Chilosphex argyrius ( Brullé, 1833 )

Danilov, Yuriy N. & Odintsev, Oleg A., 2022, Review of the digger wasps of the genus Chilosphex Menke in Bohart and Menke 1976 (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae: Prionychini), Zootaxa 5200 (6), pp. 587-594 : 589-590

Chilosphex argyrius ( Brullé, 1833)

( Figs 1 , 2a, c , 3a , с, e, 4a, c, e)

Sphex argyrius Brullé 1833: 367 , ♀. Holotype or syntypes: ♀, Greece: Morea, now Peloponnesus: Carithène (MNHN).— Kohl 1885a:179; Ed. André 1888:137, 152; Kohl 1890:327; Dalla Torre 1897:415; Roth 1925:379; Gussakovskij 1930: 211; Roth 1963:146; Roth in de Beaumont 1967:369.— As Chilosphex argyrius : Bohart & Menke 1976:128; Kazenas 2001:14; Dollfuss 2008:1399; Arens 2017:626; Danilov, Mokrousov 2017:54; Danilov 2017:214; Danilov 2019:77; Pulawski 2022:1.

Sphex emarginatus Brullé 1833:368 , ♂. Holotype: ♂, Greece: Morea Peninsula, now Peloponnesus: Carithène (MNHN). Junior primary homonym of Sphex emarginatus Villers, 1789 . Synonymized with Sphex argyrius by Kohl 1885a:179 and 1885b:165.—F. Smith 1856:242; Kirchner 1867:218.

Diagnosis. Both sexes of Ch. argyrius differ from Ch. pseudargyrius in having the episternal sulcus ending at level of the scrobe (the episternal sulcus extending to anteroventral margin of the pleuron in Ch. pseudargyrius ). The female of Ch. argyrius differs from Ch. pseudargyrius in having the scutum moderately shiny, coarsely, densely micropunctate with scattered punctures ( Ch. pseudargyrius has the scutum moderately shiny, but finely, sparsely micropunctate with scattered punctures).The male differs from Ch. pseudargyrius by the shape of S8 whose medial emargination is broad: 3.5 × as wide as the lateral tooth (the medial emargination of S8 is narrow: 1.5 × as wide as the lateral tooth in Ch. pseudargyrius ).

Description. Mesosoma . Pronotum microsculptured, with scattered punctures and fine, sparse, inconspicuous, semiappressed, pale setae. Pronotal collar and scutum laterally with appressed, silvery setae. Pronotal lobe, mesopleuron, metapleuron and propodeum without sparse appressed, silvery setae. Episternal sulcus ending at level of scrobe ( Fig. 3c ). Propodeal enclosure with fine, inconspicuous, brownish setae.

MALE ( Fig. 4e ). Body length 15–20 mm. Metasoma entirely black. Medial emargination of S8 broad: 3.5 × as wide as lateral tooth ( Fig. 3e ). FEMALE ( Fig. 4a, c ). Body length 19–24 mm. Head. Medial clypeal lobe moderately longer and slightly broader than lateral one, slightly emarginate; lateral emargination slightly defined ( Fig. 2a ). Mesosoma . Scutum moderately shiny, coarsely, densely micropunctate with scattered punctures ( Fig. 3a ). Metasoma black with following red: T1–T2, S1 apically, and S2; entirely black in melanistic specimens.

Material examined ( Fig. 1 ). BULGARIA. Haskovo Province: Svilengrad municipality, Dervishka Mogila [41°55′60.0″N 26°21′00.0″E], 20.VI.2008, leg. M. & Z. Halada (1 ♂, OLBL) ; CROATIA. Dubrovnik-Neretva County: Konavle, Prevlaka [42°24′00.0″N 18°31′00.0″E], 19.VI.2011, leg. V. Sorokina (2 ♀, SZMN) ; FRANCE. Vaucluse Department: Bédoin [44°07′26.4»N 5°10′49.8»E], 25.VI.1990, leg. Perraudin (1 ♂, OLBL) ; GREECE. Thessaly: Magnesia, Keramidi [39°34′00.0″N 22°54′00.0″E], 7.V.2014, leg. M. Snižek (2 ♂, OLBL) ; South Aegean: Cyclades, Syros [37°27′00.0″N 24°54′00.0″E], 1867, leg. Erber (8 ♂, 10 ♀, ZISP) ; IRAN. Golestan Province: Gorgan [formely Astrabad] [36°50′N, 54°26′E], 15.V.1905, leg. Filippovich (2 ♂, 1 ♀, ZISP) ; 17.VI. 1905 (1 ♂, ZISP) ; ITALY. Sicily: 20 km S Palermo [37°55′58.9″N 13°21′05.5″E], 18.VI.2012, leg. J. Halada (1 ♂, OLBL) ; RUSSIA. Dagestan: Derbent District, Kamyshchay River valley [41°54′28.8″N 48°13′58.8″E], 10.VI.2017, leg. M. Mokrousov (7 ♂, 3 ♀ [melanistic], SZMN) ; 10 km S Derbent [41°57′39.6″N 48°16′12.0″E], 11.VI.2017, leg. M. Mokrousov (3 ♂, SZMN) ; TURKMENISTAN. Ashgabat, Archabil [formely Firyuza] [37°54′N, 58°5′E], 28.VI.1928, leg. V. Gussakovskij (1 ♂, ZISP) ; Balkan Province: Sunt-Hasardag Nature Reserve, Sunt mountain [38°31′N, 56°21′E], 21.VI.1952, leg. Odintsova (1 ♀, ZISP) ; Esenguly District, Atrek river [37°27′53.0″N 53°58′31.0″E], V.1914, leg. S. Bilkevitch (1 ♀, ZISP) .

Distribution. Spain, Italy, France, Luxemburg, Croatia, * Bulgaria, Greece, Slovenia, Russia (Dagestan), Algeria, Turkey, Israel, Iraq, Iran, Turkmenistan.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Collecting localities of Chilosphex.

FIGURE 2. Morphology of Chilosphex, clypeus: a, c—Ch. argyrius (Brullé), b, d—Ch. pseudargyrius (Roth); a, b—female, c, d—male.

FIGURE 3. Morphology of Chilosphex: a, b—female scutum, c, d—female mesopleuron; e, f—male S8; a, c, e—Ch. argyrius (Brullé), b, d, f—Ch. pseudargyrius (Roth); d—photo by J. Ambach.

FIGURE 4. Chilosphex, general view. a, c, e—Ch. argyrius (Brullé): a—female, c—female, melanistic form, e—male; b, d, f—Ch. pseudargyrius (Roth): b—female, d—male, paratype, labels, f—female holotype, labels (photo by L. Haitzinger).