Houstonapis, Engel, 2019

Engel, Michael S., 2019, Notes on the classification of Ctenocolletes (Hymenoptera: Stenotritidae), Journal of Melittology 2019 (92), pp. 1-6 : 4

Houstonapis Engel , new subgenus

ZooBank: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:B3E1BD8D-46ED-40F3-9FF6-1A79D6EC03FC

TYPE SPECIES: Ctenocolletes fulvescens Houston, 1983a .

DIAGNOSIS: This is subgenus is one of the more distinctive owing to the unique absence of a pygidial plate in males, a feature shared with Stenotritus . Indeed, it may be warranted to eventually recognize the subgenus at generic rank alongside other stenotritids. Like Ctenocolletes proper, females possess arolia and the male compound eyes converge slightly above. The metasomal integument is a generally orange color, lacking the yellow bands of Tigriocolletes , as well as white setal bands (present in Ctenocolletes s.str.) and acarinaria (present only in some Ctenocolletes s.str.). The male eighth sternum uniquely possesses a broad, deep medioapical concavity, bordered laterally by short processes (in Ctenocolletes s.str. the sternum has an exceedingly short, broadly transverse medial process with its apical margin either bluntly truncate, indented, or weakly trilobed).

ETYMOLOGY: The new subgeneric name honors Terry F. Houston, one of the great statesmen of Australian melitology and who provided modern revisions of Ctenocolletes ( Houston, 1983a, 1983b, 1985) and our most detailed accounts of stenotritid biology ( Houston, 1975, 1984, 1987a, 1987b; Houston & Thorp, 1984). His recent guide to the bees of Australia is an indispensable resource for the continent ( Houston, 2018). The name is a combination of his surname with apis (Latin, meaning, “bee”). The gender of the name is feminine.

INCLUDED SPECIES: The subgenus presently includes only the type species, known from a few localities in southern Western Australia and extreme southwestern South Australia right along the border with Western Australia.