Aporinellus taeniatus taeniatus

Aporinellus taeniatus taeniatus (Kohl)
Pompilus taeniatus Kohl, 1886, Verh. zool.-bot. Ges. Wien, 36: 315, 336 [Type:
2, Mexico: Veracruz: Orizaba (Bilimek) (Vienna Mus.; not seen
by writer)]. — Cameron, 1893, Biol. Centr.-Amer., Hymen. II, p. Pompilus taeniolatus Dalla Torre, 1897, Cat. Hymen., VIII, p. 326. Aporus ferrugineipes Viereck, 1906, Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc, 32: 203 [Type:
2, Kansas: Clark Co., May (F. H. Snow) (KU)]. Aporinellus calif ornicus Rohwer, 1917, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 53: 240 [Type:
2', California: Alameda Co., luly 1907 (W. Giffard) (USNM, no.
19, 967)]. Aporinellus banksi Bequaert, 1919, Psyche, 26: 118, 121 [Type: 2, Texas:
Lee Co., May 1907 (Birkman) (MCZ, no. 10, 757)]. Aporinellus semirufus Banks, 1929, Psyche, 36: 326 [Type: 2, South Dakota:
Martin, 12 Sept. 1925 (H. C. Severin) (MCZ, no. 16, 234)]. New
synonym. Aporinellus bequaerti Banks, 1933, Psyche, 40: 3 [Type: 2, Texas: El Paso,
11 July 1917 (JB) (MCZ, no. 17, 030)]. Aporinellus taeniatus taeniatus Evans, 1951, Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc, 77: 282Aporinellus taeniatus semirufus Evans, 1951, ibid., pp. 285-286.
Some aspects of variation in this highly variable species are discussed below. It seems best to consider all Mexican and Central American material as belonging to the nominate subspecies; several other rather localized subspecies occur in the United States.
Female. — Length 4.5-8 mm. Head and thorax black, except mandibles and usually the margin of the clypeus somewhat rufous; legs varying from wholly black to almost wholly rufous; abdomen usually black, occasionally rufous; wings subhyaline, with a darker marginal band. Most specimens conspicuously patterned with silvery pubescence. Clypeus about 3 X as broad as high. POL:OOL about as 3:2. Antennae slender, third segment equal to from .6 to .9 X UID. Propodeal processes acutely pointed. Front basitarsus with either two or three comb-spines. Apical tarsal segments with from one to three minute spines beneath. Fore wing with two SMCs, the second small, less than twice as broad as high.
Male. — Length 4-7 mm. Wholly black except the mandibles yellowish in the middle, reddish at the apex; wings subhyaline, with a darker marginal band. Head and thorax extensively clothed with a heavy silvery or somewhat glaucous pubescence; abdomen with bands of pale pubescence. Front rather broad, the eyes diverging slightly above. Third antennal segment about twice as long as thick, slightly shorter than fourth segment. Venation as in female. SGP somewhat rounded apically, strongly elevated along the midline. Genitalia with the parameres fairly wide, the ventral surface clothed with setulae; digiti small, with a few small, straight setae; parapenial lobes rather wide (see figs. 195 and 262 in Evans, 1951).
Distribution. — British Columbia, Minnesota, and Massachusetts to Guatemala. In Mexico this species occurs from sea level on both coasts up to at least 7500 feet. (Map 73.)
Mexican and Central American specimens examined. — 79 5 2, 90 8 8 . Baja California: 1 5 , Progreso, Sierra Juarez, 5000 feet, 26 May 1956 (FXW) [CAS]. Sonora: 1 2 , 8 mi. S Santa Ana, 11 May 1953 (RCB & EIS) [CIS]; 1 2, Cocorit, 11 June 1961 (FDP) [UCD]. Sinaloa: 1 2,13 8 8 , Mazatlan, July, Aug. (HEE) [CU, MCZ]; 1 2,1 8 , 9 mi. E Chupaderos, 19 Mch. 1962 (FDP) [UCD];
7 2 2,4 8 8, 8 mi. SE Elota, 19 Apr. 1962 (FDP, LS) [UCD]. Durango: 4 8 8, Nombre de Dios, 1 Aug. 1951 (PDH) [CIS, MCZ]. Zacatecas: 2 2 2,1 8 , 15 km. E Sombrerete, 28-31 July 1951 (HEE, PDH) [CIS, MCZ]. Nuevo Leon: 1 2 , 10 mi. S Linares, 24 Dec. [CIS]. Hidalgo: 1 8 , Zimapan, 11 June 1951 (HEE) [MCZ]. Guanajuato: 1 2, Salamanca, 6000 feet, 19 Aug. 1954 (RRD) [MSU]. Nayarit: 7 2 2,2 8 8 , San Bias, Mch., July (FDP, HEE, PDH) [UCD, CIS, MCZ]; 1 2, 13 mi. SW Tepic, 23 Mch. 1962 (LS) [UCD]. Guerrero: 5 2 2, Acapulco, 1 July 1951 (HEE, PDH) [CIS, MCZ]; 1 2 , 20 mi. S Chilpancingo, 6 Aug. 1954, 3700 feet [KU]; 1 8 , 10 km. E Chilpancingo, 5200 feet, 30 July 1962 (HEE) [MCZ]; 5 2 2,1 8, Xalitla, 20 March 1959 (HEE) [CU, MCZ]; 1 2 , 24 mi. S Iguala, 18 July 1963 (FDP) [UCD]. Morelos: 4 2 2,653, Huajintlan, 11 Apr. 1959 (HEE) [CU, MCZ]; 2 8 8, Tetecala, 25 Mch. 1959 (HEE) [CU]; 12,8
8 8 , Lake Tequesquitengo, 1 Apr. 1959 (HEE) [CU, MCZ]; 3 2 2, 3 mi. N Alpuyeca, Mch., Aug. (HEE) [CU, MCZ]; 23 2 2 , 26 8 8 , Cuernavaca & vie, Mch.-July (HEE, FDP) [CU, UCD, MCZ]. Mexico: 1 2,9 88, Teotihuacan Pyramids, 7500 feet, Apr., July (HEE, PDH) [CU, CIS]. Puebla: 1 2, Tehuacan, 23 June 1951 (HEE) [MCZ]; 3 2 2,1 8 , 3 mi. NW Petlalcingo, 3 Apr. 1962 (FDP, LS) [UCD]. Veracruz: 1 2,1 8 , Veracruz, 20 June 1951 (HEE) [MCZ]. Oaxaca: 1 2 , 23 mi. S Matias Romero, 14 Aug. 1963 (FDP, LS) [UCD]. Yucatan: 1 2, Chichen Itza, 19 July 1962 (HEE) [MCZ]. Chiapas: 2 2 2,9 8 8 , San Cristobal las Casas, 7500 feet, 29 Apr.-l May 1959 (HEE) [CU, MCZ]; 1 2 , 28
Aporinellus t. taeniatus (Kohl) O Females of form A Q Females of form B Females of form C Q Females of form D D Females of form E
A Localities where males only have been taken (all five forms occur in ihe U.S.)
mi. W Cintalapa, 9 Apr. 1962 (LS) [UCD]. Guatemala: 1 5 , El Salto, Escuintla, 28 June (JB) [MCZ].
Variation. — This species would make an excellent subject for a detailed study of variation throughout its wide range, both geographically and altitudinally. Throughout the range there is a strong tendency for the formation of local races characterized by the amount of ferruginous coloration, the amount and patterning of silvery pubescence, the width of the temples, and the number of comb-spines on the front basitarsus (2 or 3). Where these races are sufficiently striking and consistent throughout a distinct portion of the range, I am inclined to use subspecific names for them (e.g., wheeled in the Alleghanian fauna of eastern United States). These local races are definable chiefly in the females, the males being virtually identical throughout the range.
In Mexico and Guatemala five types of females can be identified: all black, with little silvery pubescence (form E); all black, but with extensive silvery pubescence (form D); hind legs ferruginous (form C); all legs ferruginous (form B); abdomen and all legs ferruginous (form A) (the last three forms all extensively silvery). Form A cannot be distinguished from semirufus Banks, which I formerly regarded as a subspecies. However, since semirufus is now known from the northern Great Plains, from eastern Texas (Gillett, Austin, Bosque Co. [MCZ]), and from Mexico (Sinaloa, Nayarit, Zacatecas), in each case separated by a broad area where it is not known to occur, this form must be regarded as a polytopic subspecies or, more simply, as a color form undeserving of a trinomial. The occurrence of the various forms in Mexico and Guatemala is shown in Map 73. Two forms have been taken in one locality twice (Cuernavaca, Morelos; Petlalcingo, Puebla), three forms in one locality twice (Elota, Sinaloa; San Bias, Nayarit). The all-black form with dark pubescence (form E) occurs in the mountains of Chiapas and Guatemala, but shows up again in California. The form with wholly red legs and black body (form B) occurs in arid parts of Chiapas, in Sonora, and in various parts of southwestern United States; it may be associated with certain types of desert conditions.