Augochlora (Oxystoglossella) aurinasis ( Vachal, 1911 )

Lepeco, Anderson & Gonçalves, Rodrigo Barbosa, 2023, A review of Augochlora (Oxystoglossella) bees from South America: unexpected Amazonian diversity and assessment of vulnerable species, Journal of Natural History (Oxford, England) 57 (9 - 12), pp. 608-664 : 621-622

Augochlora (Oxystoglossella) aurinasis ( Vachal, 1911)

( Figure 13A )

Halictus aurinasis Vachal, 1911: 23 , lectotype female (MNHP) from Peru, Cuzco, Vilcanota . Subsequent designation by Moure and Hurd (1987, p. 271). Examined through photographs.

Halictus continens Vachal, 1911: 42 , holotype female (MNHP) from Bolivia, La Paz, Mapiri. Examined through photographs. New synonym.

Diagnosis

Females of this species have the basal elevation of the labrum orbicular and both sexes have the portion of mesepisternum anterior to mesepisternal groove punctate ( A. aurinasis subgroup). Augochlora aurinasis is similar to A. eucnemis , but can be readily diagnosed by the crowded punctures on frons near eye notch level; absence of blue reflections; posterior surface of the metapostnotum microreticulate on males; and punctures on the posterior surface of the mesoscutum not separated by more than PD on females. This species also resembles A. almeidai sp. nov. and A. lamellata sp. nov., but differs in having short preoccipital ridge and hypostomal carina.

Comments

We examined the holotype female of Halictus continens from La Paz and noted that it corresponds to a female of Augochlora aurinasis based on the punctures of mesepisternum anteriorly to mesepisternal groove; lack of rugulosities on mesoscutum anteriorly; sparse punctation of mesosoma and lack of copper-red reflections on metasoma. The large distribution of this species, allied to the variation in size and related features, may have led Vachal to describe it two times. Therefore, we transfer Halictus continens from synonymy with Augochlora thalia Smith, 1879 to A. aurinasis . For a recent redescription of the species and additional notes see Lepeco and Gonçalves (2020b).

Distribution

Argentina (Buenos Aires, Misiones, Salta), Brazil (Acre, Bahia, Ceará, Distrito Federal, Espírito Santo, Goiás, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Pará, Paraíba, Paraná, Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Norte, Rio Grande do Sul, Rondônia, São Paulo, Sergipe), Paraguay, Peru (Cuzco).

Examined material

Supplemental material.

Figures

Figure 13. Map of distribution records for Oxystoglossella of the A. aurinasis and A. modica species groups: (A) A. almeidai, A. aurinasis and A. meloi sp. nov.; (B) A. eucnemis, A. lamellata sp. nov., A. mineira sp. nov. and A. rightmyerae; (C) A. mendax and A. modica; (D) A. simplex sp. nov. and A. tenax.