©Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, download unter www.biologiezentrum.at Ann Naturhist Mus Wien, B 112 19-72 Wien, März 2011 Range re-evaluation and morphological recognition in two West Palaearctic species of Myrmilla W e s m a e l , 1851 (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) T Ljubom irov* A b strac t A critical examination, including the study o f type material and lectotype designation o f Myrmilla caucasica (K o le n a ti, 1846), resulted in the follow in g ränge changes in M caucasica and M erythrocephala ( L a t r e ille , 1792): M caucasica has been found to occur in the extreme southeast o f the mainland in Croatia, western and Southern Romania, northern Serbia, Southern M acedonia, Bulgaria, Greece, central and Southern Ukraine, central Georgia, Azerbaijan, western Caspian Basin o f Russia, Cyprus, Turkey, western Syria, and northwestem Iran; the ränge o f M eiythrocephala is much more restricted than indicated by previous authors, extending from southeastern France (including Corsica Island) via Italy (including Sicily) to Southern Croatia, M ontenegro and Bosnia & Herzegovina, alm ost strictly confm ed to the Coastal beit The taxonomic values o f the clypeal structure, the inner hindcoxal apex in the female, and the male genitalia are indicated N o dependable means have been found for satisfactory division o f M eiythrocephala into subspecies or species when the intraspecific variety within M caucasica and M erythrocephala is considered A s a result, Mutilla bison A C o sta , 1887 is assumed to be a junior synonym o f M eiythrocephala The male o f Myrmilla mutica (Er A n d re, 1903) and the previously unknown male o f M corniculata (S ic h e l & R a d o s z k o w s k i , 1869) are distinguished m orphologically from the male o f M caucasica N otes on the distribution o f M corniculata and M mutica are presented Key w ords: Hymenoptera, lectotype designation, Mutillidae, Myrmilla, M caucasica, M eiythrocephala, Palaearctic, taxonomy Z usam m enfassung Eine kritische Untersuchung einschließlich des Typusmaterials und der Lectotypen-D esignation von Myr milla caucasica (K olenati, 1846) ergab folgende Änderungen im Verbreitungsgebiet von M caucasica und M erythrocephala (L atreille, 1792): M caucasica kommt im äußersten Südwesten des kroatischen Festlandes, im w estlichen und südlichen Rumänien, nördlichen Serbien, südlichen M azedonien, Bulgarien, Griechenland, der zentralen und südlichen Ukraine, Zentral-G eorgien, A serbaidschan, dem w estlichen kaspischen Becken Russlands, Zypern, der Türkei, dem w estlichen Syrien, und dem nordwestlichen Iran; das Verbreitungsgebiet von eiythrocephala ist deutlich begrenzter als von früheren Autoren beschrieben und erstreckt sich vom südöstlichen Frankreich (einschließlich Korsika) über Italien (einschließlich Sizi lien) bis ins südliche Kroatien, M ontenegro und Bosnien-H erzegow ina - es beschränkt sich fast ausschließ lich auf die Küstenregionen D ie taxonom ische Bedeutung der Clypeus-Struktur, des A pex der inneren Hintercoxa beim W eibchen und der männlichen Genitalien wird hervorgehoben Unter Berücksichtigung der intraspezifischen Variabilität von M caucasica und M erythrocephala konnten keine zuverlässigen Merk male für eine zufriedenstellende Unterteilung von M erythrocephala in Unterarten gefunden werden Folg lich wird Mutilla bison A C osta , 1887 als ein jüngeres Synonym von M eiythrocephala angesehen Das M ännchen von Myrmilla mutica (E r A ndre , 1903) und das vorher unbekannte M ännchen von M cornicu lata (S ichel & Radoszkowski, 1869) werden morphologisch vom M ännchen von M caucasica unterschie den, und Bemerkungen zur Verbreitung von M corniculata und M mutica werden abgegeben Toshko Ljubom irov, Institute o f B iodiversity and Ecosystem Research, B ulgarian A cadem y o f Sci ences; 1, Tzar Osvoboditel Boulevard, Sofia, 1000, Bulgaria - toshkoljubomirov@ gmail.com 20 ©Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, download unter Annalen des www.biologiezentrum.at Naturhistorischen M useums in Wien, B, 112 Introduction The species o f Myrmilla W esmael , 1851 fall into three subgenera currently known by both sexes In addition to the nom inotypical subgenus, the genus also includes Pseudomutilla A C osta , 1859 and Euiygnathilla S korikov , 1927 From 1775 to 2006 more than eighty species-group nam es have been assigned to 50 recently valid species in the genus (L elej 2002; L elej & al 2003 a; L elej 2005; L elej & V an H arten 2006) M yr milla was largely revised by the Ukrainian hydrobiologist and entom ologist Alexander S korikov (1927a) The nom inotypical subgenus is the largest and the least known It includes a com plex o f clo sely related forms, w hich not present clear-cut specific characters The 25 currently recognized extant sp ecies o f Myrmilla s str occur m ainly in the Northern Mediterranean area It is rather ironic that tw o o f the m ost frequently met and largest in size, viz., M eiythrocephala (L atreille, 1792) and M caucasica (K ole nati , 1846) have not been interpreted correctly up to now U pon exam ination o f the m utillid collection at the N ational M useum o f Natural History in Sofia, Bulgaria it was discovered that all material on w hich the faunistical reports o f Myrmilla eiythrocephala from Bulgaria w ere based actually belongs to M caucasica A dditional investigation o f m aterials co lle c te d in A lban ia, A ustria, Hungary, C zech R epublic, and R om ania revealed that M eiythrocephala has been misinterpreted in m uch broader sense by many authors in the past and present days M aterial and m ethods The present study is based on exam ination o f 662 specim ens o f Myrmilla bilobicornis S korikov , 1927, M caucasica , M corniculata (S ichel & R adoszkow ski, 1869), M eiythrocephala, M mutica (E r A ndre , 1903), and M rostriformis L elej, 1980 from the collections o f the "G rigore A ntipa" N ational M useum o f N atural History, B ucharest (M GAB, Cristina B an-C alefariu), Guido Pagliano, Torino (GP, personal collection), the Ilia State University, Tbilisi (ISU, George Japoshvili), the Institute o f Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Sofia (IBER, Toshko Ljubom irov), Jan Smit, D uvien (JS, personal collection), Lisa & Klaus Standfuss, D ortm und (LKS, personal collection), the M agyar Term eszettudom änyi M useum , B udapest (TM B, Sandor Csösz), M axim ilian Schwarz, Linz (M S, personal collection), the M oravian M useum , Brno (M M B, Igor M alenovsky), the M useo C ivico di Storia N aturale, M ilano (M C SN , M aurizio Pavesi), the M useo Civico di Zoologia di R om a (M CZR, A lberto Zilli), the M useo N acional de Ciencias N aturales, M adrid (M N CN , Isabel Izquierdo M oya), the M useo di Scienze Naturali e A m bientali di M entana, R om a (M SN A M , E nrico M igliaccio), the M useum N ational d ’H istoire Naturelle, Paris (M N H N , Claire Villem ant), the N ationaal N atuurhistorisch M useum N aturalis, Leiden (R M N H , K ees van A chterberg), the N ational M useum o f N atural History, Sofia (N M N H S, Alexi Popov), the N aturhistorisches M useum , Wien (NHMW , late Stefan Schödl), the O berösterreichisches Landesm useum , Linz (OÖLM , Fritz Gusenleitner), Petr B ogusch, Praha (PB, personal collection), the U niversitä degli Studi di N apoli Federico II M useo Zoologico, Napoli (M ZN, N icola M aio), the Zoolo gisch M useum A m sterdam (ZM A N , W illem H ogenes), the Zoologisches M useum an der H um boldt-U niversität zu B erlin, Berlin (ZM HU, Frank Koch) Additional material interpreted by some previous authors as "Mutilla eiythrocephala Fabricius " or "Mutilla L ju b o m ir o v : Two ©Naturhistorisches Museum download unter www.biologiezentrum.at West Palaearctic species o f MWien, yrmilla (Insecta: Hymenoptera: M utillidae) 21 erythrocephala L u c a s " was borrow ed or exam ined from the collection o f the M useum d'H istoire Naturelle, G eneve (MHNG, B ernhard M erz) and the U niversitä degli Studi di Napoli Federico II M useo Zoologico, N apoli (M ZN, N icola M aio) Part o f the m aterial was relaxed in a hum idifier, rem oved from the m ounting pin, and dewaxed by soaking in isopropanole This m aterial was further prepared on new pins R e-preparation aim ed to provide adequate observation in som e structural details that were difficult to observe viz the free clypeal m argin and inner m andibular edge For detailed study, the genital capsules w ere cleared by boiling for 10 m inutes in 20% KOH, w ashed in distilled w ater and transferred to glycerin The storage o f the genital capsule was m ade in a transparent plastic tube (diam eter, m m ; length, 20 m m ) filled w ith "heavy" glycerin (glycerin/glucose ratio o f 1/1) and pinned under the corresponding specimen The specim ens were exam ined under Technival® stereo m icroscope operated at m agnifications o f 25x and 50x Draw ings were m ade by using cam era lucida under a Zeiss®, M M X stereo m icroscope The pencil drafts were inked and scanned; the final illustrations were m ade in A dobe Illustrator® version 10 M easurem ents w ere carried out using m agnification lOOx (ocular 25x, objective 4x) with a linear scale in one o f the oculars; one division o f the scale corresponded to 15 |j,m on the object, and the decim al was estim ated by eye The m easurem ent o f length o f supraantennal tubercles was m ade w ith the following adjustm ent o f the specim en: the head was view ed dorsally under strong, soft light com ing from the anterior direction; the dorsal view was fixed in the position where the contour o f the com pound eyes touched the m andibular base; the actual tubercle length was m easured as the distance betw een the bottom o f the arc form ed by the two supraantennal tubercles and the tip o f the longer tuberculum (in cases w here the tuber cles were different in size) M easurem ent o f the height o f the m edian process o f first m etasom al stem um was m ade in lateral view as the distance betw een the flat stem al surface and the tip o f the process, thus including m ore or less form ed carina basally to the process Som e body parts (head and hind coxa) w ere illustrated by scanning electron photom icrographs These parts were rem oved from the relevant relaxed specim en, w ashed in Chloroform and dried The cleaned parts w ere then passed through a graded series o f alcohols to absolute They w ere fastened to a scanning electron m icrosocopy stub using conductive paste LEIT-C™ , placed in a vacuum cham ber for several hours and then gold coated before photography Philips® scanning electron m icroscope, m odel SEM515 was used to take the photographs The m orphological term s used in this w ork were m ostly taken from H u b n er & S h a r k e y (1993) and definitions o f these term s can be found there In addition, term inology for genitalia was taken from S n o d g r a s s (1941) and O ’T o l l e (1975) Several term s (condylar ridge, disc (o f body sclerite), episcrobal area, pronotal collar, setae o f reflective type) follow P u la w sk i & P r e n tic e (2008) The following m orphological term s are new: inner preapical m andibular notch (in m ale), for the sem icircular notch o f the inner edge o f the apical fourth o f the m andible; inner preapical tooth (or teeth), for one or two teeth o f the inner edge o f the apical fourth o f the m andibula (in m ale and female) The follow ing abbreviations are used in the text and the figures: pd, puncture diameter; W pdd, m axim al pedicellar w idth; Isat, supraantennal tubercle index (the ratio betw een 22 ©Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, download unter Annalen des www.biologiezentrum.at Naturhistorischen M useums in Wien, B, 112 the length o f the supraantennal tubercle and m axim al pedicellar width); Istp, index o f the process o f first m etasom al stem um (the ratio betw een the height o f the process o f the first m etasom al sternum and m axim al pedicellar w idth); Od, diam eter o f the m iddle ocellus m easured transversely; OOL, shortest distance betw een hind ocellus and com pound eye; POL, shortest distance betw een hind ocelli The records o f the exam ined m aterial are in the L ist o f m aterial In order to elucidate the ränge ex tension o f the species treated herein, the localities are presented w ith account o f the m odern nam es o f the settlem ents and geographic term s rather than by copying the m useum labels A lthough in sim ilar kind o f w orks the latter is a com m on practice, I find the form er preferential to facilitate Contemporary users Results and discussion Recognition o f Myrmilla caucasica ( K o l e n a t i , 1846) The type m aterial o f M caucasica has hitherto been regarded as probably lost (L e le j 2002: 33; L e le j & al 2003b: 305) From the original description o f M caucasica given by K o le n a ti (1846: 121-122) it appears that his type m aterial consisted o f more than one specimen This can be confirm ed by parts o f K o le n a t i ’s description o f M cauca sica' "Longitudo: 0,009 vel 0,010 H abitat in locis aridis, arenosis " viz., "Length: 0,009 or 0,010 Inhabits dry, sandy places " Thus, the m aterial o f M caucasica is considered to com prise a syntype series rather than a single type (holotype) One female w hich agrees both w ith K o le n a t i ’s description and L e le j ' s recent re-description o f M caucasica (L e le j 1985: 9 -100) was found in the collection o f NHMW It is labelled: "Tiflis/Kolenati/Mwft7/a caucasica Kolenati/Type!" In order to ensure the identity o f M caucasica this fem ale specim en, the only syntype traceable at the m om ent, is hereby designated as Lectotype (ICZN, A rticle 74.1, 74.2, and 74.7), and so labelled R edescription o f the fem ale lectotype: Sculpture Clypeus finely granulate, its m edian portion sm ooth, shiny and fine microsculptured, surrounded dorsolaterally by obtusely raised, sem icircular carina each lateral branch o f w hich protrudes at the level o f the fore m argin in form o f sm all blunt denticle; sim ilar denticle can be observed approxim ately in the m iddle o f each lateral branch o f the carina; free clypeal m argin alm ost straight over its entire length S upraantennal tubercles well developed, conical, bluntly pointed at the apex, their length 2.0 x W p ^ ; the distance betw een tubercles equal to the distance from the tubercle to the corresponding o cular orbit F rons, vertex and gennae shiny, covered by dense punctures (pd 0.3-0.5 x Wp^cj, punctures separated by 0.2-0.5 x their own diam eter) Eye separated from the posterior m argin o f the head by 0.7 x eye length in dorsal view M andible with inner m argin bearing blunt triangle sub-basal tooth and w ith tw o w ell-developed inner preapical teeth (proxim al one is larger, sharp, and directed at a right angle to the inner m andibular margin) L iu b o m ir o v : Two ©Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, download unter www.biologiezentrum.at W est Palaearctic species o f Myrmilla (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) 23 M esosom al w idth at the level o f the fore spiracles equal to w idth at the level o f the propodeal spiracles; propodeal sides in dorsal view diverge slightly and evenly after spiracles M esosom al dorsum sculptured as vertex but punctures slightly larger (pd 0.7 x wD(jci); m esosom al declivity w ith bigger punctures caused by decreasing o f the spaces between them , thus the sculpture appears largely reticulated, m edially over its entire length with straight, sharp carina; in low er part o f the declivity the reticulate sculpturing is weaker M eso- and m etapleurae in its upper part som ew hat punctuated and superficially longitudinally striated Propodeal sides covered w ith coarse punctures w hich provide som ewhat reticulate sculpture orientated in vague longitudinal folds; ju st behind propodeal spiracles w ith sm ooth, shiny area surrounded by carina (highest in its ventral portion) First m etasom al tergum evenly convex in profile; its dorsal surface uniform ly punctu ated (pd 0.05 x Wpdcj, punctures separated by 0.5-1.5 * their own diam eter) Second m etasom al tergum w ith com paratively regulär punctures (pd 0.1 x w p(jc |, punctures separated by -0 x their ow n diam eter) m ixed with few larger, w eakly printed punc tures Third to sixth m etasom al terga sculptured as the second but the punctures cover ing their basal parts are slightly sm aller and sparser; sixth tergum has sm ooth, shiny m edial strip for its entire length First m etasom al stem um flat, practically w ithout longi tudinal carina m edially, its m edial process 1.6 x Wp