Protopolybia similis Santos, Silveira & Carpenter, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Dos Santos Junior, José N. A.
name: Silveira, Orlando T.
name: Carpenter, James M.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2015
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Vespidae
Protopolybia
Protopolybia similis

description: Protopolybia similis Santos, Silveira & Carpenter, sp. nov.
(Figs 47, 49, 51, 73, 80, 87)
Protopolybia minutissima: Richards 1978: 138, 141 (part; misidentification)
Diagnosis. Length of fore wing 4.5 mm; clypeus with ventral margin narrowly subtruncated (Fig. 47); occipital carina extending to insertion of mandibles (Fig. 49); propodeum with posterior face projecting symmetrically to either side of median groove forming two moderately high protuberances (Fig. 51); T1 with short basal petiole armed with paired obtuse wing-like processes; posterior portion of ventral process of aedeagus with small projecting point (Fig. 87).
Description. FEMALE. Length of fore wing 4.5 mm; clypeus narrow (HClp=1.17; MxWClp=1.19; TeW=0.87; MiWClp = 0.47 mm), ventral margin narrowly subtruncated (Fig. 47); tentorial pit closer to antennal socket than to eye margin; interantennal area narrow, approximately equal to diameter of antennal socket; mandibles relatively elongated, with length 0.64 × distance between eyes on vertex; occipital carina extending to insertion of mandibles (Fig. 49); pronotal carina obtuse, visible laterally; pronotal fovea distinct; mesoscutum as long as wide; mesepisternal groove absent; scrobal groove abbreviated; scutellum with marked median line; metanotum triangular, with length of median axis 0.71 × width of central disk; metanotal lobe elongated with apex slightly rounded; propodeum with narrow median groove and with posterior face projecting symmetrically to either side of median groove, forming two moderately high protuberances (Fig. 51); propodeal valves wide and triangular; T1 with short basal petiole armed with paired obtuse wing-like processes; T1 notably narrower than T2.
Frons and mesoscutum finely reticulated; anterior margin of scutellum with fine punctures; posterior margin of T3–T5 finely punctate; ventral margin of clypeus with elongated bristles; eyes glabrous; propodeum with elongated bristles near of propodeal muscle insertion.
Black, with few yellow spots; antennal articles dorsally black, scape almost completely brown; mandibles yellow to brown; clypeus with yellow V-shaped mark, mark on inner and outer orbit not extending to vertex and occiput, interantenal area with two small oblique spots, yellow; vertex black; pronotal fovea yellow, pronotal carina black, rarely yellow; mesoscutum black; tegulae almost completely yellow; mesepisternum with yellow mark; scutellum almost completely yellow; metanotum black; propodeum with pared dorsal marks, basal spots and distal band on T1, T2 and T3 with distal band, yellow; T4 and T5 black; coxae partially yellow; wings hyaline, venation brown.
MALE. Length of fore wing 4.3 mm; eyes wide, strongly produced inwards; clypeus narrow, with golden bristles; ventral margin slightly produced and widely curved; tentorial pit closer to eye margin than to antennal socket; gena distinctly narrow; fore coxae yellow, mid coxae partially so. Parameral spine without elongated bristles; basal and apical angles of paramere widened (Fig.73); digitus anteriorly rounded, with few bristles on basal process (Fig. 80); cuspis with few bristles; ventral process of aedeagus angular, not strongly projecting laterally, very sclerotized and with anterior margin slightly serrated; posterior portion of ventral process with pointed projection (Fig. 87); pre-apical region of aedeagus not angular.
Type material. Holotype, ♀, PERU, San Ramon, Valle Chanchamayo 800 m, 10.ii.1940 (W. Weyrauch) (AMNH). Paratypes: 59 ♀ (same data as holotype); 3 ♀, 4 ♂, 1939 (UFRJ-MN). Other material. PERU: Junin, San Ramon, 60 ♀, Valle Chanchamayo 800m, 10.ii.1940 (W. Weyrauch) (AMNH); 3 ♀, 4 ♂, (BMNH).
Distribution. Peru.
Remarks. Protopolybia similis sp. nov. presents coloration similar to P. collombiana sp. n. However, it differs by having the pronotal prominence collinear with the fovea and the pronotal carina. In addition, similis presents the clypeus moderately widened and the propodeum with posterior face projecting symmetrically to either side of the median groove. Richards (1978) treated Protopolybia similis as P. minutissima (Spinola). However, they are not the same species, since P. minutissima presents the clypeus very narrow and not strongly projecting ventrally (Carpenter 2012); the propodeum is gently convex around the narrow median groove, and the T1 without paired wing-like processes.
Etymology. The specific name, from Latin similis means "similar" in allusion to the color pattern similar to that observed in Protopolybia collombiana sp. nov. and P. minutissima (Spinola).
description: Published as part of Dos Santos Junior, José N. A., Silveira, Orlando T. & Carpenter, James M., 2015, Phylogeny of Protopolybia Ducke, 1905 and taxonomic revision of the Protopolybia exigua species-group (Hymenoptera: Vespidae, Polistinae), with description of four new species, pp. 151-182 in Zootaxa 3956 (2) on pages 161-163, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3956.2.1, http://zenodo.org/record/237836