Odynerus (Odynerus) armeniacus (Morawitz, 1885)

Selis, Marco, Ismael, Halgurd R., Hamad, Mudhafar I., Baiocchi, Daniele & Cilia, Giovanni, 2025, A first update to the vespid fauna of Iraq (Hymenoptera: Vespidae), with description of a new species, Journal of Natural History 59 (13 - 16), pp. 941-981 : 963-966

Odynerus (Odynerus) armeniacus (Morawitz, 1885) stat. rest.

Literature records

Morice (1921); Derwesh (1965), mentioning ‘Survey of Iraq Fauna, 1915–1919’; Augul (2017).

Material examined

CYPRUS: Lemesos, Amathus, Ancient Site , 14 April 2002, leg . E . Scheuchl , 1 ♂ ( MSVI, PQ676371 ) . IRAQ: Kurdistan, Duhok, Amedi , NW of Banka, 13442 m, 37.1605°N 43.1641°E, 9 May2023, 1 ♂ ( MSVI); Kurdistan, Duhok, Bablo, 1065 m, 36.8675°N 43.1205°E, 6 May 2023, 3 ♂ ( MSVI); Kurdistan, Duhok, Derke, 627 m, 36.7724°N 43.2491°E, 10 May 2023, 1 ♀ ( MSVI); Kurdistan, Duhok, E of Mangesh, 1046 m, 3.0230°N 43.1505°E, 8 May 2023, 8 ♂ 2 ♀ ( MSVI); Kurdistan, Duhok, Mt . Gara, 1912 m, 37.0158°N 43.3505°E, 11 May 2023, 10 ♂ 7 ♀ ( MSVI); Kurdistan, Duhok, NW of Scren, 829 m, 37.0527°N 43.2633°E, 9 May 2023, 2 ♀ ( MSVI); Kurdistan, Duhok, Road Arbil-Duhok, 4.5 km N of Ba’adra, 630 m, 36.7725°N 43.2491°E, 9–22 May 2024, 11 ♀ ( MSVI, PQ676378 , PQ676379 ); Kurdistan, Duhok, SW of Ashewa, 1100 m, 37.0136°N 43.2844°E, 1–4 June 2024, 1 ♂ 5 ♀ ( MSVI, PQ676376 , PQ676377 ); Kurdistan, Duhok, SW of Bagera, 948 m, 36.9169°N 43.2325°E, 6 May 2023, 4 ♀ ( MSVI); Kurdistan, Duhok, SW of Beshingi, 760 m, 36.9813°N 43.0291°E, 7 May 2023, 1 ♂ 2 ♀ ( MSVI); Kurdistan , Duhok, Zawita , 852 m, 36.9141°N 43.1516°E, 6 May 2023, 1 ♀ ( MSVI); Kurdistan , Duhok, 4.5 km N of Ba’adra, 630 m, 36.7725°N 43.2391°E, 9–12 May 2024, 4 ♀ ( MSVI) . LEBANON: Balbek-Hermel, Haouch Snaid , AUB farm, 1000 m, 33.924°N 36.0754°E, 6 April 2023, leg . T .J . Wood, 1 ♂ ( MSVI); Beqaa, Aammiq wetland, 850 m, 33.7321°N 35.7853°E, 3 April 2023, leg . T .J . Wood , 1 ♂ ( MSVI, PQ676373 ); Beqaa, 1 km E of Anjar, cemetery, 900 m, 33.7372°N 35.9503°E, 7 April 2023, leg . T .J . Wood , 1 ♂ ( MSVI); Beqaa, 1 km E of Anjar, reforestation area, 1000 m, 33.7311°N 35.9478°E, 7 April 2023, leg . T .J . Wood, 1 ♂ ( MSVI); Beqaa, Mansourah, Aana village , 900 m, 333.6910°N 35.7581°E, 2 April 2023, leg . T .J . Wood, 1 ♂ ( MSVI); Beqaa, Qaraoun dam, 850 m, 33.5483°N 35.6851°E, 4 April 2023, leg . T .J . Wood, 2 ♂ ( MSVI); Beqaa, Qaraoun , 3.5 km W of Madjal Balhis, 900 m, 33.5377°N 35.7038°E, 4 April 2023, leg . T .J . Wood , 1 ♂ ( MSVI); Beqaa, 500 m NW of Qob Elias, 900 m, 33.7989°N 35.8192°E, 5 April 2023, leg . T .J . Wood , 1 ♀ ( MSVI, PQ676372 ) .

Remarks

Odynerus armeniacus was reduced to subspecies of Odynerus melanocephalus (Gmelin) by Eck (1971) based on morphological and geographic data, with this treatment followed by most subsequent authors, except Kurzenko (1977) who treated it as a separate species. Our combination of genetic and morphological data does not support Eck’s treatment of armeniacus as a subspecies of O. melanocephalus . DNA barcoding shows how O. melanocephalus (specimens sequenced from Italy, Greece and Iran, see Table 1) and O. armeniacus (specimens sequenced from Turkey, Cyprus, Lebanon, Israel and Iraq, see Table 1) form two distinct groups separated by a genetic distance of 8.93%, a value in line with the interspecific distances observed between other species of the nominotypical subgenus of Odynerus (e.g., 7.87% between O. femoratus and O. spinipes , 8.46% between O. spinipes and O. alpinus , 9.10% between O. armeniacus and O. rotundigaster ). This genetic distance cannot be justified as intraspecific variability by geographic separation, as specimens of O. melanocephalus ranging from Italy to Iran, and therefore co-occurring with O. armeniacus in the Middle East, do not show the slightest variability in the COI gene. In addition, the following morphological characters were found distinguishing the males of O. armeniacus from O. melanocephalus [characters of O. melanocephalus in square brackets]: apical emargination of clypeus subtriangular and about as wide as deep (Figure 4c) [semicircular and wider than deep (Figure 4d)], F8–F10 with straight and parallel sides (Figure 4g) [with convex and weakly diverging sides (Figure 4h)], F11 1.85× as long as wide, with straight posterior margin and weakly curved anterior margin, its apex somewhat pointed (Figure 4g) [F11 1.35× as long as wide, with diverging sides and anterior margin strongly curved, its apex subtruncate (Figure 4h)], fore femur strongly constricted in the middle and with concave sides in posterior view (Figure 4i) [weakly constricted and with barely sinuate sides in posterior view (Figure 4j)], median tooth of mid femur lower and broader, weakly sloping towards apex of femur (Figure 4k) [higher and narrower, strongly sloping towards apex of femur (Figure 4l)], apical tooth of mid femur lower and more shallowly separated from mid tooth (Figure 4k) [higher and separated from mid tooth by a deep incision (Figure 4i)], apical expansion of mid tibia stronger and more angular (Figure 4k) [weaker and rounded (Figure 4l)], hind femur proportionally shorter and more strongly expanded basally, almost bulbous (Figure 4m) [proportionally longer and basal expansion weaker (Figure 4n)]. Excluding the constant morphology of the flagellomeres, it should be noted that the other characters are subject to a certain degree of variability and the modification of the legs is also related to the size of the specimen, making some isolated specimens present some characters approaching the state of the other species in various combinations; therefore, the identification should always be based on the examination of the whole series of characters and mostly on the antennal morphology. The separation of the two taxa in the female sex is more challenging, as the females of Odynerus s. str. are generally homogeneous in morphology; however, two constant differences in sculpture were observed: in O. armeniacus the frons has well-impressed and separated punctures, with slightly convex and distinct interspaces (Figure 4e), and the S2 has coarser and much more abundant punctures, leaving only a small medioapical area with large interspaces (Figure 4o), while in O. melanocephalus the punctures on the frons are shallower and mostly fused in longitudinal series, with the interspaces reduced to sharp ridges (Figure 4f), and the S2 is more finely punctate with a shiny and very sparsely punctate area almost covering the whole median third (Figure 4p). In addition to the characters listed above, the two species are immediately recognisable on the basis of their colouration, as O. armeniacus (Figure 4a,b) has a brighter yellow pattern, with yellow tegulae, two yellow spots of variable size on the scutellum and black legs with sharply separated yellow spots, while in O. melanocephalus the markings are paler and whitish, with red-brown

Figure 4. a–c, e, g, i, k, m, o, Odynerus (Odynerus) armeniacus (Morawitz) stat. rest. d, f, h, j, l, n, p, Odynerus (Odynerus) melanocephalus (Gmelin) . a, habitus of male, dorsal view. b, habitus of female, dorsal view. c–d, clypeus of male, frontal view. e–f, frons of female, frontal view. g–h, F8–F11 of male, dorsal view. i–j, fore femur of male, posterior view. k–l, mid leg of male, frontal view. m–n, hind femur of male, frontal view. o–p, S2 of female, ventral view.

tegulae (at most with small yellow dots at the extremities), entirely black scutellum and legs with yellow spots that gradually pass to black through an intermediate reddish area, usually largely to almost entirely reddish in the females. Of the numerous specimens examined, only one particularly dark female of O. armeniacus from the south-west of Bagera has an unspotted scutellum, but all other chromatic characters correspond to those reported above. Fateryga et al. (2021) reported that Eck (1971) did not study the male genitalia of the two species; however, a comparison of the genitalia of various specimens of the two species did not reveal any substantial differences; this does not conflict with the treatment of the two taxa as distinct species, as the genitalia are generally homogeneous and little informative in the nominal subgenus of Odynerus .

Morice (1921) recorded seven specimens of Odynerus melanocephalus from Amarah, stating that some of them had distinct yellow spots on the scutellum, suggesting that they belonged in fact to Odynerus armeniacus . Augul (2017) recorded this species from Iraq misidentified as Odynerus spinipes (see below).

Distribution

Turkey, Cyprus *, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Syria, Lebanon *, Jordan, Israel, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan ( Fateryga et al. 2021).