Pseudapis lisetae Pauly & Monks, 2023

Pauly, Alain, Monks, Joseph & Polaszek, Andrew, 2023, Two new species of Pseudapis Kirby, 1900 (Hymenoptera: Halictidae: Nomiinae) from Oman, Zootaxa 5263 (1), pp. 107-121 : 114-118

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.5263.1.6
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:DF78096E-90C4-4BB9-8085-BD07E6A7F91D
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7805376
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03E4F47B-DB61-691F-FF12-20BDFECDF852
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Pseudapis lisetae Pauly & Monks
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

Pseudapis lisetae Pauly & Monks sp. nov.

( Figs 7–11 View FIGURE 7 View FIGURE 8 View FIGURE 9 View FIGURE 10 View FIGURE 11 )

Description. Male. Length 6 mm. Colour: body black; mandibles, undersides of antennae, tibiae and sterna brown ( Fig. 7 View FIGURE 7 ); apical lobe of hind tibiae, tarsi (except distal segment of mid legs and all segments of hind tarsi) ivory white; tegulae white with a very reduced dark central patch. Basal part of terga 1-3 brown.

Pubescence slightly ochraceous white ( Fig. 8A View FIGURE 8 ). Face covered with white pubescence up to the ocelli ( Fig. 9A View FIGURE 9 ); area of ocelli and vertex partially covered with pubescence, but not completely obscuring punctuation; anterior and posterior edge of the scutum, lateral lamellae of the pronotum and metanotum with short scaly pubescence ( Fig. 9B View FIGURE 9 ); base and lateral parts of the first tergum ( Fig. 9E View FIGURE 9 ), base and apical margin of subsequent terga with felted bands ( Fig. 9F View FIGURE 9 ). Femora all along the lower part with short, scaly bristles ( Fig. 8B View FIGURE 8 ). Tibiae covered with white pubescence ( Fig. 8B View FIGURE 8 ).

Punctation and structures. Mesoscutum smooth with medium strength punctation, the distance between punctures equal to their diameters ( Fig. 9C View FIGURE 9 ). Scutellum without projections ( Fig. 9C View FIGURE 9 ). Posterior femora slightly swollen. Propodeal area narrow, slightly grooved and keeled posteriorly ( Fig. 8D View FIGURE 8 ). Posterior tibiae with a slightly developed lobe ( Fig. 8B View FIGURE 8 ). Distal tarsal segment of the mid legs black, slightly dilated, without long bristles. Terga smooth with strong punctation in the middle, denser and finer on the apical margins ( Figs 9E, F View FIGURE 9 ). Apical margin of tergum 2 expanded medially ( Fig. 9F View FIGURE 9 ). Sternum 4 without specific structures, sternum 5 with a medio-apical keel comprising two closely spaced lamellae.

Female. Length 6–6.5 mm. Colour: Body and legs red-brown ( Fig. 10 View FIGURE 10 ). Tegulae white with a dark spot at the base ( Fig. 11C View FIGURE 11 ).

Pubescence white. Face and vertex covered with pubescence ( Fig. 11A View FIGURE 11 ). Lateral keels of the pronotum, anterior and posterior edge of the scutum and scutellum, entire metanotum and flanks of the propodeum with dense felted pubescence ( Fig. 11B, D View FIGURE 11 ), front of the scutum with scale-like pubescence ( Fig. 11C View FIGURE 11 ). Tergum 1 with the basal half and flanks lined with pubescence ( Fig. 11E View FIGURE 11 ). Tergum 2 with a broad basal band and an apical band. Subsequent terga almost entirely covered with felted pubescence ( Fig. 11F View FIGURE 11 ).

Punctation and structure. Mesoscutum smooth, the punctures of average size, the distance between punctures equal to their diameter ( Fig. 11C View FIGURE 11 ). Propodeal area narrow, slightly grooved and keeled posteriorly ( Fig. 11D View FIGURE 11 ). Relatively fine and dense punctation of the terga on the base and the apical margin, almost absent in the middle ( Figs 11E, F View FIGURE 11 ).

Diagnosis. This species belongs to the genus Pseudapis by its large tegulae and the apical bands on the terga (in the close genus Nomiapis there are only basal bands).

Male. The species is close to Pseudapis crassivertex Bossert & Pauly, 2019 and P. nubica ( Warncke, 1976) : the sternum 4 does not have structures, and sternum 5 has a small medio-apical keel. Hind tibiae are narrow shaped, and femora have short, scaly bristles all along the length of the lower part. Distal tarsal segments of anterior and median legs oval and black. The new species differs however from these two species by the scutellum lacking spines. The vertex is a little less developed than in P. crassivertex and has some felted pubescence behind the ocelli, which is not found in P. crassivertex (see Fig. 7A View FIGURE 7 in Bossert and Pauly).

The species is also close to the Palaearctic species Pseudapis tadzhica (Popov, 1956) , a species similar having the short tibial lobe and unmodified sternum 4, but which differs by sternum 5 without apical keel and scutellum with two projections.

The new species differs from P. duplocincta (Vachal, 1897) and P. innesi (Gribodo, 1894) (Figs 167 and 169 in Pauly, 1990) by having the tibiae of hind legs narrow ( Fig. 8B View FIGURE 8 ).

With the key of Bossert & Pauly (2019) to the males of Pseudapis , we arrive at couplet 19. The keys should be updated as follow:

19. Lobe of hind tibiae narrow ( Fig. 8B View FIGURE 8 ) …........................................ P. lisetae Pauly & Monks sp. nov. - Lobe of hind tibiae well developed ((Figs 167 and 169 in Pauly, 1990) …....................................... 19a 19a. Couplet 19 in Bossert & Pauly (2019) … P. duplocincta (Vachal, 1897) and P. innesi (Gribodo,................... 1894)

Female. In the key of Bossert & Pauly (2019) we arrive at couplet 6. The species is close to P. crassivertex and P. nubica by the small size, the scutum smooth, the propodeal area with a small posterior carina, and the dense punctation of tergum 1. The new species differs by the much denser punctation on the scutum. The vertex is a little less developed than in P. crassivertex and covered with white felting (compare Fig. 11 A, B View FIGURE 11 with Fig. 6D View FIGURE 6 and 7B View FIGURE 7 in Bossert & Pauly, 2019). The body is entirely red-brown while in P. crassivertex it is mostly black. The body is slightly larger (6-6,5 mm) than P. crassivertex . The lateral sides of the propodeum bear two types of punctation, one wide, spaced and shallow, the other very thin and dense. The propodeal area is narrow and keeled posteriorly.

Etymology. Named for Liset Lansaat, niece of the third author (Andrew Polaszek).

Holotype. 1♁, Oman, Old road to Sur, 23°10.03′N 058°06.12′E, 560 m, 23.VI.2016, Blepharis ciliaris , leg. J. Monks ( NHMUK). GoogleMaps

Paratypes. 3♀, idem (1 PT NHMUK; 1 PT ONHM; 1 PT RBINS) .

Geographic distribution. The species is known only from the typical locality in Oman ( Fig. 1C View FIGURE 1 , blue dot).

Host plants. Pseudapis lisetae was collected while visiting the flowers of Blepharis ciliaris (L.) ( Acanthaceae ) ( Fig. 12D View FIGURE 12 ). This small perennial contains small purple to purple-blue flowers with a white corolla, with the flowers occurring on short spikes. B. ciliaris is abundant in rocky, arid sites such as along the sides of wadis and grows from 10- 800 m. Outside of Oman the plant is found in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iran and Pakistan ( Ghazanfar 2015). More data concerning visited plants are needed to confirm Pseudapis lisetae is a polylectic bee as is the case for other Pseudapis species.