Isodontia

Isodontia mexicana, copyright pjt56.

Belongs within: Sphecidae.

Isodontia is a cosmopolitan genus of wasps, most diverse in the Oriental and Neotropical regions, that mostly nest in pre-existing cavities such as hollow plant stems or crevices between rocks (Bohart & Menke 1976).

Characters (from Bohart & Menke 1976): Two or more flagellomeres of male with flat or curved placoids which are sometimes spiculate; clypeal free margin sometimes more or less arcuate or obtusely angular but more often broadly trapezoidal, transverse part straight, sinuate, or concave (margin exceptionally with a broad, truncate median lobe), central part of margin often thickened or double edged, often in females with a small median lobe or notch, latter sometimes bounded by two small lobes; surface of labrum plain, but in female sometimes with a median or lateral carina, or apex often with a pair of ridges or carinae which extend back along midline forming a short, narrow channel; mandible usually short, broadest at or near apex, apex not reaching base of opposite mandible when folded, apically bi- or tridentate, or with one or two (rarely three) subapical teeth on inner margin, upper surface of teeth not carinate or ridged; malar space absent or very narrow; collar with some thickness and standing apart from scutum, or sharp-edged and appressed to scutum; propodeum rarely with a defined dorsal enclosure, propodeal side without spiracular groove or groove indicated only near hindcoxa; basal veinlet of submarginal cell II sometimes equal to but more often shorter than length of anterior veinlet; anterior veinlet of submarginal cell III (part of radial sector) longer than posterobasal veinlet (part of media) or (rarely) both equal; outer surface of hindtibia spineless or nearly so; outer margin of female foreleg usually without a tarsal rake, but when present rake spines are short and there is at most a single slender seta on outer margin of tarsomere II (not including setae at outer apex), tarsomere I at most weakly asymmetrical; apicoventral blade-like setae of last tarsomere of mid and hind legs usually very broad, usually separated by a setal width or less, rarely separated by more than twice a setal breadth; claws usually long, moderately arcuate in lateral profile, prehensile, claw teeth obliquely oriented to inner margin; petiole often arcuate in lateral profile, length measured along dorsum usually more than (rarely slightly less than) combined lengths of hindtarsomeres II–IV; tergum VIII of male usually with cerci, sterna of male usually with some long, erect setae and/or transverse bands of oppressed or suberect fimbriae, rarely without either; sternum VIII triangular, rounded or truncate apically and usually notched; ventral margin of penis valve head usually with teeth and a basal process; digitus of volsella usually simple.

<==Isodontia Patton 1881 C85 (see below for synonymy)
    |--*I. philadelphica (Lepeletier 1845) C85 (see below for synonymy)
    |--I. abdita (Kohl 1895) C85 [=Sphex abditus BM76]
    |    |--I. a. abdita C85
    |    `--I. a. nugenti (Turner 1910) [=Sphex (Isodontia) abditus nugenti] C85
    |--I. albohirta (Turner 1908) [=Sphex (Isodontia) albohirtus] C85
    |--I. apicalis (Smith 1856) [=Sphex apicalis; incl. I. cinerea Fernald 1903, Chlorion harrisi Fernald 1906] BM76
    |--I. apicata (Bingham 1897) [=Ammophila apicata] BM76
    |--I. aurifrons (Smith 1859) [=Sphex aurifrons] C85
    |--I. auripes (Fernald 1906) [=Chlorion auripes; incl. Sphex tibialis Lepeletier 1845 non Fabricius 1781] BM76
    |--I. auripygata (Strand 1913) [=Sphex auripygatus] BM76
    |--I. azteca (Saussure 1867) [=Sphex aztecus; incl. S. robustus Cameron 1889] BM76
    |--I. bastiniana Richards 1937 BM76
    |--I. boninensis (Tsuneki 1973) [=Sphex boninensis] BM76
    |--I. bruneri (Fernald 1943) [=Chlorion bruneri] BM76
    |--I. chrysorrhoea (Kohl 1890) [=Sphex chrysorrhoeus; incl. S. hewitti Cameron 1906] BM76
    |--I. clavigera (Smith 1856) [=Sphex clavigera] C85
    |--I. costipennis (Spinola 1851) [=Sphex costipennis] BM76
    |--I. cyanipennis (Fabricius 1793) (see below for synonymy) BM76
    |--I. diodon (Kohl 1890) [=Sphex diodon; incl. S. maia Bingham 1894] BM76
    |    |--I. d. diodon BM76
    |    |--I. d. alemon van der Vecht 1957 BM76
    |    |--I. d. nigelloides (Strand 1915) [=Sphex nigelloides] BM76
    |    |--I. d. philippensis (Rohwer 1922) [=Chlorion philippense] BM76
    |    `--I. d. severini (Kohl 1898) [=Sphex severini; incl. S. malayanus Cameron 1902] BM76
    |--I. dolosa (Kohl 1895) [=Sphex dolosus] BM76
    |--I. edax (Bingham 1897) [=Sphex edax] BM76
    |--I. egens (Kohl 1898) [=Sphex egens] BM76
    |--I. elegans (Smith 1856) [=Sphex elegans, *Murrayella elegans] BM76
    |--I. exornata Fernald 1903 [incl. Sphex instabilis Smith 1856] BM76
    |--I. formosicola (Strand 1913) [=Sphex formosicola] BM76
    |--I. franzi (Cameron 1902) [=Sphex franzi] BM76
    |--I. fuscipennis (Fabricius 1804) (see below for synonymy) BM76
    |--I. guaranitica Willink 1951 BM76
    |--I. harmandi (Pérez 1905) [=Sphex harmandi] BM76
    |--I. insularis (Cameron 1901) [=Sphex insularis] BM76
    |--I. jaculator (Smith 1860) [=Sphex jaculator] BM76
    |--I. laevipes (Fox 1897) [=Sphex laevipes] BM76
    |--I. leonina (Saussure 1890) [=Sphex leoninus, *Leontosphex leoninus] BM76
    |--I. longiventris (Saussure 1867) [=Sphex longiventris; incl. S. meruensis Cameron 1908] BM76
    |--I. maidli (Yasumatsu 1938) [=Sphex maidli] BM76
    |--I. mexicana (Saussure 1867) [=Sphex mexicanus; incl. S. apicalis Harris 1835 (n. n.) non Smith 1856] BM76
    |--I. morosa (Smith 1860) [=Sphex morosus; incl. S. volatilis Smith 1860] BM76
    |    |--I. m. morosa BM76
    |    `--I. m. triodon (Kohl 1890) [=Sphex triodon] BM76
    |--I. nigella (Smith 1856) C85 [=Sphex nigella C85; incl. S. xanthognathus Pérez 1905 BM76]
    |--I. obscurella (Smith 1856) [=Sphex obscurella] C85
    |--I. ochroptera (Kohl 1890) [=Sphex ochropterus] BM76
    |--I. paludosa (Rossi 1790) (see below for synonymy) BM76
    |--I. paranensis (Berland 1927) [=Sphex paranensis] BM76
    |--I. pelopoeiformis (Dahlbom 1845) [=Sphex poelopoeiformis] BM76
    |--I. pempuchi (Tsuneki 1971) [=Sphex pempuchi] BM76
    |--I. permutans (Turner 1912) [=Sphex permutans] BM76
    |--I. petiolata (Drury 1773) [=Sphex petiolatus; incl. S. vagus Christ 1791 non Linnaeus 1758] BM76
    |--I. poeyi Pate 1948 BM76
    |--I. praslinia (Guérin-Méneville 1831) [=Sphex praslinius] BM76
    |--I. sepicola (Smith 1859) [=Sphex sepicola] BM76
    |--I. simoni (du Buysson 1897) [=Eremochares simoni; incl. Sphex trichionotus Cameron 1910] BM76
    |--I. simplex (Kohl 1898) [=Sphex simplex] BM76
    |--I. sonani (Yasumatsu 1938) [=Sphex sonani] BM76
    |--I. splendidula (Costa 1858) BM76 (see below for synonymy)
    |--I. stanleyi (Kohl 1890) [=Sphex stanleyi] BM76
    |--I. ustulata (Kohl 1890) [=Sphex ustulatus] BM76
    |--I. vidua (Smith 1856) [=Sphex vidua] C85
    `--I. visseri Willink 1951 BM76

Isodontia Patton 1881 C85 [incl. Leontosphex Arnold 1945 BM76, Murrayella Bohart & Menke 1963 nec Kofoid 1907 (ICBN) nec Schmitz 1893 (ICBN) BM76]

Isodontia cyanipennis (Fabricius 1793) [=Sphex cyanipennis; incl. I. bipunctata Rohwer 1913, S. nigrocoeruleus Taschenberg 1869] BM76

Isodontia fuscipennis (Fabricius 1804) [=Pepsis fuscipennis; incl. Sphex chrysobaptus Smith 1856, S. petiolatus Smith 1856 non Drury 1773] BM76

Isodontia paludosa (Rossi 1790) [=Sphex paludosus; incl. S. eversmanni André 1888, S. fuscatus Dahlbom 1843 non Fabricius 1793, S. parthenius Costa 1858] BM76

*Isodontia philadelphica (Lepeletier 1845) C85 [=Sphex philadelphicus C85; incl. S. digueti Berland 1927 BM76, S. macrocephalus Fox 1890 BM76]

Isodontia splendidula (Costa 1858) BM76 [=Sphex splendidulus BM76; incl. S. affinis Lucas 1849 non Fabricius 1793 BM76, E12]

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[BM76] Bohart, R. M., & A. S. Menke. 1976. Sphecid Wasps of the World. University of California Press: Berkeley.

[C85] Cardale, J. C. 1985. Vespoidea and Sphecoidea. In: Walton, D. W. (ed.) Zoological Catalogue of Australia vol. 2. Hymenoptera: Formicoidea, Vespoidea and Sphecoidea pp. 150–303. Australian Government Publishing Service: Canberra.

[E12] Evenhuis, N. L. 2012. Publication and dating of the Exploration Scientifique de l'Algérie: Histoire Naturelle des Animaux Articulés (1846–1849) by Pierre Hippolyte Lucas. Zootaxa 3448: 1–61.