Porter, new species, is described from Costa Rica. It forms a species group of its own, unique in its grotesquely enlarged male mandibles and reduced clypeus, single mid tibial spur, and in having a medio-apical bulge on the second sternite. It was previously identified as Z. magretti Zavattari but reexamination of the type of this species shows that it actually belongs to the coeruleopennis species group

Porter, Charles C.

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CENTER FOR SYSTEMATIC ENTOMOLOGY, INC., Gainesville, FLA remarkable new species of Zethus Fabricius(Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Eumeninae) from Costa RicaCharles C. PorterFlorida State Collection of ArthropodsFlorida Department of Agriculture and Consumer ServicesP.O. Box 147100 Gainesville, FL. 32614-7100Date of Issue: January 28, 2008INSECTAMUNDI A Journal of World Insect Systematics0027Charles C. PorterA remarkable new species of Zethus Fabricius(Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Eumeninae) from Costa RicaInsecta Mundi 0027: 1-4Published in 2008 byCenter for Systematic Entomology, Inc.P. O. Box 147100Gainesville, FL 32614-7100 U. S. A.http://www.centerforsystematicentomology.org/Insecta Mundi is a journal primarily devoted to insect systematics, but articles can be published onany non-marine arthropod taxon. Manuscripts considered for publication include, but are not limited to,systematic or taxonomic studies, revisions, nomenclatural changes, faunal studies, book reviews, phylo-genetic analyses, biological or behavioral studies, etc. Insecta Mundi is widely distributed, and refer-enced or abstracted by several sources including the Zoological Record, CAB Abstracts, etc.As of 2007, Insecta Mundi is published irregularly throughout the year, not as a quarterly issues.As manuscripts are completed they are published and given an individual number. Manuscripts must bepeer reviewed prior to submission, after which they are again reviewed by the editorial board to insurequality. One author of each submitted manuscript must be a current member of the Center for System-atic Entomology.Managing editor: Paul E. Skelley, e-mail: skellep@doacs.state.fl.usProduction editor: Michael C. Thomas, e-mail: thomasm@doacs.state.fl.usEditorial board: J .H. Frank, M. J. PaulsenPrinted copies deposited in libraries of:CSIRO, Canberra, ACT, AustraliaMuseu de Zoologia, São Paulo, BrazilAgriculture and Agrifood Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, CanadaThe Natural History Museum, London, EnglandMuzeum I Instytut Zoologii Pan, Warsaw, PolandNational Taiwan University, Taipei, TaiwanCalifornia Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA, USAFlorida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Gainesville, FL, USAField Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL, USANational Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USAElectronic copies in PDF format:Printed CD mailed to all members at end of year.Florida Center for Library Automation: purl.fcla.edu/fcla/insectamundiAuthor instructions available on the Insecta Mundi page at:http://www.centerforsystematicentomology.org/insectamundi/ISSN 0749-673710027: 1-4 2008A remarkable new species of Zethus Fabricius(Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Eumeninae) from Costa RicaCharles C. PorterFlorida State Collection of ArthropodsFlorida Department of Agriculture and Consumer ServicesP.O. Box 147100 Gainesville, FL. 32614-7100Abstract. Zethus stangei Porter, new species, is described from Costa Rica. It forms a species group of its own,unique in its grotesquely enlarged male mandibles and reduced clypeus, single mid tibial spur, and in having amedio-apical bulge on the second sternite. It was previously identified as Z. magretti Zavattari but reexaminationof the type of this species shows that it actually belongs to the coeruleopennis species group.Resumen. Se describe a Zethus stangei Porter, especie nueva, de Costa Rica, cuyas características más notablesla colocan en su propio grupo, siendo ellas las grandes y abultadas mandíbulas y el clípeo achicado del macho, latibia intermedia con un solo espolón apical, y el segundo esternito con un lóbulo medio-apical. Al principio se leconsideraba como perteneciente a Zethus magretti Zavattari pero estudios más recientes del tipo de esta especiedemuestran que es un miembro del grupo coeruleopennis.IntroductionZethus Fabricius is a large genus of solitary or subsocial caterpillar-hunting eumenid wasps. It hasmore than 200 species in the New World of which most are in the mainland tropics from Mexico toArgentina with 5 overlapping into the southwestern United States (Texas to Arizona),  9 that are  re-stricted to the West Indies, 1 in southern Florida, and 1 which is endemic to the eastern United Statesfrom New England south to Florida and west to Texas. Bohart and Stange (1965) produced a monumentaltreatise on the New World Zethus whichgreatly encouraged further studies of these beautiful wasps. Theauthors interest in Zethusresulted from collecting done in the Lower Río Grande Valley of south Texasbetween 1974-1985 which yielded 3 neotropical species previously unknown from the United States (Por-ter 1975, 1978), as well as from study of material which continues to accumulate from yearly field trips toArgentina, Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Mexico and other parts of Latin America.During study of material in the Florida State Collection of Arthropods (FSCA) I found a male and afemale Zethusfrom Costa Rica which I tentatively identified as Zethus(Z.) magretti Zavatarri (1912). In1964 when Lionel Stange first examined the female holotype of Z. magretti at Turin, he had with him nomaterial for comparison, but his notes indicated that it corresponded to a male and a female which Bohartand Stange had at hand from Costa Rica and Panamá. In 1999 Stange had a second opportunity to studythe type of Z. magretti and found that it does not agree with Bohart and Stanges (1965) concept of thisspecies. Most importantly, Z. magretti has 2 mid tibial spurs, whereas Bohart and Stanges specimenshave only 1 spur. This is difficult to see because one of the spurs on each mid tibia of the type of Z.magretti is broken so that only the basal stump of the second spur is visible. Moreover, Z. magretti doesnot have a strong, flattened, medio-apical bulge on the second sternite. These facts show that Z. magrettibelongs to the rather primitive, widely distributed neotropical coeruleopennis group and that the speci-mens originally assigned by us to Z. magretti constitute an undescribed species with several characters,especially the grotesquely enlarged male mandibles, single mid tibial spur, and second sternal bulge, thatjustify its inclusion in a species group of its own.It is a pleasure to describe this species in honor of my friend, Dr. Lionel A. Stange, who has contrib-uted so vastly to our understanding of such Hymenoptera as Zethus and the anthidiine bees, in additionto his monographs and catalog of the myrmeleontid Neuroptera.2 I NSECTA M UNDI 0027, January, 2008 PORTERZethus Stangei GroupZethus (Zethus) stangei Porter, new species(Fig. 1-4)Diagnosis. Middle tibia with 1 apical spur. Sternite II with a strong, flattened medio-apical bulge (Fig.2). Stem of tergite II much shorter than stem of tergite I, very broad, 3.5 as wide as long. Male clypeusvery short (Fig. 3). Male mandibles grossly enlarged (Fig. 3). Tergite II sharply raised above its distallamella, the lamella itself more than 2 mid ocellus diameters in length. Tegula strongly narrowed andprolonged posteriorly. The medio-apical bulge on sternite II and the peculiarly modified male clypeus andmandibles are unique in the genus Zethus. Other characters are summarized in the following descrip-tion.Description: Male Holotype. Length to apex of tergite II from 17.5-20 mm. Black with yellowishorange as follows: mandible, antenna, ocular spot, anterior and mesal margin of pronotum, tegula,parategula, wings slightly, and legs in part. Notum and mesopleuron with dense pale setae. Interantennalarea low and mostly smooth. Notauli complete, somewhat weakened anteriorly toward base of scutum.Scutum coarsely and densely punctate. Apical lamella of propodeum much abbreviated, not differentiatedfrom rest of submarginal carina. Hind face of propodeum mat, minutely striato-granulate, with a welldefined median channel, its  lateral carina weakly and irregularly defined, not percurrent. Petiole dor-sally with scattered small and large punctures and obscure shagreening. Mandible, clypeus and antennaas in Fig.3. Pronotum rounded between humerus and tegula; subhumeral area broad; pronotal lamellahigher than one mid ocellus diameter. Tegula with outer margin evenly curved, except narrowed andproduced apicad into a large, elongately triangular process which extends well beyond apex of parategula.Tergite II with numerous strong, mostly sparse punctures, and fine shagreening but becoming smoothand polished toward apex.Figure 1. Zethus stangei, male holotype, lateral view of entire insect showing habitus. Note that the stem is veryshort.INSECTA MUNDI 0027, January, 2008  3 A REMARKABLE NEW SPECIES OFZETHUSFemale Paratype.  Differs from male as follows.Scutum partly striato-punctate. Clypeus polished,sparsely punctate, with weak but rather broad wellspaced striae which radiate from base a variabledistance toward apex, its apical margin nearly trun-cate. Tergite II similar to male but more extensivelysmooth and polished, finely shagreened only on basalthird. Front basitarsus with dense and short butvery strong reddish peglike spines.Type material. Holotype male, COSTA RICA,Alaju. Prov., Est. San Ramón Oeste, 620 m, 3-19-IV-1999, F. Quesada [FSCA]. Paratype female,COSTA RICA, Guanacaste Prov., Estac. Cacao, SWside Volcán Cacao, 1000-1400 m, XI-XII-1989, R.Blanco and C. Chávez [FSCA].Other material. Bohart and Stange (1965) recordtwo additional specimens of this species, mistak-enly ascribed to Z. magretti Zavattari (1912), a fe-male from Costa Rica (Juan Viñas, UCD) and amale from Panama (Volcán de Chiriquí, BMNH).These specimens have not been reexamined butBohart and Stanges description leaves no doubt thatthey belong here.Relationships. This monobasic group is uniquein having a medio-apical bulge on sternite II andthe male mandible greatly enlarged with a corre-sponding reduction in the size of the clypeus. Oth-erwise, as observed by Bohart and Stange (1965),the  female is similar to species in thecoeruleopennis group. Indeed, when Stange reex-amined the holotype female of Zethus magrettiZavattari at Turin he was able to assign that spe-cies to the coeruleopennis group.CollectionsBMNH. Department of Entomology, British Mu-seum of Natural History, Cromwell Rd., LondonSW7 5BD, England.FSCA. Florida State Collection of Arthropods,Florida Department of Agriculture and ConsumerServices, P.O. Box 147100, Gainesville, Florida32614-7100.UCD. Bohart Museum of Museum, University ofCalifornia, 1124 Academic Surge, Davis, Califor-nia 95616.Figure 2-3. Zethusstangei. 2) Male holotye, ventral view of abdomen showing medio-apical bulge on sternite II. 3)Male holotype, front view of head showing the grossly enlarged mandibles and abbreviated clypeus. 4) Femaleparatype, front view of head showing large, sparsely punctate clypeus and median sized mandibles.4234 I NSECTA M UNDI 0027, January, 2008 PORTERAcknowledgmentsGrateful thanks are due to David Ziesk of the Division of Plant Industry for assisting with theAutoMontage photographs. Julieta Brambila and Lionel A. Stange, Florida State Collection of Arthropods,reviewed the manuscript.Literature CitedBohart, R. M., and L. A. Stange. 1965. A revision of the genus Zethus Fabricius in the WesternHemisphere. University of California Publications in Entomology. Vol. 40. 208 p.Porter, C. C.  1975. New records for Zethus (Hymenoptera, Eumenidae) from Texas. Florida Entomolo-gist. 58: 303-6.Porter, C. C. 1978. Ecology and taxonomy of Lower Río Grande Valley Zethus (Hymenoptera, Eumenidae).Florida Entomologist 61: 157-167.Zavattari, E. 1912. Materalien für eine Monografie der neotropischen Eumeniden. Archiv fürNaturgeschichte 78 (Abt. A), Heft 4: 1-272.Accepted January 8, 2008

A remarkable new species of Zethus Fabricius (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Eumeninae) from Costa Rica

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