Pareumenes (Nortonia) enslini (von Schulthess, 1931)

(Fig. 4)

Nortonia enslini von Schulthess, 1931: 49, ♂

— “ Palestina, Wadi el Kelt nahe Jericho ” (ETHZ).

Pareumenes mimus Giordani Soika 1981: 115, ♀, ♂

— “ Dhofar: 700 m., Ayun Pools ” (holotype female NHMUK). Junior subjective synonym of Nortonia enslini von Schulthess, 1931 according to Guichard 1986: 225.

Diagnosis. Placed in the subgenus Nortonia due to the propodeal valvula not markedly exceeding the apex of the propodeum and the bell-shaped, short and basally angled T1, it is recognized from the other species of the subgenus by the mostly impunctate and velvety body with distinct deep punctures on propodeum and metasoma, the short clypeus with apical margin as wide as interantennal space, the strongly convex and bulging vertex and gena, the absence of the pronotal carina, the weakly sinuate lateral carina of propodeum, the basally bulging S2 with a longitudinal ridge reaching the middle of the surface, the red-brown pattern with variable yellow markings, and the longitudinally striate clypeus of female.

Material examined. OMAN: Dhofar, Ayun Pools, 700 m, 10.X.1977, leg. K. Guichard, 1♀ (MSNVE, paratype of Pareumenes mimus); Dhofar, wadi Hanna, Baobab forest, Hasheer Agher vill., 315–350 m, 10.X.2022, leg. J. Dalihod, 1♀ (MSVI); Dhofar, 5 km N Aydam, R 45, 820 m, 6.X.2021, leg. M. Halada, 1♀ (CSE); Dhofar, 6 km NW Thalkut, 750 m, 30.IX.2023, leg. M. Halada, 2♂ (CSE); south Dhofar, 90 km W Salalah, 880 m, 7.X.2021, leg. A. Kudrna jr., 1♂ (MSVI); south Dhofar, 90 km W Salalah, 900 m, 7.X.2021, leg. M. Halada, 1♂ (CSE). PALESTINE: Wadi Kelt, 19–26.IV.1934, leg. Enslin, 1♀ (MSNVE).

Distribution. Egypt, Israel, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia (von Schulthess 1931; Giordani Soika 1938, 1952 a, 1970, 1981; Guichard 1986; Gusenleitner 1997) (Fig. 13G).

Notes. This species is found only at the edge of the Afrotropical region, being found in the southern areas of the Arabian Peninsula, while most of its range is found in the Palaearctic region. However, it is included in the present revision due to its clear affinities with the strictly Afrotropical species of the subgenus Nortonia, in particular P. mochii. The three species of P. (Nortonia) considered here differ from the strictly Palaearctic species of the subgenus in various characters, of which the most evident are the largely smooth and impunctate body, the pronotum lacking the dorsal carina, and the lateral carina of the propodeum only weakly sinuated or angled at the apex without forming a tooth.

The specimen from Wadi Kelt was examined by Giordani Soika (1938) to describe the female sex of this species and is labelled as allotype. However, von Schulthess (1931) reported only a male in the original description, therefore the specimen described by Giordani Soika is not a true type.

Pareumenes enslini shows a wide range of chromatic variability, ranging from entirely red-brown to widely yellow-marked. The yellow markings are usually observed on face (sometimes covering most of it), scape, T2, T3 and S2, while markings on pronotum and T1 are more rarely observed. The entirely red form is apparently the most widespread, being observed in an area covering Egypt, the Levant, and the Arabian Peninsula, while the extensively yellow-marked form appears limited to the southern areas of the Arabian Peninsula. These chromatic and geographic differences, combined with the presence of differences in the apical margin of the female clypeus and in sculpture of T2, led to the description of the yellow-marked form as a distinct species, P. mimus Giordani Soika, 1981, later synonymized by Guichard (1986) due to the lack of morphological differences. The examination of various material confirms the synonymy proposed by Guichard, since specimens from the same areas of Oman present a wide variety of patterns, covering various intermediate forms between P. enslini and P. mimus. The differences in the apical margin of the clypeus, also used to distinguish P. enslini from P. mochii (Giordani Soika 1938), proved to be inconsistent given the variability of this character in the female.