Anoplius simulans (Cresson 1869)

Anoplius (Anoplius) simulans (Cresson)
Pompilus simulans Cresson, 1869, Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., 12: 367 [Type:
$, Mexico: Veracruz: Orizaba (F. Sumichrast) (ANSP, no. 557)].
— Cameron, 1893, Biol. Centr.-Amer., Hymen. II, p. 200. Pompilus interstitialis Cameron, 1893, Biol. Centr.-Amer., Hymen. II, pp. 195-
196 [Type: 9, Panama: Volcan de Chiriqui, 2-3000 feet (GCC)
(BMNH, no. 19, 691)]. New synonym. Anoplius simulans Bradley, 1944, Notulae Naturae, Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., no.
145, p. 9. — Dreisbach, 1950, Amer. Midi. Nat., 43: 586.
Description of type female of interstitialis. — Length 12 mm.; fore wing 10 mm. Black; pubescence wholly dark, with moderate bluish reflections over the entire body; wings moderately infuscated, somewhat violaceous. Erect setae present on clypeus, front, vertex, temples, propleura, front coxae, pronotum, and in some abundance on the mesopleura and propodeum; mesonotum, middle and hind coxae, and femora weakly setose; Tl with short hairs basally, the other tergites weakly setose except the apical one strongly bristly; venter prominently setose. Clypeus 2.2 X as wide as high, truncate below. Front narrow, MID .52 X TFD, 1.10 X LID; UID .81 X LID. POL:OOL = 3:4. First three antennal segments in a ratio of about 14:5:23, segment three equal to 1.10 X UID. Vertex passing straight across between eye tops. Pronotum sharply angulate behind. Slope of propodeum low and even, median line barely impressed. Front basitarsus weakly spinose, the spines of the upper row minute, visible with difficulty, two of the three spines of the lower row approximately as long as the width of the basitarsus. Fore wing with the basal vein arising slightly basad of the transverse median vein; marginal cell removed from wing tip by about its own length; SMC3 slightly wider below than second but more strongly narrowed above because of the strong arcuation of the third intercubital vein.
Description of a paratype male of simulans. — Length 8 mm.; fore wing 7 mm. Black; wings subhyaline, slightly darker along the outer margin. Pubescence conspicuously silvery on the sides of the lower front and clypeus, base of the mandibles, temples, coxae, a major portion of the pronotum and mesopleura, posterior half of the propodeum, and base of the first abdominal segment; pubescence elsewhere brownish, obscurely violaceous. Head and propleura densely hairy; coxae and thoracic dorsum and pleura more hairy than usual in this subgenus; propodeum with many erect hairs; venter rather hairy, the hairs on S4 and 5 long and dense, forming brushes which are continuous in both lateral and ventral aspects, S3 with only a few long setae. Head about 1.17 X as wide as high, vertex forming a gentle arc above the eye tops. Clypeus 2.2 X as wide as high, truncate below. Front of moderate width, MID .63 X TFD; UID and LID subequa!. Oce'ii in a compact triangle, OOL about twice POL. First four antennal segments in a ratio of about 5:2:5:5, segment three about 2.5 X as long as thick. Pronotum sharply angulate behind. Slope of propodeum rather low and even, median line distinctly impressed. Last segment of front tarsus rather weakly produced on the inner margin, this segment widest about two-thirds the distance from the base. Longer spur of hind tibia .9 the length of the basitarsus. Marginal cell removed from wing tip by about its own length; SMC3 narrowed by .8 above. SGP slender, its sides approaching very gradually to a narrow, subtruncate apex (fig. 79). Genitalia with the parameres elongate, nearly as long as the parapenials; digiti spindle-shaped, tapering to an acute apex, covered with slightly curved, mostly upward-directed setae; base of digitus with one strong seta (fig. 46).
Distribution. — Central Mexico to Panama, chiefly at moderate or fairly high elevations. (Map 57.)
Specimens examined. — 14 99, 16 <W. San Luis Potosi: 1
9 , 5 mi. W Xilitla, 22 July 1954, 2400 feet (KU Mex. Exped.) [KU].
Veracruz: 4 S $ , Orizaba (F. Sumichrast) [type series, ANSP]; 1
9,2 s S , Orizaba, 12-22 Aug. 1961 (RRD) [MSU]; 1 9 , Cosco-
matepec, 27 Apr. 1962 (FDP) [UCD]. Morelos: 2 $ S , Cuer-
navaca, 5500 feet, 1 March, 9 July (HEE, RRD) [MCZ, MSU]; 1
$ , 5 mi. E Cuernavaca, 22 Mch. 1962 (LS) [UCD]. Chiapas: 1 $ ,
20 mi. W San Cristobal las Casas, 6000 feet, 3 May 1959 (HEE)
[MCZ]; 2 9 9,1 s, lxtapa, 11 Apr. 1962 (FDP) [UCD]. Costa
Rica: 1 S , Mt. Redondo, 1902 [ANSP]; 1 9 , LaLola, 19 July 1963
(HAS) [OSU]; 1 $ , Monteverde, 1400 meters, 1 Feb. 1963 (CWR)
[KSU]; 5 9 9,3 $ S , 6 mi. W Turrialba, 14-23 July 1963 (HAS)
[OSU]. Panama: 3 9 9, Volcan de Chiriqui, 2000-6000 feet, (two
GCC, one without name of collector) [BMNH, CU].
Variation. — The female from Volcan de Chiriqui listed in the Biologia CentraliAmericana as omiltemensis Cameron is slightly smaller than the type of interstitialis (9.5 mm., fore wing 8.5 mm.) but very similar in most respects. The front is slightly broader, MID measuring .55 X TFD, and the third antennal segment is subequal to UID. The Mexican females are 8-10 mm. long. In these specimens MID varies from .50 to .55 X TFD, UID from .90 to 1.15 X UID.
The available males range in size from 6 to 8.5 mm. and are very similar in pubescence, pilosity, wing venation, and most structural details. POL:OOL varies from 1:2 to 3:4. In several males, the brushes of hair on the venter are less strong than described above, especially on the fifth sternite; the hairs are long, but not especially dense. The Costa Rica, Morelos, and Chiapas males have terminalia very similar to those of the type series except that the digiti are slightly less attenuate apically and have slightly shorter, sparser, and straighter
hairs; the digiti of a Morelos specimen are shown in fig. 45. Dreisbach (1950, fig. 8) has presented a photograph of the genitalia of a paratype other than the one described above, but having virtually identical genitalia.

Anoplius (Anoplius) simulans (Cresson)

Pompilus simulans Cresson, 1869, p. 367 (S, Mexico).

Pompilus interstitialis Cameron, 1893, p. 195 (♀, Panama; synonymy by Evans, 1966a).

Anoplius (Anoplius) simulans.—Evans, 1966a, p. 340.

It comes as a great surprise to find this species on Dominica. The previously known range extends from Central Mexico to Panama, where it occurs chiefly at moderate to high elevations. I have seen no other Antillean material of this species, and in fact the subgenus is represented in the West Indies only by A. bermudensis Banks and by the widely distributed neotropical species A. fulgidus Cresson. I am not aware that simulans has been collected in northern South America. In my 1966a paper I noted and figured variation in the male genitalia. The single male taken on Dominica has digiti similar to Figure 45 in that paper. Since Costa Rica males have digiti of this type (and Veracruz males slightly different digiti), it is my suspicion that simulans will be found to range at higher elevations through Colombia, Venezuela, Trinidad, and other of the Lesser Antilles (rather than through the Greater Antilles). These areas have been poorly collected, and simulans appears to be a rare species in all parts of its range.

The two specimens from Dominica were both taken at moderate elevations: 1♂, South Chiltern, 18–19 August (Jackson); 1♀ Pont Cassé, 27–30 November (Spangler). The female keys out well in my 1966a paper, the male less well because of the fact that the pubescence is mainly dark, silvery only on the front and clypeus, somewhat cinereous on the coxae and the apical half of the abdomen. In all structural details, however, it agrees well with Central American males.