Melissodes (Ecplectica) trifasciata (F. Smith)

Genaro, Julio A. & Franz, Nico M., 2008, The bees of Greater Puerto Rico (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila), Insecta Mundi 2008 (40), pp. 1-24 : 13

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5169664
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treatment provided by	Felipe (2021-08-06 19:55:52, last updated by Plazi 2023-11-03 19:24:12)
scientific name	Melissodes (Ecplectica) trifasciata (F. Smith)
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Melissodes (Ecplectica) trifasciata (F. Smith) View in CoL ( Fig. 23 View Figure 16-29 ).

Melissodes trifasciata Cresson, 1878d: 208 View in CoL . Holotype female in ANSP.

= Melissodes insularis Crawford, 1914: 132 View in CoL . Holotype male in USNM.

GD: Dominica, Puerto Rico (including Mona Island), and United States Virgin Islands (St. Croix and St. Thomas) ( LaBerge 1956).

LaBerge and Moure (1962) synonymized M. trifasciata with M. nigroaenea F. Smith, 1854 , an older name for a species from Brazil, without offering additional comments. These authors furthermore designated a lectotype female for M. nigroaenea deposited in the Hope Department of Entomology, Oxford University. However, both species seem to be distinct (D. Urban, personal communication 2007), and are treated separately by Moure et al. (2007). On the other hand, LaBerge communicated to Snelling (R. R. Snelling, personal communication 1997) that “ M. nigroaenea seems to be limited to South America”. It would be useful to learn why these authors amended their earlier perspective. LaBerge and Moure (1962) offered descriptive notes on the lectotype and paratype females of M. nigroaenea . Therein they mentioned some differences in hair coloration between that species and M. trifasciata . The authors offered little information on surface sculpturing which tends to be more reliable characters for species recognition. Here we treat both species as distinct.

References

Crawford, J. D. 1914. Hymenoptera, superfamilies Apoidea and Chalcidoidea, of the Yale-Dominican expedition of 1913. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 47: 131 - 134.

Cresson, E. T. 1878 d. Descriptions of new species of North American bees. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 30: 181 - 221.

LaBerge, W. E. 1956. A revision of the bees of the genus Melissodes in North and Central America. Part I (Hymenoptera, Apidae). University of Kansas Science Bulletin 37: 911 - 1194.

LaBerge, W. E., and J. S. Moure. 1962. Type specimens of American eucerine bees deposited in the British Museum (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). Boletim da Universidade do Parana, Zoologia 11: 1 - 12.

Moure, J. S., D. Urban, and G. A. R. Melo. 2007. Catalogue of bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) in the Neotropical Region. Sociedade Brasileira de Entomologia; Curitiba. 1058 p.

Smith, F. 1854. Catalogue of the hymenopterous insects in the collection of the British Museum. Part. 2. Apidae. British Museum; London. p. 199 - 465.

Figures

Figure 16-29. Apidae. 16) Anthophora tricolor (Fabr.). 17) Centris smithii Cresson. 18) C. decolorata Lepeletier. 19) C. lanipes (Fabr.). 20) C. haemorrhoidalis (Fabr.). 21) Exomalopsis analis Spinola. 22) Exomalopsis bahamica Timberlake. 23) Melissodes trifasciata Cresson. 24) Nomada pilipes (Cresson). 25) N. krugii Cresson. 26) Xeromelecta tibialis (Fabr.). 27) Mesoplia rufipes (Perty). 28-29) Xylocopa mordax F. Smith.