Epicharis (Epicharitides) mesoamericana, Villamizar & Vivallo, 2024

Villamizar, Germán & Vivallo, Felipe, 2024, Taxonomic revision of the oil-collecting bee subgenus Epicharis (Epicharitides) Moure, 1945 (Hymenoptera: Apidae), with the description of two new species, European Journal of Taxonomy 928 (1), pp. 1-61 : 28-31

Epicharis (Epicharitides) mesoamericana sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:A8D5E9FD-52B8-4AFC-886C-ECB32222C4F7

Figs 6 , 12

Diagnosis

Females

Pubescence of head and mesosoma predominantly black with few whitish hairs on paraocular area, gena and propodeum; face without or with poorly developed yellow maculae on labrum and lower paraocular area; malar area reduced; yellow maculae on mesoscutellum as two elliptical spots; metasoma with orange pubescence and distinct stripe-like yellow maculae throughout discs of T2–T5; tegula and wing veins dark brown.

Male

Unknown.

Etymology

The specific epithet refers to the subcontinent where this species occurs.

Type material

Holotype

BELIZE • ♀; “Belize: Stann Creek Dist., 4 km W of Middlesex 1 May 2009, J.S. Ascher ”; AMNH.

Paratypes

BELIZE • 2 ♀♀; “Belize: Stann Creek Dist., Mama Noots Backabush Res . 2 May 2009, J.S. Ascher ”; AMNH .

Description

Holotype female ( Fig. 6A–B )

MEASUREMENTS. Approximate body length: 15.0. Head width: 4.8. Mesosoma width: 5.0. Metasoma width: 5.2. Forewing length: 11.2.

COLORATION. Head and mesosoma black, labrum and legs brown to dark brown, and metasoma orange. Integument reddish brown on ventral surface of flagellomeres except base of T1 and tarsus. Yellow maculation as follows: faint spot on corner of lower paraocular area; faint longitudinal line on disc of clypeus and supraclypeal area; at basal half of labrum, emarginated on medial area; two distinct elliptical spots (leaf shaped) on mesoscutellum, interrupted medially and towards anterior margin; irregular width stripes along T2–T5, narrower on medial area. Tegula dark brown. Wings dark brown, translucent, with dark brown veins.

PUBESCENCE. Largely black on head and mesosoma, with whitish hairs on paraocular areas above to alveolus, lower gena, area close to occipital carina, hypoepimeral lobe, area of mesoscutum near to tegula, metepisternum, metanotum and propodeum. Ferruginous hairs on hind tibia and basitarsus. Metasoma with predominantly orange pubescence except on maculae. Lateral sides of T1 with whitish hairs and a few blackish ones on discs of T1 and T5. Longer, decumbent, coarse and simple hairs on lateral sides of clypeus and at basal half of labrum. Long, scattered simple hairs on posterior margin of mandible and gena (2–4× OD), denser and longer on lower gena. Paraocular area and vertex with long, sparse plumose hairs, denser near to alveolus and longer towards frons and occipital area. Mesosoma with long and dense plumose hairs on dorsum and metepisternum (2–4× OD), sparser on dorsum and lateral sides of pronotum, and denser on metepisternum and propodeum. Lateral margins of pronotum, hypoepimeral lobe and anterior area of tegula with short and dense hairs (0.2–1× OD); longer, denser and thick hairs towards ventral surface of mesosoma. Anterior surface and lateral sides of T1 with plumose hairs as those on propodeum. Discs of terga covered by appressed pubescence except on maculae. Sparse and semi erected simple hairs on discs of T3–T5 (0.5–2 × OD), longer towards lateral sides and tomentose hairs on distal margin of T5. Long and dense simple hairs on apical margins of S2–S5 mainly on lateral sides.

SCULPTURE SURFACE. Clypeus and labrum areolate, stronger on lateral sides of clypeus and on apical half of labrum. Coarse and dense punctation on frons and occipital area near to occipital carina, sparser towards paraocular area and vertex (1–2 × puncture width), and finer on gena. Dorsum of mesosoma with sparse and fine punctation barely evident (1–3 × puncture width), sparser and finer on mesoscutellum and denser on metepisternum and propodeum. Metasoma weakly imbricate except smooth on maculae and on apical medial area of sterna.

STRUCTURES. Head broader than long (1.2: 1). Ratio of upper and lower interocular distances: 0.8: 1. Maximum interocular distance shorter than length of compound eye (0.8: 1). Clypeus broader than long (1.7: 1) with less length than clypeocellar distance (0.8: 1). Labrum slightly longer than broad (1.2–1.1: 1). Interalveolar distance longer than alveolorbital distance (2.3: 1). Interalveolar distance shorter than alveolocellar distance (0.8: 1). Lateral ocelli at the same level of the upper supraorbital tangent. Interocellar distance equal to ocellocular distance (1: 1). Frontal carina conspicuous, extending from tip of supraclypeal carina to medial ocellus (2.8 × OD). Length of F1 longer than summed length of F2 and F3 and shorter than length of F2–F4 (0.7: 0.6: 1). Vertex at the same level of the upper supraorbital line. Clypeal carinae and epistomal suture conspicuous and well-defined. Mesoscutellum rounded in lateral view.

VARIATION. The paratypes vary from the holotype by having the whitish pubescence more developed on the vertex and on the ventral surfaces of the mesepisternum and the metepisternum, by the faint macula on the labrum, nearly absent in some specimens, and by the irregular shape of the macula on the mesoscutellum.

Type locality

BELIZE: Stann Creek: Middlesex, Mayflower Bocawina National Park.

Distribution ( Fig. 12 )

Along with the type locality, this new species was also recorded at Texas A&M Soltis Center, Volcán Arenal, Alajuela Province, Costa Rica.

Comments

The combination of orange pubescence and maculae on terga differentiates this species from any other in the subgenus. The macula on mesoscutellum in E. mesoamericana sp. nov. also covers most part of the disc, as in E. obscura , but both species differ in the shape of the spot (macula as two elliptical spots in E. mesoamericana ; covering the disc entirely in E. obscura , except for a narrow perpendicular line in the middle).

The distribution of the species of E. ( Epicharitides ) prior to this research was restricted to South America, with most records from Brazil and to a lesser extent in Bolivia and Paraguay. However, the record of this new species broadens the distribution of the subgenus to Central America. The locality where this species was collected is characterized by having primarily Tropical evergreen broadleaf, lowland and hill forest ecosystems, areas also commonly found throughout Central America to northern South America (Mesoamerican and Pacific dominion sensu Morrone 2014).

The discovery of this species is of great relevance for the subgenus because it allows the creation of new hypotheses regarding the origin and dispersion of the lineage. Although the females exhibit the typical morphological characters found in the species belonging to E. ( Epicharitides ), this new species differentiates notably from the others.Additional specimens need to be examined to study the distribution range of this new species, its morphological variations and to describe the male.

Figures

Fig. 6. Epicharis (Epicharitides) mesoamericana sp. nov., holotype, ♀ (Mama Noots, Stann Creek, Belize; AMNH). A. Head, frontal view. B. Habitus, lateral view. Scale bars: A = 1 mm; B = 5 mm.

Fig. 12. Distribution records for E. lia sp. nov., E. mesoamericana sp. nov. and E. rufescens Moure & Seabra, 1959.