Trichocolletes avialis, Batley, 2012

Batley, Michael, 2012, Revision of the Australian Bee Genus Trichocolletes Cockerell (Hymenoptera: Colletidae: Paracolletini), Records of the Australian Museum (Rec. Aust. Mus.) 64 (1), pp. 1-50 : 10

Trichocolletes avialis n.sp.

Figs 47, 83

Type. Holotype ♂, 20m E Mt Madley , Western Australia, 7 Sep. 1971, in WAM 13797

Specimens examined. The holotype and the following. Northern Territory: ♂, 41 Mile Bore, 10 Jul. 1989, N. W. Rodd, AM (K.316639).

Diagnosis

Male (female unknown) eyes not hairy; metasomal bands silver; flagellum largely orange; mid basitarsus bowed; fore trochanter with spine.

Description

Male (holotype).— Head width 3.65 mm, body length 12.6 mm. Relative dimensions: HW 50, HL 36, UID 31, UFW 32, LID 32, DMA 33, HVO 4, WOC 15, MOD 4, OOD 8, IAD 9, ASD 3, AOD 9, ML 20, BMW 7, MSL 0.3, SL 12, SW 3, FL c. 43.— Eyes not hairy; face narrow; inner orbits divergent ventrally; malar space short (length c. 0.1× basal mandibular width); middle flagellomeres c. 1.3× as long as wide. Legs slender; fore trochanter with ventrallydirected spine; proximal end of mid basitarsus strongly bowed longitudinally; hind tarsus as long as hind tibia; hind basitarsus 4.1× as long as wide; hind basitibial area with pigmented posterior carina reaching apex. Gonoforceps with long, dense hair, otherwise genital capsule like that for T. orientalis n.sp. (Fig. 37); S7 (K.316639) with broad, rectangular lateral lobes, lateral edges emarginate, posterior projections, basal teeth and ligulate processes long and thin (Fig. 47).— Labrum, ventral 25% clypeus cream; mandible basally pale amber; scape, femora, tibiae, fore tarsus, distal half trochanters, most of flagellum orange-brown; flagellomeres F3–10 dorsally, mid and hind tarsi dark brown. T 1–5 with moderately broad silver bands; apex of T 7 orangebrown.— Scutum shining, closely punctate.— Face with dense, finely-branched, bright orange hair, stiffly erect on clypeus; gena with golden hair forming a beard. Scutum with close, long, plumose, orange hair; fore basitarsus with plume of pale gold hair; hind femur openly covered with moderate length, apically-directed, pale orange hair.

Etymology. The specific name is from the Latin adjective meaning out-of-way or off road, referring to the remote collection sites for the two known specimens.

Distribution. Arid areas in northern half of Australia (DMR, LSD) ( Fig. 83 ).

Figures

Figs 80–91. Known distribution of Trichocolletes species.