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© Copyright Sheryl Pollock 2011
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Ammophila nigricans, Common Thread-waisted Wasp |
© Copyright Sheryl Pollock 2011
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Ammophila procera, Common Thread-waisted Wasp |
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© Copyright Sheryl Pollock 2011
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Ammophila procera, Common Thread-waisted Wasp |
Arnold S. E. Menke, 1965 · 1
Ammophila procera, penis valve head |
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Arnold S. E. Menke, 1965 · 1
Ammophila procera, map |
Arnold S. E. Menke, 1965 · 1
Ammophila procera, metapleural flange |
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Arnold S. E. Menke, 1965 · 1
Ammophila procera, metapleural flange |
Arnold S. E. Menke, 1965 · 1
Ammophila procera, collar |
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Arnold S. E. Menke, 1965 · 1
Ammophila procera, collar |
Arnold S. E. Menke, 1965 · 1
Ammophila procera, collar |
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© John Pickering, 2004-2023
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Ammophila procera |
© John Pickering, 2004-2023
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Ammophila procera |
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© Copyright Gail Starr 2011
· 1
Ammophila procera, common thread-waisted wasp |
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Overview |
Taken from: A Revision of the North American Ammophila (hymenoptera, Sphecidae). Arnold S. E. Menke, 1965.
Ammophila (Ammophila) procera Dahlbom
(Figs. 60-61, 68-69, 74, 112, 130)
Ammophila procera Dahlbom, 1843. Hymen. Europaea 1(fasc. 1):15.
Holotype female, “N. America” (Universitets Zoologiska Institution, Lund).
Ammophila procera Lepeletier, 1845. Hist. Natur. Insect., Hymen. 3:376.
Holotype female, “Am. Sept.” (Museo di Zoologia, Universita di Torino, Turin). New synonymy.
Ammophila saeva Smith, 1856. Cat. Hymen. Insect. Coll. Brit. Mus. 4:222.
Lectotype female, California (British Museum, London), present designation.
Ammophila gryphus Smith, 1856. Cat. Hymen. Insect. Coil. Brit. Mus. 4:222
Lectotype female, Charleston, Florida (British Museum, London), present designation.
Ammophila barbata Smith, 1873. Ann. Mag. Natur. Hist. (4)12:260.
Syntypes, female, Mexico (? University Museum, oxford).
Ammophila ceres Cameron, 1888. Biologia Centrali-Americana, Hymen. 2:8.
Holotype male, San Geronimo, Vera Paz, Guatemala (British Museum, London).
Ammophila championi Cameron, 1888. Biologia Centrali-Americana, Hymen. 2:9.
Lectotype female, San Geronimo, Guatemala (British Museum, London), present designation.
Ammophila striolata Cameron, 1888. Biologia Centrali-Americana, Hymen. 2:10.
Holotype female, Ventanas (Villa Corona), Durango, Mexico (British Museum, London).
Male. Average length 22.5 mm., range: 15-31 mm.
Color. Black; petiole black or petiole tergite with various degrees of reddening (eastern United States to Rocky Mountains), petiole tergite laterally red, black dorsally (Rocky Mountains to Pacific Coast, petiole sternite sometimes red in Arizona); gastral segment I mostly red, tergite black medially (eastern United States to Rocky Mountains), gastral segments I-II red, tergites with median black spots, tergites III-V laterally and sternites III-V frequently red (Rocky Mountains to Pacific Coast); wings clear or slightly infumate, veins black.
Vestiture. Gena with appressed silver hair along outer orbit (western United States); anterior vertical face of collar frequently with appressed silver hair, collar frequently with a transverse patch of appressed silver hair posteromedially; pronotal side without appressed silver hair; scutal. furrows and peritreme with appressed silver hair; mesopleuron with a band of appressed silver hair along mesopleural suture from base of midcoxa to bottom of hypoepimeral area; inferior metapleural area with a narrower band of silver hair along metapleural sulcus from base of hind coxa to about half the distance to superior metapleural pit; erect head hair black (eastern United States) or pale with occasional black hairs on vertex (western United States), or black and pale mixed in zones of overlap.
Structure. Flagellomere I longer than II (59:41), length of flagellomere I less than least interocular distance (59:68); collar in lateral view as in figure 68, dorsal view, figure 69, collar with numerous strong ridges which are continuous over pronotal side, interspaces shining, impunctate to moderately punctate; mesopleuron moderately to densely macropunctate, interspaces smooth to rugose, often punctatorugose or punctatostriate anteriorly; inferior metapleural area moderately to densely macropunctate, interspaces usually rugose; propodeal side vertically rugosopunctate or punctatostriate; metapleural flange lamellate, nearly as broad to broader than peritreme, outer margin arcuate (figs. 60-61); mesosternal area behind anterior coxae frequently with a pair of angular prominences; right penis valve as in figure 112.
Female. Average length 29 mm., range: 20-35 mm.
Color. As in male except gastral segment I usually completely red, remainder black (eastern United States), or gaster red with black spots on tergites II-IV (California), intermediate color forms in Great Basin region.
Vestiture. Similar to male except gena more broadly silvery (western United States); psammophore black (eastern United States) or pale (Rocky Mountains to Pacific Coast).
Structure. Labrum acuminate; clypeal disk moderately to strongly bulging, densely micropunctate, moderately macropunctate, median tree margin produced, teeth small but well developed; flagellomere I nearly twice length of II (78:44); inner orbits parallel or slightly converging above; pronotum about as in male but not as sharply rising from transverse line (fig. 74); mesosomal details as in male except scutal ridges sometimes obsolescent anteromedially and mesosternal region without angulate prominences.
Range (fig. 130). From coast to coast in the United States and southern Canada; as far south as Guatemala.
The black circles on the distribution map refer to records of the typical dark eastern form of procera. The open circles represent records of the paler western form of the species. Intermediate color forms are shown by circles with black centers.
Variation. Ammophila procera is a highly variable species as a glance at the description will indicate. As in many wasps that range across the entire width of the continent there are two distinct chromatic types in procera. East of the Rocky Mountains procera is a predominantly black insect. The abdomen is usually all black in the male and the female has only gastral segment I red. In this form the erect head hair is black and there is usually no appressed silver hair on the gena. Westward, red becomes mere extensive on the abdomen. Specimens from the Great Plains region often have both the petiole tergite and gastral tergite II red laterally in both sexes. These individuals are represented on the map by circles with black centers. This intermediate color form merges with the pale western type of procera in the Rocky Mountains. The western form, represented by open circles on the map, typically has white erect head hair and appressed silver hair on the gena. The gaster is often extensively red in the female so that there are only a few black spots on the last few gastral tergites. In Arizona and New Mexico the entire petiole is often red and the erect hair may be very short. Variation in hair length and color and also body color, becomes very complex in Mexico and this fact probably accounts in part for the many names proposed for this one species.
Variation in thoracic sculpture and particularly the shape and length of the pronotal collar, is frequent in procera. Quite often the collar, especially in the male, is very elongate. Occasional examples of procera have very weak ridges on the collar and scutum. The mesopleuron varies from smooth and moderately macropunctate to densely punctate and rugose. If it were not for the constant form of the aedeagus throughout the wide variation in this species, one would be tempted to try dividing procera into several species.
Systematics. The large size of procera and the form of the metapleural flange should facilitate recognition. The acuminate female labrum occurs only in two other species of the procera group, e. g., ma era and murrayi. Ammophila procera and macra are very similar. For differences see systematics of macra.
The types of all the names in synonymy have been studied with the exception of procera Dahlbom and barbata Smith. R. M. Bohart examined Dahlbom’s type and verified the identity of procera. The type of barbata could not be found in the British Museum in London and may be located at Oxford. I have seen completely black female procera from Mexico that fit Smith’s description of barbata.
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: 2024-04-23 16:28:09 gmt
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