Pyrrhoscolia
| Pyrrhoscolia | |
|---|---|
| |
| The type species P. fax in South Africa | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Scoliidae |
| Tribe: | Scoliini |
| Genus: | Pyrrhoscolia Bradley, 1957 |
| Type species | |
| Scolia (Pyrrhoscolia) fax (Bradley, 1957)
| |
| |
| range of genus | |
Pyrrhoscolia is a genus of scoliid wasps in the subfamily Scoliinae. It is native to the Afrotropics, where they have been recorded in various Afromontane regions. They are external parasitoids of beetle larvae.[1] The wings of all three species are noted for their brilliant lustre.[2]
Description[edit]
The body and its vestiture are black, apart from the apical segments of the abdomen which are bright reddish in both sexes (3 segments in females, 4 in males). Two species of Scolia are similarly coloured, but have swarthy wings and a red spot in each ocular sinus (or sini oculares, the "bays" bordered by the kidney-shaped eyes). In males, unlike Scolia, the propodeum has two distinct horizontal lobes, which project well behind the insertion of the petiole.[2]
The forewings lack the second recurrent vein and third submarginal cell in both sexes. The wings are closely striolate apically, as with the Scoliidae generally, and feature strong blue, blue-green or golden-green effulgence.[2] The eyes are deeply notched, as with the family generally.[3] On the faces of females the front and frontal space (or spatium frontale, located between the antennae[4][5]) are separated by a distinct furrow, though not so in males. The male genitalia are distinctive.[2]
Species[edit]
Three species belong to the genus Pyrrhoscolia:[1]
- Pyrrhoscolia fax (Bradley, 1957) — Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Zimbabwe
- Pyrrhoscolia usambaraensis (Cameron, 1910) — Tanzania, Uganda
- Pyrrhoscolia nigeriensis Bradley, 1959 — Nigeria
References[edit]
- ^ a b van Noort, Simon. "Pyrrhoscolia Bradley". WaspWeb. Iziko South African Museum. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
- ^ a b c d Bradley, J. Chester (February 1959). "The Scoliidae of Africa, Part II. The genus Scolia with the exception of its typical subgenus". Annals of the Transvaal Museum. 23 (4): 340–362. doi:10.10520/AJA00411752_343. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
- ^ Scholtz, Clarke H.; Holm, Erik; et al. (1985). Insects of Southern Africa. Durban: Butterworths. p. 428. ISBN 0409-10487-6.
- ^ Bradley, J. Chester (1950). "The most primitive "Scoliidae"" (PDF). Ithaca, N.Y.: EOS, Revista Española de Entomologia: Bo. Paper 130. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
- ^ Krombein, Karl V. (1978). "Biosystematic Studies of Ceylonese Wasps, II: A Monograph of the Scoliidae (Hymenoptera: Scolioidea)" (PDF). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology (283): 1–56. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
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