Zetheumenidion femoratum
Creators: name: Selis, Marco
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Vespidae
Zetheumenidion
Zetheumenidion femoratum

description: Zetheumenidion femoratum (vOn SchulThess, 1910)
(Figs. 4, 12)
Eumenes femoratus von Schulthess 1910: 18, ♀, ♂ —[Botswana] “ Lobatsi ” (lectotype male lost?).
Diagnosis. Recognized by the following combination of characters: clypeus about as long as wide, with subtruncate apical margin (Figs. 4B–C), flagellomeres proportionally shorter and male F1 2.3× as long as wide, dorsal side of mesosoma not forming an even surface, pronotal carina evenly developed for whole length, anterior margin of pronotum straight, mesepisternum with large punctures, propodeum with mid-line strongly convex in dorsal half and sides bulging above valvula, T1 not expanded basally and of same height for whole length, apical lamella of T2 weakly reflexed and reaching height of preapical swelling (Fig. 4E), male hind femur shiny and not shagreened on outer face (Fig. 4D).
Material examined. BOTSWANA: Bechuanaland, Lobatsi, leg. S. Schultze, 1♀ (MSNVE, paralectotype of Eumenes femoratus); SOUTH AFRICA: Cape Province, 10 mi SW Willowmore, 16.XI.1966, leg. C.D. Michener, 1♂ (MSNVE).
Distribution. Botswana; South Africa: Eastern Cape, Western Cape? (Bequaert 1926; Giordani Soika 1983; von Schulthess 1910) (Fig. 13).
Notes. Giordani Soika (1983) selected as lectotype of Eumenes femoratus a male syntype from Lobatsi housed in his collection. Examining the material housed in MSNVE, only a female syntype from the same locality was found (Fig. 4A); it is unclear whether Giordani Soika erroneously reported the specimen to be a male in the lectotypification, or the male lectotype is to be considered lost.
Comparison of the female syntype from Lobatsi (Botswana) with specimens from other localities in South Africa revealed several morphological differences, with the paralectotype having shorter clypeus with more rounded apical angles, shorter flagellomeres, cephalic foveae closer and with a single tuft of pale short setae, propodeum much more convex and somewhat bulging above propodeal valvula, punctures of mesosoma generally larger and with convex shiny interspaces (especially on mesepisternum and propodeum), T1 proportionally shorter and with denser and coarser punctures, apical lamella of T2 more strongly reflexed, some yellowish markings on pronotum, tegula, propodeum and apex of T1. In addition, a male specimen from Willowmore was found matching the female paralectotype in most morphological characters and having a similar pattern with slightly larger yellow markings, and it is tentatively associated as the male of Z. femoratum. It is evident that two morphologically distinct taxa have been confused under the name Z. femoratum: the true Z. femoratum and the taxon described above as Z. concinnoide.
Following the recognition of two taxa, distributional records of Z. femoratum published in the past need to be revised. von Schulthess (1910) described the species from Lobatsi and Grootfontein, but the specimens from the latter locality belong in fact to Z. pulchripenne, as proposed already by Giordani Soika (1983) and confirmed by examination of one paralectotype from there. Bequaert (1926) recorded Z. femoratum from Bothaville (Free State), Johannesburg (Gauteng) and Stellenbosch (Western Cape); the specimens from the former two localities most likely belong to Z. concinnoide, as the species is common in that area and already recorded from Johannesburg, while the female from Stellenbosch is greatly out of the range known for both Z. femoratum and Z. concinnoide, with other species of Zetheumenidion occurring in that area, making that record doubtful. Giordani Soika (1983) recorded specimens from several localities in Transvaal, but nearly all of them were re-examined and found belonging to Z. concinnoide. In sum, verified records for Z. femoratum are reduced to the typical locality of Lobatsi and the new record from Willowmore presented here, while all other previous records either are to be referred to other species or are doubtful.
description: Published as part of Selis, Marco, 2024, Revision of the Afrotropical genus Zetheumenidion Bequaert (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Eumeninae), pp. 37-65 in Zootaxa 5406 (1) on pages 45-47, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5406.1.2, http://zenodo.org/record/10611276