Krombein, K.V.

Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society

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361Two New Wasps from Melanesia and Notes on a Third RecentlyIntroduced into Hawaii (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae)By KARL V. KROMBEINBureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine, Agricultural ResearchAdministration, United States Department of Agriculture(Presented by Mr. Van Zwaluwenburg at the meeting of August 9, 1948)The new species described herein are based on material in theU. S. National Museum and loans received from the HawaiianSugar Planters' Association through E. C. Zimmerman and fromthe British Museum (Natural History) through R. B. Benson.Dr. F. X. Williams and Mr. Benson of the last two institutionsrespectively have very kindly compared specimens of Pison withspecies in the collections under their care.Pison insulare SmithPison insularis Smith, 1869. Trans. Ent. Soc. London, p. 297.($; New Hebrides; type in British Museum.)—Turner,1916. Proc. Zool. Soc. London; p. 626. (Treated as specifically distinct from priscum Turner.)Pison insulare Smith, Dalla Torre, 1897. Cat. Hym. 8: 711.—Turner, 1908. Proc. Zool. Soc. London, p. 510. (Comp. withinsulare priscum, n. subsp. from Australia.)—Cheesman, 1937.'Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (10)20:203. (?, <f ; Malekula,Espiritu Santo, Erromango, Tanna, Aneytioum, Efate andGaoua, all islands in New Hebrides; addit. descr.).Pison sp., Weber, 1948. Proc. Hawaii. Ent. Soc. 13: 222. (Ka-waiiki Trail, Koolau Mts., Oahu.)In November 1947 P. W. Weber collected four large Pisonfemales on Oahu, T. H., which were subsequently submitted tome for identification. Comparison of these specimens with materialavailable from other islands of the Pacific established that theseconstituted a recent introduction from New Hebrides, being con-specific with a female from Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides, in mypersonal collection.The question as to what name should be applied to this specieswas a puzzle. Only one Pison, insulare Smith, had been describedfrom New Hebrides, but Williams (1945. Proc. Hawaii. Ent. Soc.12: 442) had identified as insulare a species from New Caledoniawhich was quite distinct from the New Hebridean and Hawaiianmaterial mentioned above. Both Williams and I had consideredthat my specimen from New Hebrides was an undescribed species.However, when this supposed new species turned up in Hawaiilate in 1947 further investigation seemed desirable. The descriptions of insulare by Smith and Cheesman did not definitely eliminatethe New Caledonian species from consideration as true insulare,so I sent specimens of each species to Mr. Benson for comparisonwith Smith's type. He reports (in litt.) "As you suggest the formProc. Hawn. Ent. Soc, Vol. XIII, No. 3, March, 1949.362from New Hebrides and Hawaii is the true P. insulare and theNew Caledonian form differs from this in its much denser puncta-tion of propodeum and first tergite." He states further that thespecies from New Caledonia differed from all others in the BritishMuseum on gross punctation.Mr. Weber (in.litt.) states that the Hawaiian specimens weretaken slightly north of the center of Oahu removed from any pointof importation, and says further that, ".. . the wasps could easilyhave been here for some time and spread that far without beingdetected. A similar case in point is that of Chalybion bengalensewhich was first recorded from the southwest coast of Oahu atNanakuli, and shortly after was observed in Manoa Valley, somethirty^ miles distant/* Therefore, insulare Smith appears to be anestablished member of the Hawaiian fauna with the known distribution limited to various islands of the New Hebrides, groupand Oahu, T. H.The comparatively large size (9, 9.5-11 mm. long) readilydistinguishes insulare from other Pison occurring in Hawaii excepthospes Smith. It is more polished than hospes, comparatively muchmore sparsely punctate (disk of mesoscutum with punctures separated by several times the width of a puncture, middle of dorsalsurface of propodeum practically impunctate), only the first twotergites have apical bands of silvery pubescence, and the medianlobe of the apical margin of the clypeus in the female is broadlyrounded rather than triangular.I have examined the following material:NEW HEBRIDES. 1 ? ; Espiritu Santo; September 28-Octo-ber 7, 1943 (J. G. Franclemont) [KVK]. 2$ ; same data, butSeptember 1944 (K. L. Knight) [USNM]. 1 9 ; Malekula; January 1930 (X. E. Cheesman) [BM].HAWAII. 2 2 ; Kawaiiki Trail, Oahu; November 2, 1947 (P.W. Weber). 2 9 ; Anahulu Trail, Oahu; November 30, 1947 (P.W. Weber) [USNM and PWW].Pison novocaledonica, new speciesPison insulare Williams, 1945. Proc. Hawaii. Ent. Soc. 12: 442,pi. 24, figs. E, G, H; pi. 25, fig. H. (Misident. of Smithspecies.)Structurally this species comes closer to hospes Smith than toinsulare Smith, agreeing with the former in the subopaque integument and relatively stronger and closer puncturation. P. hospesdiffers from novocaledonica in the following important particulars:Median impunctate produced area of clypeus triangular; frontalgroove from anterior ocellus evanescent; transverse rugae of posterior surface of propodeum stronger and sparser; sternites muchmore closely punctate, especially the second; only extreme apexof wing infumated.Type: $ ; St. Louis, New Caledonia; November 26, 1944 (Wilfred Crabb). (U. S. National Museum, Type No. 58814.)363Male—Length 9.5 mm. Black, subopaque except metapleuron, propodeumand abdominal sternites which are shining; tip of mandible dark castaneous,apex of tegula somewhat lighter. Vestiture shining, silvery, short, suberect onhead and thorax, decumbent on legs and abdomen, abdominal tergites one tofour with noticeable hair bands apically; tibial calcaria black. Wings withapical two-thirds of forewing and apical third of hind wing rather stronglyinfumated, stigma and veins fuscous.Head: Impunctate median produced area of clypeus pentagonal in shape;shortest distance between eyes at lower ends (across middle of clypeus)greater than shortest distance between eyes on vertex (5:3); front finelygranulate upon which is superimposed moderately large, shallow puncturesseparated from each other by slightly more than the width of a puncture, amedian longitudinal groove running from anterior ocellus two-thirds of distance to antennal insertions and terminating there in a short polished streak(the vestige of frontal tubercle) ; vertex with punctures somewhat smallerand separated by slightly less than the diameter of a puncture; ocelloculardistance half the diameter of a posterior ocellus and less than postocellardistance (5:8).Thorax: Mesoscutum with punctures about same size as on front, mostlyseparated by slightly less than width of a puncture; scutellum and postscu-tellum with smaller punctures, those of former rather sparse in center, thoseon latter almost contiguous; mesopleuron with punctures somewhat largerthan on mesoscutum and about equally spaced; metapleuron punctate-ruguloseabove and with scattered minute punctures below; dorsal surface of propodeum with a well-developed median longitudinal crenulate groove, lateradof this with punctures arranged more or less in oblique rows and with a faintindication of rugulae, the punctures about as large as on mesoscutum andmany of them separated by about the width of a puncture; posterior surfacetransversely ruguloso-punctate, median impression on upper part moderatelybroad; lateral surface with subcontiguous punctures becoming somewhatdenser to the rear; groove separating lateral from dorsal and posterior surfaces well-marked and extending anteriorly almost to spiracle.Abdomen: Tergites one to five slightly constricted apically, the fifth veryfaintly so; puncturation slightly finer than that of postscutellum, puncturesof first tergite separated by two or more times the width of a puncture, thedensity increasing on succeeding tergites, those on the fifth separated by lessthan twice the width of a puncture; sternites correspondingly much moresparsely punctate, the second with only a few scattered ones discally, laterallywith closer ones, the density increasing on succeeding ones; intermediatesternites simple, not tuberculate or ridged, the third to fifth slightly constricted apically; hypopygium shallowiv emarginate apically, the lateral angleshort, broad, rounded, medianly near apex with a semicircular, rounded impression bordered posteriorly by the apical row of dark stout setae.Wings: Forewing with petjole of second submarginal cell about as long asheight of cell; first recurrent vein interstitial with first transverse cubital,second recurrent vein received in second submarginal cell just before tip.Male paratypes vary in length from 7.0 to 10.5 mm. and differfrom the type.in the following structural details: Frontal tubercleusually higher and more elongate; occasionally the median grooveon dorsal surface of propodeum bisected in part or entirely by acarina; sometimes the first recurrent is received just before theapex of first submarginal cell; and sometimes the second recurrentis interstitial with the second transverse cubital.Allotype: 9 ; same data as type. (USNM.)Female—Length 8 mm. (apical abdominal segments somewhat retracted).Similar to type male except as follows: Median impunctate produced area ofclypeus broadly rounded; shortest distance between eyes at lower ends (acrossmiddle of clypeus) proportionately greater as compared to shortest distance-between eyes on vertex (3:2); frontal tubercle higher, more elongate;364ocellocular space one-fourth the diameter of a posterior ocellus, and one-thirdthe postocellar distance; dorsal surface of propodeum lacking any indication of oblique rugulae; groove separating lateral from dorsal and posteriorsurfaces of propodeum well-marked, but not extending so far forward; onlytergites one to three with noticeable apical bands of silvery hair; only firstfour tergites slightly constricted at apex, the sternites not constricted; secondrecurrent interstitial with second transverse cubital.Female paratypes vary in length from 8.S to 11.0 mm. and differfrom the allotype in the following structural details: Median grooveon dorsal surface of propodeum rarely bisected by a carina; recurrent nervures occasionally received slightly before the first andsecond transverse cubitals respectively.Paratypes: 32 $ , 30 9 , all New Caledonia, as follows:1 $ , same data as type; 1 S , Noumea, October 6, 1944 (WilfredCrabb) ; 1 $ , same data, but December 12, 1944; 1 9 , Plum Farm,January 3 (W. P. Cockerell) [USNM].2 $ (P. D. Montague) ; 1 9 , Noumea, January 20, 1914 (P. D.Montague) ; 1 9 , same data, but January 24, 1914; 1 $, Bourail,December 1930 (L. E. Cheesman) [BM].1 $ , 1940 (F. X. Williams) ; 1 $ , Noumea, August 18, 1940 (F.X. W.) ; 1 $ , same data, but August 28, 1940; 1 9 , same data, butSeptember 9, 1940; 1 $ , same data, but September 17, 1940; 1 9 ,same data, but September 23, 1940; 1 S , same data, but September24, 1940; 1 $ , same data, but October 13, 1940; 2 9 , same data,but October 18, 1940; 1 $ , same data, but October 19, 1940; 1 9 ,same data, but October 1940; 1$, near Noumea, September 12,1940 (F. X. W., reared from cocoon in mud cell of Euinenes) ; 2 $ ,1$, hills behind Noumea, October 16, 1940 (F. X. W.); 1$,same data, but October 19, 1940; 1 # , 3 9 , Hienghene, October 4,1940 (F. X. W.); 1 9 , same data, but October 5, 1940; 1 $ , samedata, but October 6, 1940; 2 $ , 2 9 , Thi River Valley, November1, 1940 (F. X. Wr) ; 2 $, 1 9 , same data, but November 6, 1940;2 9 , same data, but November 8, 1940; 1 $ , St. Louis,-August 17,1940 (F. X. W.) ; 1 9 , same data, but September 25, 1940; 3 $ ,2 9 , same data, but October 14, 1940; 1 $ , same data, but October29, 1940; 2 $ , 1 9 , Nakety, October 9, 1940 (F. X. W.) ; 1 8 , 1 9 ,Bonjou District, September 13, 1940 (F. X. W.) ; 1 $, Oua Tom,September 19, 1940 (F. X. W.) ; 1 $, same data, but September20, 1940; 14, Prony Bay, October 22, 1940 (F. X. W.); 29,Nepoui Valley, July 1940 (F. X. W.); 2 $ , 1 9 , Isle of Pines,October 24, 1940 (F. X. W.) [HSPA].Male and female paratypes also have been deposited in the collections of the California Academy of Sciences, American Museumof Natural History, and Museum of Comparative. Zoology.Psen (Psen) cheesmanae,1 new speciesSpecimens of this undescribed species were included among someNew Guinea and Solomon Islands material sent me by Mr. Bensonseveral years ago. Since I am not including New Hebrides in my365work on the wasps of New Guinea and Solomon Islands I takethis opportunity to describe the present form.Psen bryani Perkins and Cheesman (1928. Ins. Samoa, Part V,Hym., Fasc. 1: 28) from Samoa is the only other true Psen knownfrom the islands of the Melanesian subregion. Endemic speciesof this genus might be expected to occur on other large islandgroups of this subregion, such as Fiji and New Caledonia, but asyet none has been collected.The present species, known only from the male, is distinguishedfrom the male of bryani by the following characters: Hind tarsitestaceous (said to be almost black in bryani) ; petiole of firstabdominal segment twice as long as first tergite (stated to be oneand one-half times as long in bryani) ; and fasciculate hairs atapices medianly of third and fourth sternites extending about one-fifth the width of sternites (said to be one-third in bryani).Type: $ ; [Espiritu] Santo, New Hebrides; August-September1929 (L. E. Cheesman) [British Museum (Natural History)].Male—Length 10 mm. Black, the tarsi testaceous; head and thorax, exceptmetapleuron, semi-mat, metapleuron and abdomen shining. Vestiture shining,silvery, very dense on clypeus and front beneath antennae obscuring thepuncturation, decumbent except on vertex, dorsum of thorax and propodeum,and longer on mesopleuron and propodeum than elsewhere; fasciculate hairsat apices of third and fourth sternites yellowish. Wings hyaline, veins fuscous, venation apparently as in bryani.Head: Edge of clypeus thickened medianly, slightly emarginate there, notat all strongly produced; frontal carina terminating between antennae in alow rounded, cariniform tubercle; antenna slightly clavate toward tip,tyloides absent, pedicel not hidden in apex of scape, first flagellar segmentlonger than second or third, but somewhat shorter than second and thirdtogether; front above antennae with small punctures, those beneath anteriorocellus about as close to one another as the diameter of a puncture, those onvertex much sparser, usually separated by at least twice the width of a puncture; ocellocular distance very slightly less than postocellar distance (9:10).Thorax: Pronotum not dentate laterally; mesoscutum with punctures largerthan those on vertex, denser anteriorly and separated by about the diameter ofa puncture, sparser posteriorly and separated usually by at least twice thatdistance; scutellum with punctures as on mesoscutum, but more scattered;postscutellum with minute close punctures; disk of mesopleuron with minute,extremely sparse punctures; metapleuron glabrous, impunctate, enclosure ondorsum of propodeum with about ten strong, radiating rugae, lateral surfacepunctate, posterior surface punctate and with large, irregular reticulations.Abdomen: Petiole of first segment convex above, laterally with a seriesof sparse pale hairs, twice as long as first tergite; fasciculate yellowish hairsat apices medianly of third and fourth sternites extending over about one-fifth the width of segments.Paratype: S ; Malekula, New Hebrides; December 1929 (L. E.Cheesman) [BM]. Deposited in U. S. National Museum.The paratype differs from the type in the following details:Length 11 mm.; interantennal tubercle larger; hind legs missingso coloration of tarsi of type cannot be confirmed.1 For Miss L,. K. Cheesman, collector of many interesting Hymenoptera on the Pacificislands.

Two New Wasps from Melanesia and Notes on a Third Recently Introduced into Hawaii (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae)

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Two New Wasps from Melanesia and Notes on a Third Recently Introduced into Hawaii (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae)

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