Most northern Oriental distribution of Zethus Fabricius (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Eumeninae), with a new species from China

Abstract

The distribution of Zethus Fabicius, 1804, in the Oriental and Palaearctic regions is discussed, with special reference to the northeastern Oriental species. A newly discovered species, Z. velamellatus Tan, sp. n. from China (Zhejiang), is described and illustrated. The first key to species of Zethus Fabricius from China is presented. Zethus nigerrimus Gusenleitner, 2001 is recorded for the first time from China and redescribed.

An illustrated key to the genera of Eumeninae from China, with a checklist of species (Hymenoptera, Vespidae)

“…Eumeninae or potter wasps are the largest subfamily of the Vespidae with 3773 valid species in 205 genera (Carpenter 1986; Zhou et al 2011; Tan et al 2015, 2018a; Pannure et al 2016; Carpenter unpubl.). Eumeninae have a cosmopolitan distribution and are morphologically very diverse.…”

“…Finally, Zhou et al (2011) listed 45 genera present in China and included 172 species and 50 subspecies. Several scattered papers have been published on Chinese Eumeninae, but a thorough inventory is lacking (Zhou et al 2012, 2013; Li and Chen 2014a, 2014b, 2015, 2016a, 2016b; You et al 2013; Ma et al 2016, 2017; Nguyen and Xu 2014; 2015; 2017; Yeh and Lu 2017; Tan et al 2018a). The illustrated key to the genera of Chinese Eumeninae presented here includes 51 genera and the checklist contains 267 species and subspecies in total.…”

Cladistic analysis of Zethus Fabricius, 1804 (Hymenoptera, Vespidae): a new subgeneric classification

“…The genus' distribution is mainly Gondwanian excluding the Australian region (Stange 1979). Still, a few species may reach into the Nearctic (Bohart and Stange 1965) or into Palearctic region in areas bordering the Afrotropical (Giordani Soika 1979) or the Oriental Regions (Tan et al 2018).…”

Three new species of the genus Zethus Fabricius, 1804 (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Eumeninae) from China, with an updated key to the Oriental species

“…Zethus Fabricius, 1804 is the most species-rich genus within the subfamily Eumeninae with 275 valid species, containing four subgenera: Madecazethus Giordani Soika, Zethoides Fox, Zethus Fabricius and Zethusculus Saussure, among which Madecazethus is endemic to Madagascar with two species, both Zethoides and Zethusculus are restricted to the Neotropical and Nearctic regions, and the subgenus Zethus Fabricius is widely distributed worldwide excluding the Australian region (Bohart and Stange 1965;Giordani Soika 1979;Gusenleitner 2011;Pannure et al 2016Pannure et al , 2018Yeh and Lu 2017;Hermes and Lopes 2018;Tan et al 2018). So far, there are 26 described species in the Oriental region.…”

“…The first review on the Oriental Zethus concluding a key to six recognized species was given and then an updated key to eight species was provided (Giordani Soika 1941Soika , 1958. In the following 60 years, eighteen more species were found and described, respectively (Giordani Soika 1995;Gusenleitner 1988Gusenleitner , 2001Gusenleitner , 2007Gusenleitner , 2010Gusenleitner and Gusenleitner 2013;Carpenter 2016, Nguyen andXu 2017;Selis 2017Selis , 2018Yeh and Lu 2017;Tan et al 2018). In our study of the genus Zethus, we systematically sorted out all of the references to the Oriental species.…”