The male of Mischocyttarus nomurae Richards, with a re-examination of the limits and contents of the M. cerberus species group (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Polistinae, Mischocyttarini)

Abstract

RESUMO. O macho deMischocyttarus nomurae Richards, com um re-exame dos limites e conteúdo do grupo de espécies de M. cerberus (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Polistinae, Mischocyttarini). Descreve-se pela primeira vez o macho de M. nomurae Richards, 1978 discutindo-se também suas relações com outras espécies similares, num contexto de redefinição dos limites do grupo de espécies de M. cerberus. PALAVRAS-CHAVE.Chapada Diamantina; Mischocyttarus cerberus; Mischocyttarus nomurae; Polistinae; Vespidae.ABSTRACT. The male of Mischocyttarus nomurae Richards, 1978 is described for the first time, and relationships between this and other similar species are discussed in a context of redefining the limits of the M. cerberus species group.KEYWORDS. Chapada Diamantina; Mischocyttarus cerberus; Mischocyttarus nomurae; Polistinae; Vespidae.Mischocyttarus de Saussure, 1853 is the largest genus among social vespids, with more than two hundred described species. Colony organization corresponds to a social grade recognized by JEANNE (1980) as the "independent founders" wherein a colony is founded by a solitary female or a small group of associated "foundresses". Modern taxonomy of the genus has been worked mainly by RICHARDS (1945RICHARDS ( , 1978, ZIKÁN (1949), and more recently by COOPER (1996a, 1996b, 1997a, 1997b, 1998a, 1998b), and SILVEIRA (1998, 2002.Mischocyttarus nomurae was described by RICHARDS (1978) based on two female specimens and nest from the Brazilian State of Ceará. The author assigned the species to his subgenus Haplometrobius Richards, 1978 and within that to the species group of M. artifex (Ducke, 1914). The latter assignment is incorrect in the context of Richards´ species groups because M. nomurae shares distinctive features with M. cerberus Ducke, 1918. In addition, as it will be shown, these features are shared by a few other species previously considered as members of the M. artifex and M. surinamensis groups (RICHARDS 1978;COOPER 1998b), these facts implying changes in the contents of the groups.Problems with Richards´ species groups in the subgenus Haplometrobius were treated by COOPER (1998b) in a paper on the M. artifex group. The author comments on the difficulties of distinguishing this group from that of M. iheringi Zikán, 1935 concluding that "... the separation of the artifex and iheringi groups is therefore arbitrary". While not necessarily agreeing with Cooper, I similarly think that differentiating the cerberus and artifex groups is impractical with the characters given by RICHARDS (1978). Reading of couplet 65 in RICHARDS' key (1978: 395) indeed gives the impression that characters may be unimportant for recognition of groups. However, as it is often the case with many of Richards´ notions, his species groups represent useful concepts for systematic research in Mischocyttarus if adequately reworked. So, in this paper, besides describing the male of M. nomurae Richards, collected in "Chapada Diamantina" in the Brazilian State of Bahia, an argument is presented on the close relationship of this s...

Phylogeny of wasps of the genus Mischocyttarus de Saussure (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Polistinae)

“…175d). The species-groups of M. iheringi (in the sense of present work) and M. cerberus are monophyletic in all trees (see also Silveira, 2004).…”

“…Cooper (1998a) described two species in the group of M. iheringi, and in a subsequent paper (1998b), he described five new species in the group of M. artifex. Silveira (2004) described the male of M. nomuare and rearranged the group of M. cerberus. Most species of Haplometrobius occur in South America, but various are found from Panama up to Mexico.…”

“…Redefinition of limits and contents of several speciesgroups As indicated in the works of Cooper (1996aCooper ( , 1996bCooper ( , 1997a, and Silveira (1998Silveira ( , 2002Silveira ( , 2004 who made extensive corrections to the limits of some of the subgenera and species-groups treated by , several of these groups are not properly defined, i.e. they lack an efficient diagnosis based on unique characters or combinations of characters.…”

Trip durations of daily and seasonal foraging activities in Mischocyttarus nomurae (Richards) (Hymenoptera, Vespidae)

“…Mischocyttarus nomurae Richards, 1978 is a littleknown species of social wasp. The only published materials available were the description of the species collected in Ceará State, Brazil (Richards, 1978), the description of males from Chapada Diamantina, Bahia State (Silveira, 2004), and the study with the eggs and immatures this species (Rocha & Giannotti, 2016). Souza et al (2015) recorded the species for Minas Gerais State.…”

External Morphology of Immatures of Mischocyttarus nomurae Richards (Hymenoptera, Vespidae) during the Post-embryonic Development

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IntroductionThe species Mischocyttarus nomurae was described by Richards in 1978 from two females collected in Fortaleza, Ceará State (CE), Brazil; it was included in the Mischocyttarus cerberus group in a review published by Silveira (2004). The individuals are black, with many pale-yellowish gaster markings, with distinct stripes and frontal margin of the proepisternum distinctly elevated (Richards, 1978).

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