Philanthus pulawskii sp. nov.

Fig. 22A–D

Type material: Holotype (♀) (EFC), Egypt: North Coast, El Hammam (Marsa Matrouh Governorate) [30 Q 51′21′′N 29 Q 21′18′′E], 28.viii.2022, sweep net, Alyaa A. Malash collector (with head, thorax and gaster separated, head and gaster glued on a triangular card).

Description of female holotype: Body length: 12 mm, forewing length: 5.6 mm.

Colouration: Body partly ivory white (with yellow hue in some areas), partly black: face whitish below antennal sockets extending laterally to eye emargination and mesally to middle ocellus, except for two small black spots slightly above antennal sockets, black above emargination laterally; first three antennal segments ivory, rest of antenna reddish brown ventrally and black dorsally; mandible ivory with brownish outer margin and darkened tip; pronotal collar, scutellum and postscutellum ivory, pronotal lobe ivory, mesoscutum black (except just before tegula), propodeum black (except for relatively large lateral whitish to yellowish marking), humeral plate and tegula ivory white (Fig. 22A–D), wing membrane hyaline, pterostigma pale brown with dark brown border, veins brownish; propleuron (except for small whitish marking above) and metapleuron black, mesopleuron black, ivory anterodorsally and dorsally (Fig. 22C), legs whitish (except mid and hind coxae yellow and hind femur black, white distally) (Fig. 22C), T 1 ferruginous apically with thin ivory band basally, T 2, T 4 and T 6 ivory, T 3 ivory, narrowly interrupted medially and black basally, with small, rounded black spot laterally on each of lateral spots, T 5 entirely black (Fig. 22D), S 2 – S 3 ivory with black bands apically, S 4 – S 5 ivory, pygidial plate brownish.

Head (Fig. 22A): face (below antennal sockets) including clypeus mostly smooth, clypeus shiny, simple, with median lobe slightly bulging medially, with two lateral rounded teeth apically; mandible mostly smooth, face (above antennal sockets) densely punctate in black area, coarsely and densely punctate in yellow area, malar space insignificant; F1-6 distinctly wider than long.

Thorax (Fig. 22B, C): pronotal collar smooth, shiny with rounded shoulders, straight anteriorly; mesoscutum shiny, with deep, sparse punctures, scutellum smooth, with few superficial punctures; black area of propodeum including dorsal enclosure shiny, smooth with thin, inconspicuously shagreened median sulcus, lateral whitish area of propodeum with dense coarse punctures, propleuron finely striated transversely, upper mesopleuron nearly smooth, lower mesopleuron densely punctate. hind tibia with 5 spines along its length arranged in two longitudinal rows, hind basitarsus with 6 spines along its length.

Gaster (Fig. 22D): T 1 – T 3 with coarse, dense punctures, denser on T 1 and T 2 (especially among whitish bands), black basal area of T 2 nearly smooth, T 4 – T 6 with sparse moderate punctures, all sterna with very few sparse, fine punctures, last (epipygium) tergum parallel-sided, covered with fine setae.

Male: Unknown.

Etymology: This species is named in honour of the sphecid expert W. J. Pulawski, who confirmed that the species is an undescribed one.

Egyptian localities: Known only from El Hammam, North Coast of Egypt (present study).

Comment: The new species does not agree with any of the North African species. It moves to couple 12 in de Beaumont’s key of the African species (1961: 212) between P. ammochrysus and P. schulthessi. It differs from both in having lower face nearly smooth and shiny (distinctly punctate in P. ammochrysus (densely) and schulthessi (less densely)). It resembles P. schulthessi and P. minor in having hind femur with long setae ventrally, however, differs from both in having a nearly smooth linear sulcus of propodeal dorsum (sulcus coarsely rugose and extending to the base in the form of a triangle in P. minor and P. schulthessi), in addition to a different colour pattern.