Megachile (Austrosarus) candanga, Raw, Anthony, 2006

Raw, Anthony, 2006, A new subgenus and three new species of leafcutter bees, Megachile (Austrosarus) (Hymenoptera, Megachilidae) from central Brazil, Zootaxa 1228, pp. 25-34 : 30-31

Megachile (Austrosarus) candanga new species

HOLOTYPE: Female. Length of fore wing 8·5 mm. Body largely black with parts of mandible, legs, first metasomal tergite and all sternites dark brown. Pubescence of head and thorax mostly whitish with black hairs across vertex and admixture of black and brown hairs on face and of black hairs on mesoscutum and scutellum. Tegula dark brown. Wings brownish with black venation. Golden hairs on metanotum, sides of propodeum, first metasomal tergite, apical bands of first to fifth tergites, appressed hairs of sixth tergite and the scopa. Mixture of black and golden erect hairs on second to fifth tergites. Length of hairs on vertex and mesoscutum about 3 X an ocellar diameter. Apical margin of clypeus shining and impunctate, the edge uneven and slightly concave, not thickened. Width of impunctate margin twice that of adjacent punctures. Apex of propodeal triangle not reaching propodeal orifice. Apical fascia present on <12% of each side of total width of fourth sternite. The male is unknown.

Material examined

8 females.

Holotype female: Fazenda Agua Limpa, Federal District, 26.4.1979, A. Raw leg:

Paratypes. A. Raw leg: Fazenda Água Limpa (3 females); Cabeça de Veado (1 female); Centro de Pesquisas Agropecuárias do Cerrado of EMBPRAPA (15o 40’ S; 47o 35’ W) (1 female). B. F. S. Dias leg: Reserva Roncador (1 female). R. I. P. de Freitas & G.S. de Freitas leg: Cabeça de Veado (1 female).

Distribution

The species has been found only in the Federal District of Brazil.

Flowers

The bees visited Eriosema floribundum , Galactia peduncularis (Benth.) Taub. , Stylosanthes guianensis Aubl. Sw. (Leguminosae) and Hyptis villosa Poyl. (Labiatae) .

Type repositories

The holotype is deposited in the collection of Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras of the Universidade de São Paulo in Ribeirão Preto, Brazil. Paratypes are in the collections of Instituto Brasileira de Geografia e Estatística in Brasília, Departamento de Zoologia of the Universidade de Brasília, Departamento de Zoologia of the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais in Belo Horizonte and the collection of the author.

"Candango" is the name for a native of Brasília.