Hemisiella Moure

Genaro, Julio A. & Breto, Dayron, 2024, The genus Centris Fabricius in Cuba, with a new record and the description of a new species (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila), Insecta Mundi 2024 (41), pp. 1-26 : 14-17

Subgenus Hemisiella Moure

Diagnosis. Species of the subgenus are morphologically homogenous and can be recognized by the pattern of facial coloration in both sexes, with males having a broad yellow transverse spot on the clypeus and females having a dark brown to black clypeus with two very large, oblique yellow patches; the swollen hind leg of the male, of which the metabasitarsus usually has a spine on the inner margin and the trochanter a spine-shaped projection; and an elliptical primary basitibial plate, with the secondary plate covered with dense, short pubescence, in the female ( Snelling 1974, 1984; Michener 2007; Vivallo and Velez 2016).

Species in this subgenus utilize preexisting cavities in a variety of substrates for nesting ( Michener and Lange 1958; Jayasingh and Freeman 1980; Snelling 1984; Buschini and Wolff 2006), although some species may also nest in the ground ( Vivallo and Vélez 2016).

Six species occur in the Antilles: C. barbadensis Cockerell , C. crassipes F. Smith , C. fulviventris Cresson , C. lanipes Fabr. and C. rhodadelpha Cockerell , Centris tarsata F. Smith , new record.