15. Delta dimidiatipenne (de Saussure, 1852)

1852. Eumenes dimidiatipennis de Saussure, 51. Syntype: Female, Male, “Djidda(Arabie), les Indes Orientales, I’Egypte” (MP).

1961. Delta dimidiatipenne; Blüthgen, 279.

Diagnosis: Female: Clypeus smooth, its anterior margin concave at apex; frons and ocular sinus closely and strongly punctured; vertex and temple with minute punctures.

Colour Description: Head obscure dull red with following black markings: broad band on vertex including upper half of frons, vertical line to each antennal toruli, extending behind vertex to outer side of temple and to occiput; dorsal side of apical four segments of antenna. Mesosoma dull red with highly variable black patches as follows: mesoscutum usually entirely black except parategula; black margin on scutellum anteriorly; propleuron usually black; mesopleuron usually with large black area except dull red patch below tegula and another red mark at lower side near to mid coxa; metapleuron usually with large black area except red patch on upper metapleuron; median groove of propodeum sometimes black; metasoma dull red except following black markings: base of petiole, apical half of second tergite and sternite, whole of remaining tergites and sternites. Wings ferruginous with apical half of forewing fuscous having purple reflection.

Size (H+M+T1+T2): 21 mm.

Material examined: INDIA: Madhya Pradesh, Jabalpur district, Dumna Nature Park, 1♀, 23.iv.2015, Coll. Altaf Hussain Sheikh.

Distribution: India: Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh (new record), Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh. Elsewhere: Afghanistan, Africa, Algeria, Arabia, Canary Islands, Central Africa, Central Sahara, Chad, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iran, Madagascar, Mauritania, Nepal, Niger, Pakistan, Palestine, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Syria, Turkey, Uganda, Yemen.