Lasioglossum villosulum subsp. villosulum (Kirby, 1802)

Pauly, Alain, Noël, Grégoire, Sonet, Gontran, Notton, David G. & Boevé, Jean-Luc, 2019, Integrative taxonomy resuscitates two species in the Lasioglossum villosulum complex (Kirby, 1802) (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Halictidae), European Journal of Taxonomy 541, pp. 1-43 : 14-20

Subspecies villosulum

Synonymy

Melitta villosula Kirby, 1802: 62 . Type: 1 ♂, England ( NHMUK013380582 ) , male lectotype designated by Ebmer 1988: 649. Examined by DGN ( Fig. 6 ).

Melitta punctulata Kirby, 1802: 66 . Type: 1 ♀, England, [Kent] Barham (NHMUK013380583). Syn. by Dalla Torre 1896: 90. The holotype examined by DGN ( Fig. 7 ), is a typical L. villosulum villosulum , small size, large sparse punctures, etc. It does not agree with the pseudocryptic species.

Halictus hirtellus Schenck, 1869: 311 . Type: 1 ♀, Germany, Elberfeld near Letmathe an der Lenne, leg. Cornelius (SMF), lectotype designated by Ebmer 1975: 244; syn. by Blüthgen 1920: 278, 1930: 743. Examined by AP ( Fig. 5 ).

Halictus pauperatulellus Strand, 1909: 44 . Holotype: ♂, Algeria, Blidah-Médéah, Jul.–Aug. 1884, leg. Quedenfeldt (MNHUB). Syn. by Blüthgen 1922: 318. Examined by AP ( Fig. 8 ).

Halictus barkensis Blüthgen, 1930: 224 . Types: “ 1 ♀, 1 ♂ ”, Libya, Bengasi, 20 Aug. 1924, coll. Blüthgen (MNHUB), not examined.

Halictus villosulus perlautus Cockerell, 1938a: 82 . Holotype: 1 ♂, Morocco, Asni, Aug. 1930, leg. Cockerell (NHMUK013380275). Syn. by Warncke 1973: 290. Examined by DGN.

Halictus rufotegularis Cockerell, 1938b: 7 . Holotype: 1 ♀, Morocco, Ifrane, 27 Aug. 1930, leg. Alice Mackie (AMNH). Syn. by Ebmer 1976: 253 (21 March) and Warncke 1976: 95 (15 October). Examined by AP ( Fig. 9 ).

Halictus villiersi Benoist, 1941: 80 . Holotype: ♀, Morocco, Djebel Tachdirt, 2500 m, 15–31 Aug. (MNHN). Syn. by Warncke 1973: 290. Examined by AP ( Fig. 10 ).

Remarks

Halictus hirtellus

The type of Halictus hirtellus Schenck, 1869 , was examined by Blüthgen (1920: 278). Blüthgen (1930: 743) also mentions our pseudocryptic species as a form needing more research and he specifies that it is not Halictus hirtellus (“die nicht etwa hirtellus Schck ist”). Ebmer (1975) designated a lectotype from Letmathe an der Lenne (51°22′ N, 7°36′ E), a locality in Germany, that is out of the distribution of the new sub-Mediterranean pseudocryptic species L. medinai (the specimen from Germany in the cluster of L. medinai comes from a locality further south: Baden-Württemberg, Müllheim, 47°49′ N, 7°37′ E).

Halictus barkensis

Blüthgen described this species as close to L. villosulum , but with a longer head. Ebmer (1974: 188; 1976: 253) considered L. barkense as a valid species occurring in Morocco (Grand Atlas), Libya, Israel and Turkey, but Warncke (1976: 94), Ebmer (1988: 649) and Pesenko (2007a: 41) considered it a synonym of L. villosulum .

Halictus villiersi

The type of H. villiersi is relatively small (6 mm), the punctation of the scutum is relatively dense and the propodeum is relatively well wrinkled. Ebmer (1974: 188; 1976: 253) considered L. villiersi as a synonym of L. barkense ( Blüthgen, 1930) but Ebmer (1988: 649) reassessed it as a synonym of L. villosulum .

Distribution

Distribution (the asterisk * means that identification of specimens from that country has been confirmed in the current study): This subspecies is distributed throughout the western Palaearctic. Described from the United Kingdom, it is known from the Azores* (Weismann et al. 2017: 82), Madeira ( Fellendorf et al. 1999: 4), Canary Islands ( Warncke 1975b: 205), Spain * (including the Balearics*) ( Ortiz-Sanchez & Pauly 2017: 40), France * (including Corsica) ( Pauly & Belval 2017: 27), Belgium *, The Netherlands *, Luxemburg *, Germany *, Denmark ( Rasmussen et al. 2016: 47), Norway *, Sweden ( Svensson et al. 1990: 50), Finland * (north to 64° N), Ireland *, Switzerland ( Amiet et al. 2001: 150), Italy * (including Sardinia), Austria ( Ebmer 1988: 649), Czech Republic and Slovakia ( Pridal 2004: 40), Poland ( Pesenko et al. 2000: 291), Slovenia ( Gogala 1999: 19), Serbia *, Croatia *, Romania ( Goaga 2003: 193), Bulgaria *, Greece * (including Crete *), Ukraine, Turkey ( Warncke 1975a: 91), Israel * ( Bytinsky-Salz & Ebmer 1974: 188), Russia ( Levchenko 2015: 17), Udmurtia ( Pesenko 2007b: 113), Iran ( Ebmer 1978c: 76), Afghanistan ( Ebmer 1974: 200), India (Himashal Pradesh; Ebmer 2004: 131), Nepal ( Ebmer 2004: 131), Morocco * ( Ebmer, 1976: 253), Algeria *, Tunisia *, Libya ( Blüthgen 1930: 224), Egypt ( Blüthgen 1933: 19), Yemen * (Sanaa, Jebel Jaïf). The subspecies occurs also in North America where it has been barcoded from Canada (British Columbia *) and USA (Washington State *) (Gibbs, pers. comm.).

Figures

Fig. 6. Melitta villosula Kirby, 1802, lectotype, ♂ (= Lasioglossum villosulum). A. Habitus. B. Head. C. Scutum. D. Propodeum. E. First tergum. F. Sterna.

Fig. 7. Melitta punctulata Kirby, 1802, holotype, ♀. A. Habitus, dorsal view. B. Habitus, lateral view. C. Labels. D. Scutum and head. E. Propodeum. F. Tergum 1 and 2 (metasoma glued).

Fig. 5. Halictus hirtellus Schenck, 1896, lectotype, ♀.

Fig. 8. Halictus pauperatulellus Strand, 1909, holotype, ♂. A. Head. B. Scutum. C. Propodeum. D. First tergum. E. Metasoma, dorsal view. F Metasoma, ventral view.

Fig. 9. Halictus rufotegularis Cockerell, 1938, holotype, ♀. A. Habitus, dorsal view. B. Head. C. Scutum. D. Propodeum. E. First tergum. F. Metasoma.

Fig. 10. Halictus villiersi Benoist, 1941, holotype, ♀. A. Head. B. Scutum. C. Propodeum. D. First tergum. E. Metasoma.