Aphanogmus abdominalis (Thomson 1858)
- Dataset
- A photographic catalog of Ceraphronoidea types at the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris (MNHN), with comments on unpublished notes from Paul Dessart
- Rank
- SPECIES
Classification
- kingdom
- Animalia
- phylum
- Arthropoda
- class
- Insecta
- order
- Hymenoptera
- family
- Ceraphronidae
- genus
- Aphanogmus
- species
- Aphanogmus abdominalis
description
Figs 2 – 4
discussion
Comments CT found one male specimen marked as the holotype of Ceraphron myrmecophilus Kieffer, 1913 in the MNHN collections. However, there is also a male specimen marked as the holotype of this species at the NHMUK (NHMUK 010812101), as well as an additional female specimen (NHMUK 010812106) marked as an allotype. Concerning the female specimen, Kieffer only described the male of the species (1913 a) and an allotype has never been published. Though it is not a part of Kieffer’s syntype series, it is worth noting that the female was captured by the same collector in the same month and year as the two males, and mounted in the same way. Both the male NHMUK and MNHN specimens were originally card-mounted (Dessart removed the MNHN specimen from its mount when he dissected it), with collection information written on the front or back of the card mounts. Both specimens were collected at Nethy Bridge from Formica rufa Linnaeus, 1761. Based on the similar handwriting and mountings, it appears that both specimens were collected by H. Donisthorpe, though only the NHMUK specimen bears a label with Donisthorpe’s name. The MNHN specimen was collected on “ 14. vi. 12 ”, whereas the NHMUK specimen was collected on “ 12. VI. 12 ” (the female specimen was captured on “ 23. VI. 12 ”). The original locality information given in Kieffer (1913 a) (written in French) is “ Angleterre: Londres, myrmecophile (H. Donisthorpe) ”, which does not match either male specimen. However, Kieffer (1914 c) (written in German) re-describes the species and gives the locality information as “ Mit Formica rufa L., im Juni. England (Nethy Bridge) ”. Kieffer has been known to make mistakes in correctly reporting specimen localities, especially when the handwriting of the collector was poor (see Notton 2014). It appears that Kieffer made a mistake in his 1913 a publication, which he corrected in his 1914 c paper (although Nethy Bridge is actually located in Scotland, not England). Dessart dissected the card-mounted specimen at the MNHN (MNHN EY 22475) and made three slide preparations (prép. no. 6605 - 181) of an anterior and posterior wing (MNHN EY 22463), the male genitalia and metasoma (MNHN EY 22464), and the right antenna and the left mid- and hind legs (MNHN EY 22465). Although Dessart examined the specimens at both the MNHN and the NHMUK, it does not appear that he ever declared a lectotype or published anything on this species (Johnson & Musetti 2004). However, Dessart did leave a label on the female at the NHMUK which reads “ Not allotype since only ♂ described … but ♂ and ♀ = APH. crassiceps (K) ”. At this time, we consider the two male specimens at the NHMUK and the MNHN as syntypes, not holotypes. However, we synonymize Ceraphron myrmecophilus Kieffer, 1913 syn. nov. with Aphanogmus abdominalis (Thomson, 1858) based on the male genitalia morphology, body shape and especially the presence of foveae on the median length of the mesoscutellum (Mikó 2012 a, 2012 b; Mikó et al. 2013). It is possible that this species may also be synonymous with Aphanogmus crassiceps Kieffer, 1907, as Dessart believed, but we leave this to future researchers to investigate.
distribution
Distribution Nearctic and palearctic.
materials_examined
Material examined Syntype UNITED KINGDOM • ♂; “ Moeurs et patrie. Angleterre: Londres, myrmecophile (H. Donisthorpe) ” (Kieffer 1913 a: 197); MNHN EY 22475, EY 22463 to EY 22465.
Name
- Synonyms
- Calliceras abdominalis Thomson 1858
- Calliceras abdominalis subsp. abdominalis
- Calliceras cameroni (Kieffer 1907)
- Calliceras clavata subsp. violae Novitzky 1954
- Calliceras microneura (Kieffer 1907)
- Calliceras myrmecophila (Kieffer 1913)
- Calliceras pallidiventris (Ashmead 1893)
- Ceraphron abdominalis Boheman 1832
- Ceraphron cameroni Kieffer 1907
- Ceraphron microneurus Kieffer 1907
- Ceraphron mymecophilus Kieffer 1913
- Ceraphron myrmecophilus Kieffer 1913
- Ceraphron pallidiventris Ashmead 1893
- Homonyms
- Aphanogmus abdominalis (Thomson 1858)