Prionyx (Harpactopus) stschurowskii
Creators: name: Odintsev, Yuriy N. Danilov Oleg A.
name: Kobets, Anastasia S.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Sphecidae
Prionyx
Prionyx stschurowskii

description: Prionyx (Harpactopus) stschurowskii (Radoszkowski, 1877)
(Figs 3d, 4c, 5h, 6h, 8h, 10e, 12d)
Sphex stschurowskii Radoszkowski 1877:7, ♀. Lectotype: ♀, “КИЗИлъ кумъ” [Kazakhstan: Kyzylkum Desert on the left bank of Syr Darya River at approximately 42°00’N, 68°00’E], designated by Danilov 2012b:67 (ZMMU), examined.— Kohl 1885:206; Radoszkowski 1886:25; Ed. André 1888:146; Kohl 1890:344, 1895:47; Dalla Torre 1897:442; Morice 1897:302; Berland 1926:200; Gussakovskij 1933:372; Honoré 1944:72; de Beaumont 1960:170, 1961:2, 1970:4.— As Priononyx stschurowskii: de Beaumont 1968:149.— As Prionyx stschurowskii: Bohart & Menke 1976:134; Kazenas 2001:15; Dollfuss 2008:1415; Danilov 2012a:163, 2012b:67; Dunford, Turbyville & Leavengood 2014:11; Ebrahimi 2014:23; Augul, Abdul-Rassoul & Kaddou 2015:117; Jahantigh, Rakhshani, Mokhtari & Ramroodi 2017:27; Danilov 2019:78; Danilov & Odintsev 2023:433; Pulawski 2024:32.
Sphex stschurowskii var. hyalipennis Kohl 1895:48, sex not stated. Holotype or syntypes: “ Algier ” [Algeria: Algiers] (NHMW).— Dalla Torre 1897:442; Morice 1911:74; Roth 1925:385; Berland 1926:201; Guiglia 1937:185, 1942:229; Giner Marí 1947:19; Leclercq 1955:26.— As Chlorion hyalipenne: Derwesh 1965:70.— As Sphex stschurowskii hyalipennis: de Beaumont 1951:268; de Beaumont & Bytinski-Salz 1955:42; de Beaumont 1956:181.— As Priononyx stschurowskii hyalipennis: de Beaumont 1968:149.— As Prionyx stschurowskii hyalipennis: Bohart & Menke 1976:134; Guichard 1988:121; Gadallah & Assery 2004:222; Roche 2007a:47, 2007b:3; Gadallah, Al Dhafer, Aldryhim, Fadl & Elgharbawy 2013:362; Pulawski 2024:33.
Sphex sirdariensis Radoszkowski 1877:9, ♂. Lectotype: ♂, “Сыръ ДарЬЯ” [Kazakhstan: Kyzylkum Desert on the left bank of Syr Darya River on 42°00’N, 68°00’E approximately], designated by Danilov 2012b:65 (ZMMU), examined. New synonymy. — Kohl 1885:206; Radoszkowski 1886:25; Ed. André 1888:145; Radoszkowski 1888:328; Kohl 1890:347; Dalla Torre 1897:440; de Beaumont 1968:150.— As Sphex occitanicus var. syrdariensis: Gussakovskij 1934:2.— As Prionyx sirdariensis: Bohart & Menke 1976:134; Kazenas 1992:25, 1998:123, 2001:15, 2002:30; Danilov 2010:45, 2012a:164, 2012b:65, 2019:78; Danilov & Odintsev 2023:433; Pulawski 2024:31.
Origin of Material. The type material of Sphex stschurowskii Radoszkowski, 1877 and Sphex sirdariensis Radoszkowski, 1877 was collected by Alexei P. Fedchenko during his short trip to the Kyzylkum Desert in May 1871. The lectotype of S. stschurowskii was collected on May 13 [КИЗИлъ кумъ], and S. sirdariensis on May 19 [Сыръ ДарЬЯ] along the left bank of the Syr Darya River (currently the territory of the Shardara district of the Turkistan Province of Kazakhstan, not Uzbekistan, at approximately 42°00’N 68°00’E).
Diagnosis. The male of P. stschurowskii closely resembles P. melanotus in having the labial palpomeres 2–4 elongate, the placoids on flagellomeres narrow, depressed, and S6 entire, without teeth, but differs in having F3–F6 with placoids (P. melanotus has F3–F8 with the placoids). It is similar to P. persicus and P. radoszkowskyi in habitus, but differs in having the labial palpomeres 2–4 elongate, the placoids on flagellomeres narrow, depressed, S6 entire, without teeth, and the arolia present (P. persicus and P. radoszkowskyi have the labial palpomeres 2–4 extremely short, the placoids on flagellomeres broad, flat, S6 with pair teeth posterolaterally, and the arolia absent).
The female of P. stschurowskii resembles P. melanotus, P. persicus, and P. radoszkowskyi in habitus. It differs from P. persicus, and P. radoszkowskyi in having the labial palpomeres 2–4 elongate, and the arolia present (P. persicus and P. radoszkowskyi have the labial palpomeres 2–4 extremely short, and the arolia absent). Unlike P. melanotus and P. radoszkowskyi it has the scutum with appressed, silvery setae.
Description. Head with black erect setae. Labrum trapeziform, distinctly emarginate apically; labial palpomeres 2–4 elongate; clypeus laterally and posteriorly, subantennal sclerite, paraocular area, and frons with appressed, silvery setae; vertex, occiput and gena microsculptured, punctate, slightly shiny. Mesosoma with black erect setae. Scutellum slightly longitudinally depressed, punctate and rugose, shiny. Metanotum tuberculate dorsally. Mesopleuron areolate-rugose and punctate, shiny. Metapleuron and propodeum areolate-rugose, shiny; propodeal enclosure slightly shiny or dull. Wings dark or smoky (in var. hyalipennis); veins black; recurrent vein II of forewing interstitial with 1 st intersubmarginal vein or received by submarginal cell III at its basal angle. Legs. Claws with 2 ventral teeth; arolia present.
Male. Body length 20–23 mm. Head. Clypeus slightly emarginate anteriorly; clypeal disk moderately convex, with fine depression anteriorly. F3–F6 with narrow, depressed placoids. Mesosoma. Pronotum and scutum finely rugose and punctate, slightly shiny, with black erect setae only. Metasoma. S6 entire, without teeth.
Female. Body length 23–30 mm. Head. Anterior margin of clypeus slightly rounded; clypeal disk moderately convex, slightly depressed anteriorly. Mesosoma. Pronotum and scutum with appressed, silvery setae, moderately concealing integument. Legs. Tarsal rake of foreleg with long, bladelike and long, fine, hairlike setae.
Justification of new synonymy. By all key features (labial palpomeres 2–4 elongate; arolia present; recurrent vein II of forewing interstitial with 1 st intersubmarginal vein or received by submarginal cell III at its basal angle; placoids on flagellomeres narrow, depressed; S6 entire, without teeth), Sphex sirdariensis Radoszkowski belongs in the stschurowskii group. Both the lectotype female of stschurowskii and the lectotype male of sirdariensis come from the same locality. In addition, the description of male of stschurowskii by Morice (1897) well agrees with sirdariensis.
Material examined. IRAN. Hormozgan Province: 30 km S of Hajjiabad [28°01’N, 55°53’E], 27.VI. 1955, D. Steinberg (1 ♀, ZISP); 7.V.1955 (1 ♀, ZISP); Sistan and Baluchestan Province: Bampur [27°11’N, 60°27’E], 26– 27.IV.1901, N. Zarudny (1 ♀, ZISP). KAZAKHSTAN. Turkistan Province: Shardara District, Kyzylkum Desert on the left bank of Syr Darya River [42°00’N, 68°00’E approximately], 13.V.1871, A. Fedchenko (1 ♀, lectotype of stschurowskii, ZMMU); 19.V.1871 (1 ♂, lectotype of sirdariensis, ZMMU). MOROCCO. Midelt [32°40’N, 4°43’W], 30.V.1947, J. de Beaumont (1 ♀, ZISP). TAJIKISTAN. Khatlon Province: Jilikul District, Jilikul [37°29’N, 68°31’E], 25.V.1931, N. Fursov (1 ♀, ZISP). TURKMENISTAN. No specific locality [Transcaspia] (1 ♀, ZISP); Mary Province: Imeni Chapayeva [formely Ymam Baba] [36°42’N, 62°27’E], 1932, A. Shestakov (1 ♂, 1 ♀, ZISP).
Distribution. Arid and semi-arid areas from Central Asia to North Africa (Afghanistan, Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Kazakhstan, Libya, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkmenistan).
description: Published as part of Odintsev, Yuriy N. Danilov Oleg A. & Kobets, Anastasia S., 2024, A taxonomic study on the genus Prionyx Vander Linden, 1827 (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae: Prionychini). Subgenus Harpactopus F. Smith, 1856, pp. 263-298 in Zootaxa 5551 (2) on pages 281-283, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5551.2.3, http://zenodo.org/record/14421160