Xylocopa (Schonnherria) varians Smith 1874: 291–292

Mawdsley, Jonathan R., 2018, New records and diagnostic notes on large carpenter bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae: genus Xylocopa Latreille), from the Amazon River basin of South America, Insecta Mundi 631, pp. 1-15 : 10

Xylocopa (Schonnherria) varians Smith 1874: 291–292

Fig. 22

Known distribution. Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil (Amazonas, Espírito Santo, Guanabara, Guapore, Mato Grosso, Paraíba, Paraná, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, São Paulo), Colombia, Ecuador, Panamá, Paraguay ( Hurd 1978: 26–27; includes multiple named infrasubspecific varieties). Type locality: “South Brazil” ( Smith 1874: 292).

Material examined. Ecuador: Rio Yacuambi (1 ♀) .

Notes. This specimen was identified and labeled by P. Hurd as X. (S.) varians var. piurensis Cockerell (1912: 492) , a form originally described from material collected at Piura in northwestern Peru outside the Amazon basin. Additional manuscript notes from Hurd accompanying the specimens of this species in the USNM collection indicate that Hurd viewed X. (S.) varians as a species complex that may involve multiple species-level taxa. A more comprehensive revisionary treatment of this group is outside the scope of the present paper. From the other Amazon basin species of subgenus Schonnherria , females of X. (S.) varians can be identified by the combination of dark dorsal pubescence, blue dorsal iridescence, and white lateral setae on the metatarsi.

Figures

Figures 14–23. Dorsal habitus photographs of pinned, preserved specimens of females of Xylocopa (Schonnherria) species from the Amazon River basin, from the USNM collection. 14) X. (S.) dimidiata. 15) X. (S.) lucida. 16) X. (S.) macrops. 17) X. (S.) metallica. 18) X. (S.) muscaria. 19) X. (S.) ornata. 20) X. (S.) simillima. 21) X. (S.) subcyanea. 22) X. (S.) varians. 23) X. (S.) viridis.