Paranthidiellum karakalense Popov 1952
Creators: name: Litman, Jessica R.
name: Fateryga, Alexander V.
name: Griswold, Terry L.
name: Aubert, Matthieu
name: Proshchalykin, Maxim Yu.
name: Divelec, Romain Le
name: Burrows, Skyler
name: Praz, Christophe J.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Megachilidae
Paranthidiellum
Paranthidiellum karakalense

description: Paranthidiellum karakalense
Pseudoanthidium karakalense was described from Kara-Kala in Turkmenistan. Popov described P. karakalense as similar to P. astilleroi but with the female differing in certain morphological characters, including the punctation on the frons, the straight edge of the clypeal margin, the length of the first, second and third antennal segments and the paler yellow colour. He further noted that this taxon differed from P. lituratum in its punctation, size, coloration and male genitalia. A careful examination of Popov’s type material confirms the synonymy of this taxon with P. stigmaticorne. Warncke (1980) erroneously placed this taxon in synonymy with P. cribratum (as Anthidium lituratum cribratum).
Diagnosis female: The female of P. stigmaticorne may be distinguished from other members of this complex by the following combination of characters: punctation on terga comparatively coarse, as large or larger than punctation on mesonotum and with shiny interspaces between punctures; largest punctures on black part of scutellum smaller in diameter than largest punctures on T2; punctation on vertex between lateral ocellus, eye and postoccipital margin small but distinct, with shiny narrow spaces between most punctures; clypeus either yellow, yellow with black markings or black; small, mostly less than 0.8 mm (Fig. 17A, C, E). In their zone of overlap (e.g. in Crimea), differentiating females of P. stigmaticorne from those of P. tenellum may be challenging in some cases.
Diagnosis male: The male of P. stigmaticorne may be distinguished from other members of this complex by the following combination of characters: gonostylus approximately 1.5 times wider at widest point than at base (Fig. 18A–F); exterior margin of gonostylus relatively straight, inner margin more sharply rounded toward apex (Fig. 18A–F); notch at apex of gonostylus either as deep as opening of notch is wide and more or less centred at apex of gonostylus (most European and Central Asian populations) or notch significantly less deep than opening of notch is wide and strongly offset laterally (northern Africa, southern Italy) (notch deeper in other species) (Fig. 18A–F); lateral comb on S5 small, with longest teeth shorter than maximal width of hind basitarsus (comb larger in P. scapulare, P. nanum, P. tenellum and P. palestinicum) (Fig. 11C); comb of S5 no wider than arm preceding it (Fig. 11C); posterior, premarginal brush on S3 with hairs hooked at tips (hairs unhooked in P. tenellum and P. cribratum) and arranged in an open brushy arc (Fig. 12C); no shiny, hairless zone on S3 between posterior premarginal brush of hairs and anterior zone of dense, velvety pilosity (present in other species) (Fig. 12C); darkened raised zone across S2 with only short, sparse hairs, in shape of ‘moustache’ (Fig. 13C); hairs on ventral surface of trochanter 3 shaggy and uneven, not dense, with longer hairs toward base.
Geographic variation: A considerable amount of variation with regard to colour pattern is observed in this taxon, even in individuals from the same geographic region. We attempt to describe some of the variation that we have seen and to associate it with particular geographic regions.
In populations from Crimea, the clypeus in females is black and the yellow markings on the face are reduced to a rounded spot on either side laterally between the lateral clypeal margin and the eye. The maculations on head, thorax and metasoma are pale yellow. Paired spots behind the eyes are small and those on anterior margin of mesonotum are reduced to a single spot on either side of anterior margin. In some individuals, this spot may be rectangular and relatively long, representing about one-third of the anterior margin of the mesonotum; in others it is much smaller. The scutellum may be entirely black, or mostly black except for a single reduced spot on either side laterally, or with lateral spots larger, giving the scutellum the impression of being yellow with a black triangle in the centre. Yellow maculations are present on T1–T5, although those on T5 are sometimes much reduced. Legs are dark orange yellow and maculations on metasoma sub-rectangular with rounded corners. Maculations on T3–T5 do not reach lateral margin of terga. Some populations in southern mainland Italy are similar, although in these populations the clypeus is mostly yellow with some black medially. Populations in the Middle East are also similar to those in Crimea, except that maculations are brighter yellow, yellow spots on T1–T5 nearly reach the lateral margin of tergum on either side and legs are yellower. Females found in Turkey are similar but with metasoma visibly shinier and with legs and clypeus mostly yellow. Specimens from Spain and France are similar to those from the Middle East. There also appears to be a certain difference in size, with individuals from northern Africa and the Middle East smaller than those from elsewhere. Finally, most individuals are black and yellow but individuals from northern Africa also exhibit shades of red on the metasoma.
The colour patterns seen in males are mostly similar to those in females from the same regions except that the clypeus in males is typically pale, creamy yellow. In some populations, such as those in Crimea, pale yellow maculations on metasoma are present on T1– T4, T5–T6 are entirely black and T7 is pale yellow. In the Middle East, paired maculations are present on T1–T6 and T7 is yellow or, alternatively, paired maculations are present on T1–T5, T6 is black and T7 is pale yellow. We have also examined specimens from Dagestan in which lemon-yellow maculations are present on T1–T5, T6 is black and T7 is pale yellow. Specimens from northern Africa are similar to those in Dagestan but the posterior margin of T6 is yellow. In individuals from France and Spain, paired maculations are present on T1–T6 and T7 is yellow, although this varies considerably. The notch at the apex of the gonostylus is approximately as deep as the opening of the notch is wide and more or less centred at apex of gonostylus in most individuals. However, in Middle Eastern populations the gonostylus is more flared at the apex (Fig. 18B) and in northern African populations the gonostylus is strongly flared at the apex and the notch is much less deep than it is wide at the opening (Fig. 18C). Specimens with a similarly shaped gonostylus are also occasionally observed in other regions (Fig. 18D).
description: Published as part of Litman, Jessica R., Fateryga, Alexander V., Griswold, Terry L., Aubert, Matthieu, Proshchalykin, Maxim Yu., Divelec, Romain Le, Burrows, Skyler & Praz, Christophe J., 2022, Paraphyly and low levels of genetic divergence in morphologically distinct taxa: revision of the Pseudoanthidium scapulare complex of carder bees (Apoidea: Megachilidae: Anthidiini), pp. 1-51 in Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 195 (4) on pages 26-27, DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlab062, http://zenodo.org/record/5817276