutellum red. The collare is medially black, and the metanotum and upper mesopleuron are partly red in a few specimens. An additional 46 males of the red form from south-western Germany were also examined, with three specimens each belonging to
S. rufipes
and
S. burgeri
sp. nov., based on their barcode sequences showing that specimens from south Germany cannot be identified to species level. Five specimens from this area without DNA sequences were all black. Considering the distribution of collected females, most males are suspected to belong to
S. rufipes
, and the male black form is much rarer in southern Germany compared to northern and eastern Germany.
Figures 1-7.
Smicromyrme rufipes
1-5
female neotype
1
habitus in dorsal view
2
habitus in lateral view
3
head frontal
4
propodeum
5
tergite S6
6, 7
male
6
male with red mesosoma in dorsal view
7
male with black mesosoma in dorsal view. Scale bars: 1 mm for all images.
Distribution.
According to
Petersen (1988)
,
S. rufipes
is widespread in central and northern Europe, eastwards to China and Japan, and also occurring in northern Spain, France, northern and central Italy, Croatia (Krk island) and Serbia (near Belgrade). Specimens mentioned in
Petersen (1988)
from northern and central Italy, Croatia and Serbia may in fact belong to
S. lombardensis
sp. nov., and specimens from France and Spain to
S. burgeri
sp. nov.