Pyrrhoscolia

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]

Pyrrhoscolia
The type species P. fax in South Africa
Scientific classification Edit this 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

Description
Horizontal lobes of the propodeum

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

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
  1. van Noort, Simon. "Pyrrhoscolia Bradley". WaspWeb. Iziko South African Museum. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  2. 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.
  3. Scholtz, Clarke H.; Holm, Erik; et al. (1985). Insects of Southern Africa. Durban: Butterworths. p. 428. ISBN 0409-10487-6.
  4. Bradley, J. Chester (1950). "The most primitive "Scoliidae"" (PDF). Ithaca, N.Y.: EOS, Revista Española de Entomologia: Bo. Paper 130. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
  5. 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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