Discovery of the Oriental genus Piyumoides Leclercq, 1963 (Hymenoptera, Crabronidae) in the Indian subcontinent with the description of a new species

Abstract

The genus Piyumoides Leclercq, 1963 (Hymenoptera, Crabronidae) is a rarely reported genus of crabronid wasp, till now not much is known about the genus. In the present study, we are reporting for the first time the distribution of Piyumoides Leclercq, 1963 from the Indian subcontinent with the description of a new species Piyumoides indicus Amal & Girish Kumar sp. nov. from the Western Ghats. The newly described species closely allies with the Malaysian species P. hewitti (Cameron, 1908) by having a propodeal enclosure without bordering carinae, without distinct basal striae, and having a vestigial pygidial plate. A key to the species of the genus Piyumoides is also provided with illustrations of the new species.

Keywords

• crabronini
• key
• parambikulam
• square-headed wasps
• western ghats