CLASSIFICATION AND EVOLUTION OF THE EUMENINE WASP GENUSSYMMORPHUSWESMAEL (HYMENOPTERA: VESPIDAE)
Authors: Cumming Jeffrey M. 
Published: April 2011

The genusSymmorphusWesmael is distributed throughout the Oriental, Palearctic, and Nearctic regions, as well as the northernmost Neotropical region, and appears to occupy a relatively isolated phylogenetic position within the Eumeninae. Females ofSymmorphus, for those species in which nesting behavior is known, mass-provision cells in pre-existing cavities with chrysomelid, curculionid, or microlepidopterous larvae.Thirty-six species are recognized, including three new species and two new subspecies. Keys are provided for the identification of adult specimens, all species are described, and their geographical distributions mapped.Two subgenera,S. (Parasymmorphus) Cumming and Vecht andS. (Symmorphus) Wesmael, are recognized.Symmorphus(Parasymmorphus) includesS.parvilineatus(Cameron),S.momunganensis(Schulthess), andS.negrosensisCumming and Vecht. WithinS. (Symmorphus) three informal species groups are recognized, with the following included species and subspecies: (1)S.hoozanensisgroup —S.hoozanensis(Schulthess),S.alkimus alkimusCumming and Vecht,S.alkimus dialeukusssp.nov. (type-locality Sibolangit, N. Sumatra),S.ambotretussp.nov. (type-locality Mt. Omei, Sichuan Province, China), andS.canlaonicussp.nov. (type-locality Mt. Canlaon, Negros Oriental, Philippines); (2)S.declivisgroup —S.declivisHarttig; (3)S.murariusgroup —S.murarius(Linnaeus),S.foveolatusGussakovskij,S.glasunowiMorawitz,S.sichuanensisLee,S.crassicornis(Panzer),S.captivus(Smith),S.angustatus(Zetterstedt),S.albomarginatus albomarginatus(Saussure),S.albomarginatus midasssp.nov. (type-locality Bentsen Rio Grande Valley State Park, Texas, USA),S.decens(Kostylev),S.violaceipennisSoika,S.mizuhonisTsuneki,S.bifasciatus(Linnaeus),S.debilitatus(Saussure),S.cliensSoika,S.connexus(Curtis),S.lucens(Kostylev),S.sublaevis(Kostylev),S.canadensis(Saussure),S.projectusBohart,S.tukvarensis(Meade-Waldo),S.nipteroidessp.nov. (type-locality N. Yourdou, India),S.fuscipes(Herrich-Schaeffer),S.apiciornatus(Cameron),S.aurantiopictusSoika,S.allobrogus(Saussure),S.cristatus(Saussure),S.gracilis(Brullé), andS.paralleliventrisSoika.The following new synonymy is proposed:S.calciatii(Zavattari) =S.glasunowiMorawitz;S.nursei(Bingham),S.hospes(Nurse), andS.hospitans(Dalla Torre) =S.crassicornis(Panzer);S.hakutozanusTsuneki andS.nansetsureiTsuneki =S.angustatus(Zetterstedt);S.walshianus(Saussure) andS.meridionalisViereck =S.albomarginatus albomarginatus(Saussure);S.kurentzoviKurzenko,S.iiyamaiTsuneki,S.shiroyamaiTsuneki,S.piceanusTsuneki, andS.sassaiTsuneki =S.mizuhonisTsuneki;S.sinuatus(Fabricius),S.sinuatus mutinensis(Baldini),S.sparsusMorawitz,S.sinuatissimusRichards,S.mutinensis austerSoika, andS.mutinensis yezoanusTsuneki =S.bifasciatus(Linnaeus);S.ishikawaiSoika =S.lucens(Kostylev);S.seoulensisTsuneki =S.apiciornatus(Cameron);S.pumilus(Saussure) andS.trisulcatusCameron =S.cristatus(Saussure);S.elegans libanicusSoika =S.gracilis(Brullé); andS.allobrogus(Saussure) is removed from synonymy withS.bifasciatus(Linnaeus).Odynerus latipennisSmith andOdynerus ciliciusCameron, previously considered to belong withinSymmorphus, are excluded from the genus, andS.sounkionisTsuneki is transferred asAncistrocerus sounkionis(Tsuneki) comb.nov. Neotypes are designated forS.crassicornis(Panzer) andS.fuscipes(Herrich-Schaeffer), and lectotypes are designated forS.foveolatusGussakovskij,S.glasunowiMorawitz,S.nursei(Bingham),S.laeviventris(Thomson),S.albomarginatus(Saussure),S.decens(Kostylev),S.sinuatus(Fabricius),S.sinuatus mutinensis(Baldini),S.debilitatus(Saussure),S.lucens(Kostylev),S.sublaevis(Kostylev),S.debilis(Saussure),S.apiciornatus(Cameron),S.philadelphiae(Saussure), andS.elegans(Wesmael).A cladistic analysis ofSymmorphus, based on 26 characters, is presented, including a discussion of the relationships of the genus to the remainder of the Eumeninae. Hypotheses outlining the historical zoogeography ofSymmorphusare presented in light of current paleogeographic and paleoclimatic reconstructions, by comparing these cladistic relationships with the chorological patterns observed within the genus and other Vespidae.