Arnold S. E. Menke, 1965 · 1
Ammophila polita, and others, map |
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Taken from: A Revision of the North American Ammophila (hymenoptera, Sphecidae). Arnold S. E. Menke, 1965.
Ammophila (Ammophila) polita Cresson
(Figs. 47, 131)
Ammophila polita Cresson, 1865. Proc. Entomol. Soc. Philadelphia 4:458.
Holotype female, Colorado (Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia).
Males. Average length 12.5 mm., range: 10.5-16.5 mm.
Color. Black; tegula frequently red; petiole sternite sometimes red below, petiole tergite red laterally, black above; gastral segments I-III red, tergites I-II rarely with black spots, tergite III largely black; femoral apex and tibia frequently red; wings clear, veins black.
Vestiture. Gena with dense appressed silver hair; mesosoma generally covered with appressed silver hair.
Structure. Flagellomere I longer than II (29:19), length less than least interocular distance (29:39); shape of collar about as in female boharti (fig. 72), ridges very fine and restricted to posterior part of collar; scutum finely ridged; metapleural flange not lamellate.
Female. Average length 15.5 mm., range: 11-17.5 m.
Color. As in male except free margin of clypeus, mandible, and tegula red; petiole completely red or sternite black; gaster red but terminal tergites sometimes with black spots; femur, tibia, and tarsus usually red, occasionally black.
Vestiture. As in male except genal appressed hair sparse and mesosoma without erect hair.
Structure. Clypeal disk moderately to strongly bulging, sparsely macropunctate, median free margin not projecting, teeth poorly formed (fig. 17); flagellomere I longer than II (37:22); inner orbits moderately converging below, L.I.D.: G.I.D. (74:90); collar about as in male; scutal ridges very fine, irregular and sometimes wrinkle-like.
Range (rig. 131). Ammophila polita is primarily a Great Basin species however, it ranges to eastern Nebraska and northward to Alberta. I have seen one atypically colored female from southwestern Arizona (see discussion under variation).
Variation. Ammophila polita has an interesting color polymorphism. Approximately twenty-five percent of the females studied have black legs. These black-legged individuals are commonly collected with red-legged females. The single Arizona record of polita is based on a peculiarly colored female from Wellton, Yuma Co., (CUI). It is completely red except for the dorsal and posterior parts of the head and also the median area of the scutum. I have seen no specimens intermediate between this red female and the typical black form of the species. One female from northern Nevada does have some reddening on the propodeal side, however.
In a few specimens of polita that I have studied the second and third submarginal cells are partially or completely fused.
Systematics. The silvery body and non-lamellate metapleural flange make polita a distinctive species. In addition the moderately converging eyes in the female and the shape of the pronotum in both sexes will facilitate recognition.
Fernald’s (1934) interpretation of polita included such species as stangei, nearctica and marshi as revealed by his determination labels on specimens in various collections.
Ammophila procera Group
Diagnosis. Primary characters: Collar and scutum transversely ridged or rugose (except in aphrodite females, novita and sometimes uinta); preepisternal sulcus short, ending opposite pronotal lobe (fig. 18); penis valve head with a median or subbasal spine-like process, teeth extending past process, Which is perpendicularly oriented to plane of penis valve stalk (figs. 105-114). Secondary characters: Clypeus and frons with appressed silver hair (except in females of formicoides, hurdi, monachi and wrightii, hair sparse and often brownish in nearctica females), male clypeus completely covered by hair, obscuring underlying sculpture (except in nearctica), female clypeus glabrous anteromedially; pronotal lobe and propodeum adjacent to petiole socket covered with appressed silver hair (except in formicoides and monachi, sparse on lobe of female hurdi); erect body hair pale (head hair black in macra, head hair sometimes black in procera) psammophore pale (black in macra and sometimes in procera) labrum truncate or rounded (acuminate in procera, macra and murrayi females, sometimes acuminate in macra males); free margin of male clypeus emarginate, rarely entire or slightly emarginate (stangei, wrightii and formicoides) hypostoma in male without a process (fig. 29); scutellum longitudinally ridged; propodeal enclosure irregularly rugose medially, diagonally ridged laterally, interspaces smooth and/or punctate, subshining to shining, or sometimes minutely etched and dull; metapleural flange often lamellate (figs. 58, 60-61, 63-64); forewing with three submarginal cells (except in formicoides, nearctica and some wrightii base of gonoforceps not dorsoventrally elongate (fig. 95).
Included species. Ammophila aphrodite Menke, boharti Menke, conitor Smith, formicoides Menke, ferruginosa Cresson, hurdi Menke, macra Cresson, marshi Menke, monachi Menke, murrayi Menke, novita (Fernald), nearctica Kohl, parapolita (Fernald), polita Cresson, procera Dahlbom, uinta Menke and wrightii Cresson.
Discussion. The procera group is based primarily on the form of the aedeagus. In addition, moat species have a transversely ridged collar and scutum. The majority of the species in the procera group are distinctive and there are few “problem areas” in the separation of species. Structural details of the mesosoma and pleural pubescence patterns are the most useful features in species discrimination. The shape of the pronotal collar and the appearance of the metapleural flange are particularly important. The presence or absence of appressed silver hair on the gena and/or pronotal side is also a useful character. Abdominal color patterns are often specifically distinct and some species are easily identified by having the entire body orange or partially so. Comparisons of the least interocular distance and the length of flagellomere I sometimes show specific differences but in general these and other heed measurements are too close between species for reliability. The presence of only two submarginal cells in the forewing is distinctive in two species. The aedeagus is distinct in some species, but many have such similar aedeagi that the use of this structure in species determination is often not worthwhile.
The procera group is a rather diverse one, and several subgroups could be recognized. Ammophila procera and macra are very similar and do not appear closely allied with other species in the group. The ant mimics, A. wrightii and formicoides, are distinctive in possessing a low, flattened, pronotal collar. Correlated with this feature is the tendency in wrightii for reduction or loss of the third submarginal cell. A. formicoides always has only two submarginals. Ammophila monachi is structurally intermediate between the ant mimics and the other species in the procera group, indicating that wrightii and formicoides are simply highly specialized species. Ammophila novita and uinta form a third distinct assemblage. Both species have a long sloping pronotal collar which is rather sharply cutoff above the transverse line. The collar lacks transverse ridges in novita and is only feebly transversely rugose in uinta. Ammophila nearctica with its two submarginal cells and A. aphrodite with its smooth female pronotal collar represent two additional monotypic subgroups in the procera group. The unifying feature of all these subgroups and the remainder of the species in the procera group is the form of the aedeagus. The process of the penis valve head generally projects outward from the head in a plane perpendicular to the main axis of the penis valve stalk. In addition, the teeth on the head are arranged in a row and pass the base of the process. It is probable, therefore, that the procera group is a natural one in spite of the abberant types discussed
Certain species in the procera group, e. g., novita and uinta, show affinities with the monotypic mimica group and to a lesser degree with the nefertiti and imitator groups. Whether or not these affinities are real or merely convergence of form cannot be clarified on the basis of present knowledge. The procera group appears to be restricted to the Nearctic Region.
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Updated: 2024-04-26 21:20:49 gmt
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