Neofidelia submersa Dumesh and Packer

Dumesh, Sheila & Packer, Laurence, 2013, Three new species of Neofidelia (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Megachilidae) from Northern Chile, Zootaxa 3609 (5), pp. 471-483 : 479-480

Neofidelia submersa Dumesh and Packer , new species.

( Figs. 16 , 21–23 , 25–28 )

Diagnosis: Both sexes can be differentiated from all other species in the genus by the more strongly produced clypeus which extends in front of the anterior tangent of the compound eye by substantially more than the eye’s breadth (>1.3X) ( Fig. 23 ). Other species have the clypeus protruding at most 1.1X the breadth of the compound eye ( Fig. 24 ).

Description: Male: Dimensions: Length 12.5 mm, forewing length 9.0 mm, head breadth 3.2 mm, ITW 2.7 mm.

Colouration: Integument black, except: ventral surface of antenna brown, F7–F11 ventrally yellowish brown; labrum pale brown on apical 3/4; apex of clypeus and mandible reddish, clypeal lip laterally translucent reddish; malar space with apical red-orange spot; apices of tarsomeres orange-brown; apical impressed areas of terga brown, with apical translucent rim; pygidial plate apex red-brown.

Pubescence: Hairs mostly pale whitish, longest on gena below (5MOD); long on mesopleuron, scape, supraclypeal area, upper third of clypeus, mesoscutellum and T2 (3.5MOD); on face most dense on antennal scape, supraclypeal area, and upper third of clypeus; long and dense on mesosoma except lower metapleuron and lateral surface of propodeum anteriorly; mesotarsus with long hairs (4MOD); metafemur with hairs dense, erect, fine (3MOD) and largely obscuring surface; metatibia with dense long hairs on ventral surface (2.5MOD), sparse long hairs on outer surface (3.5MOD); T2 with long suberect hairs on basal 1/3, posteriorly oriented hairs on apical 2/3 (3MOD), T1–T7 with long hairs laterally, longest on T2 and T5–T7 (3MOD), T7 bare on apical half; S1–S5 with long (<3MOD) suberect hairs laterally, shorter (<2MOD), erect hairs on disc; S6–S7 with dense ventrally oriented hairs (1MOD and 0.7MOD, respectively).

Sculpture: Supraclypeal area coarsely and densely punctate, punctures crowded; clypeus densely punctate throughout (1–2pd), with shiny, slightly raised impunctate medial line on apical 1/2; frontal line broadly depressed and shiny; metafemur densely punctate (<1pd except antero- and posteroventrally); metasomal terga with basal areas punctate (1–2pd), sparser medially; apical impressed areas impunctate; T5–T7 slightly more coarsely punctate than more basal terga; pygidial plate shiny, surface very weakly wrinkled with obscure punctures on lateral margins; sterna more densely punctate apically (<1pd) than basally (1–2pd), punctures generally smaller on posterior of disc.

Structure: Head broader than long (L:B 57:62), clypeus more protuberant than breadth of compound eye in lateral view (22:17); antennal scape 2X as long as broad, pedicel as long as broad, F1 2.4X as long as broad, F2–F3 broader than long, F4–F5 with length and breadth subequal, F6–F11 longer than broad; labrum 1.7X as long as broad; mouthparts elongate, labial palpus 1.4X as long as head, glossa no longer than length of labial palpus; mesoscutellum strongly convex; metafemur swollen (L:B 69:45), subapical angle 1/4 femur length from apex, acute, apical angle right angular to acute; metatibia broad (L:B 82:32), outer ridge with sharp apicoventral angulation 1/4 from apex, inner ridge rounded, in lateral view. Genitalia: gonostylus with translucent area extending for about 1/2 length, apex rounded ( Fig. 25–26 ); S7 with sides of disc comparatively straight for basal half ( Fig. 27 ); S8 weakly concave apicolaterally, apex subtruncate ( Fig. 28 ).

Female. As in male except as follows:

Dimensions: Body length incalculable as sole specimen lacks a metasoma, estimated to be 12.3–12.7 mm, forewing length 7.2 mm, head breadth 3.2 mm, ITW 2.6 mm.

Colouration: Tarsomeres golden orange basally, except apical tarsomere brown.

Pubescence: Hairs pale whitish-grey, somewhat yellowish on frontal area and mesosoma, pale brown on legs except darker on hind leg. Long on supraclypeal area, genal area below, forefemur, and midtarsus (3MOD), longest dorsally at midlength of metatibia (4.5MOD); pubescence of face most dense on supraclypeal and lower paraocular areas; pubescence of clypeus less dense than on rest of face, not obstructing surface beneath; pubescence of mesosoma shorter on dorsal surface (<2MOD except 2.5MOD on metanotum), longer on mesopleuron (~3MOD), lower half of metapleuron bare; dorsal surface of hind basitarsus bare, fringe long (3.5MOD) and erect, pale brown.

Sculpture: Face with punctation fine, most dense on supraclypeal and lower paraocular areas (~1pd), less dense on upper paraocular area and between lateral ocelli (1–2pd), smooth and impunctate between lateral ocellus and compound eye; clypeus with punctures irregular in size and spacing (1–4pd) with poorly demarcated impunctate, somewhat raised median line; genal area finely punctate (1–3pd); mesoscutum finely punctate (1–1.5pd), mesoscutellum with larger punctures (~1pd except sparser anteriorly), mesopleuron densely punctate (~1pd) somewhat more sparsely posteriorly and below (1–3pd), lower half of metapleuron with few scattered punctures; metapostnotum transversely striate anteriorly, imbricate otherwise; lateral surface of propodeum with large punctures (1–2pd) except with sparse, small punctures below; dorsal surface of metatarsus shiny and impunctate.

Structure: Head broader than long (L:B 44:50); antennal scape 2.5X as long as broad, pedicel as long as broad, F1 2X as long as broad; clypeus strongly protuberant, produced for more than breadth of compound eye in lateral view (40:36), apex weakly concave medially, apical lip only slightly convex in lateral view; labrum almost 1.5X as long as broad (34:24); mouthparts elongate, surpassing procoxa in repose; metabasitarsus slender and parallel sided, breadth much less than MOD (breadth:length:MOD 5:50:8).

Material Studied: Holotype male: CHILE: Region I, Alto Patache xi.1997, W. Sielfeld, allotype female: CHILE, Region I, Alto Patache, 800m, 26.x.2001, H. Larrain; the underside of the label reads "Ahogada recip. agua" which means “dead in the water container” (Larrain, personal communication); same locality and collector as allotype except 750m, x.2002, “trampa canadiense” (which refers to a malaise trap the junior author sent to Dr. Larrain), one paratype male. The female allotype is missing both antennae (except for the left scape and pedicel), the right midleg, the left mesopretarsus, the left hindleg beyond the trochanter, the apical three right metatarsomeres and the metasoma. The male paratype exists only as a mesosoma missing the left front and hind legs.

Etymology: The species is named after the latin for “to drown”, as the sole female was caught drowned in water.

Comments: Neofidelia submersa is known only from a fog oasis south of Iquique. Alto Patache is at 20°49’S, 70°09’W (Sagredo et al., 2002; in decimal degrees this is -20.8167, -70.1500) and is a cool and comparatively damp locality surrounded to the north, south and east by inhospitable desert and to the west by the Pacific Ocean. It is one of a series of fog oases along the coast of Chile and southern Peru which are known for their high levels of endemism for plants (Muñoz-Schick et al., 2001) and presumably also for bees. Packer (2012, see also references therein) provided some details on the environment at this locality.

Figures

FIGURES 15, 16. Fig. 15. N. camanchaca male metafemoral spines to show subapical angle acute, apical angle strongly obtuse; Fig. 16. N. submersa male metafemoral spines to show subapical angle acute and apical angle right angular to acute. Scale bars = 1 mm.

FIGURES 21, 22. Fig. 21. N. submersa male lateral habitus; Fig. 22. N. submersa female lateral habitus. Scale bars = 1 mm.

FIGURES 23, 24. Fig. 23. N. submersa female side view of head to show strong protuberance of clypeus; Fig. 24. N. apacheta female side view of head to show weaker protuberance of clypeus. Scale bars = 1 mm.

FIGURES 25 – 28. Fig. 25. N. submersa genital capsule (dorsal); Fig. 26. N. submersa genital capsule (ventral); Fig. 27. N. submersa S 7; Fig. 28. N. submersa S 8. Scale bars = 1 mm.