Zethus mexicanus de Saussure 1855
Creators: name: Golfetti, Ivan F.
name: Lopes, Rogério B.
name: Noll, Fernando B.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Eumenidae
Zethus
Zethus mexicanus

description: Zethus mexicanus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Apis surinamensis Linnaeus, 1758: 575–579. Suriname (?Stocolm); 1767: 953 (renamed Apis mexicana). Olivier, 1789: 66 (Suriname; French Guiana: Cayenne).
Type: Holotype: Suriname: male, UK (Museu Nacional Railway).
Apis mexicana Linnaeus, 1767: 953 (new name A. surinamensis Linnaeus, 1758). Muller, 1775: 892. Olivier, 1789: 79. Gmelin, 1790: 2772. Christ, 1791: 199.
Vespa recurvirostris DeGeer, 1773: 579. “ Brazil ” (Lectotype male in Stocolm). Retzius, 1783: 63. de Saussure,1855: 116 (syn. of Z. mexicanus; genus Zethus).
Type: Lectotype: Brazil: male, Stocolm (Swedish Museum of Natural History).
Vespa mexicana; Olivier, 1792: 673 (French Guiana: Caiena). Tigny, 1802: 66 (Suriname; French Guiana: Caiena); 1828: 280 (Suriname; French Guiana: Caiena).
Vespa cyanipennis Fabricius, 1793: 277. (Guyane Franceise—“Cayenne”) (Lectotype female in Kobenhavn). Coquebert, 1799: 2. Jurine, 1807: 170.
Type: Lectotype: French Guiana: Caiena, female, Denmark (Museum Zoologist Universidad of Copenhague).
Eumenes cyanipennis Latreille, 1802: 361; 1805: 345.
Polistes cyanipennis Fabricius, 1804: 275 (French Guiana:Caiena). Latreille, 1809: 138 (syn. de Eumenes (Zethus) coeruleopennis). Lepeletier, 1825: 172.
Zethus cyanipennis Klug, 1807: 52. Lamarck, 1817: 84; 1835: 301 (French Guiana: Caiena). de Saussure, 1855: 116 (syn. Z. mexicanus (Linnaeus) genus Zethus); 1852: 12 (female, male, French Guiana: Caiena); 1858: 63. Desmarest, 1859: 143. de Saussure, 1875: 17 (syn. de Z. recurvirostris (DeGeer) genus Zethus). Bohart & Stange, 1962: 30 (Lectotype); 1965: 133 (syn. mexicanus mexicanus (Linnnaeus)).
Zethus lugubris Perty, 1833: 144, female (Brazil, “Provincia Piauhiensi”), (München). de Saussure, 1852: 11, female (Brazil). Smith, 1857: 10 (catalogue). de Saussure, 1875: 17 (syn. de Z. recurvirostris (DeGeer) genus Zethus). new. syn.
Type: Holotype: Brazil: Brasília, female, France (MNHN). Examined.
Zethus mexicanus de Saussure, 1855: 116 (syns.: Z. cyanipennis (Fabricius) and Vespa recurvirostris DeGeer). Smith, 1857: 11 (catalogue). Dalla Torre, 1894: 12 (catalogue); 1904: 16 (catalogue). Ducke, 1905: 171. Schulz, 1905: 106. Brèthes, 1906: 6 (Paraguay: Assunção). Ducke, 1910: 119 (Brazil; Paraguay). Zavattari, 1911: 44 (Paraguay: 3 localities); 1912: 10 (key), 16 (synonymic). Cameron, 1912: 224 (Guyana). Ducke, 1914: 320, 326 (nest). Bertoni, 1918: 205 (Paraguay). van der Vecht, 1959: 211 (note in the name Linnaeus).
Zethus cyanipennis var. lugubris de Saussure, 1858: 63.
Zethus recurvirostris de Saussure, 1875: 17 (genus Zethus; syn.: Vespa mexicana Linnaeus, cyanipennis Fabricius; Brazil). Fox, 1899: 407 (Brazil: Chapada). Bohart & Stange, 1965: 133 (Lectotype; syn. Z. mexicanus (Linnaeus)).
Zethus mexicanus var. lugubris Dalla Torre, 1894: 12 (cataloghe). Brèthes, 1903: 250. Dalla Torre, 1904: 16 (catalogue). Bertoni, 1918: 205 (Paraguay). Bodkin, 1918: 312 (Guiana).
Zethus mexicanus lugubris Zavattari, 1912: 19 (genus Zethus; Brazil). Bohart and Stange, 1965: 128 (key), (subgenus Zethusculus; syn.: Z. mexicanus rufus Zavattari; Brazil; Peru; Bolivia; Paraguay). Stange, 1975: 80, 89, 92 (key). n. syn.
Zethus mexicanus rufus Zavattari, 1912: 19, female (genus Zethus) (“Brazilien: Salto Grande”) (Berlin). Bohart and Stange, 1965: 132 (synonymic Z. mexicanus lugubris Perty subgenus Zethusculus).
Zethus mexicanus mexicanus Zavattari, 1912: 19 (genus Zethus: México; Brazil; Suriname; French Guiana; Colombia; Paraguay).
Zethus surinamensis Bertoni, 1921: 11 (propose of change the name mexicanus to surinamensis).
Zethus mexicanus mexicanus Bohart & Stange, 1965: 13, 16, 128 (key), (male; subgenus Zethusculus; synonymic; Colombia; Venezuela; Peru; Trinidad; Guiana; Suriname; French Guiana; norte do Brazil). Stange, 1997: 319 (Venezuela). stat. rev.
Zethus mexicanus erythrogena Bohart & Stange, 1965: 128 (key), (male, female, subgenus Zethusculus) (“ Brazil: Diamantina, Minas Gerais ”) (Holotype male); and another localities in Brazil. n. syn.
Type: Holotype: Brazil: Diamantina, Minas Gerais, male, USA (Cornell University).
Paratype: Brazil: Minas Gerais: Pirapara, ♀, Brazil (MZUSP). Examined.
Material additional examined: 21♂, 33♀. (Appendix I). Diagnosis. Large individuals. Only member of the group with angled tegula (Fig. 5A).
Redescription. Male:As described for Z. brasiliensis except: Coloration: black head except: apex of clypeus reddish; mesopleura, metapleura, metanotum, propodeum, petiole ventrally and legs red-orange. Structure: Tegula with posterior margin angled; the anterior surface of the mesepisternum micro-striate; S5 and S6 with robust ligulate processes. Sculpture: Strio-punctuation above the carina interantennal less evident. Chaeototaxy: Yellowish; T3 to T7, hairiness is not so visible.
Female:As described for the male except: Coloration: Clypeus all black; antennae without yellowish areas. Structure: Clypeus without concavity and apical teeth; mandible tetradentated with the third tooth molariform; anterior face of the mesepisternum without micro-stries. Sculpture: Absence of transverse interantennal carina and frontal strio-punctuation.
Variations: Some specimens, both males as females, feature a variation about the coloring in the following parts: clypeus almost completely reddish in males and at least two-thirds in females; mandibles and gena reddish; petiole may be from completely dark until completely red. This gradient of coloration was used for differentiation of the subspecies Z. m. mexicanus, Z. m. erythrogena and Z. m. lugubris.
description: Published as part of Golfetti, Ivan F., Lopes, Rogério B. & Noll, Fernando B., 2020, Taxonomic revision and cladistic analysis of the species of Zethus mexicanus group (Linnaeus, 1758) sensu Bohart & Stange, 1965 (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Eumeninae), pp. 337-358 in Zootaxa 4743 (3) on pages 348-349, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4743.3.2, http://zenodo.org/record/3688233