Chlerogelloides nexosa Oliveira, Engel, & Mahlmann

Oliveira, Favizia Freitas de, Engel, Michael S. & Mahlmann, Thiago, 2012, A new Chlerogelloides from northeastern Brazil and French Guiana, with a key to the species (Hymenoptera, Halictidae), ZooKeys 185, pp. 41-53 : 42-48

Chlerogelloides nexosa Oliveira, Engel, & Mahlmann sp. n. Figs 1 –357– 10

Holotype.

♂, Brazil, Pará ( Melgaço, Reserva Caxiuanã, Estação Ecológica Ferreira Penna, 01°43'S, 51°29'W, 18-21.ix.2011 [18-21 September 2011], Rech, Coelho, Correa & Carmo Leg. // coletada na flor: Cordia nodosa Lam. ( Boraginales - Cordiaceae ) - durante o curso de Polinização 2011 // Holotype male Chlerogelloides nexosa Oliveira, Engel & Mahlmann. The specimen is deposited in the Entomological Collection of the Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi (MPEG), in Belém, Pará, Brazil.

Paratypes.

1♂, with same label data as holotype and deposited in the Entomological Collection of the Zoological Museum of the Federal University of Bahia (MZUFBA), in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. 5♂♂, Guyane Française [French Guiana], Saül, Carbet ONF de Galbao, 27.viii.2003 [27 August 2003], on Gonzalagunia dicocca , leg. J. Munzinger; deposited in the Department of Entomology, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels, Belgium and one in the Division of Entomology, University of Kansas Natural History Museum, Lawrence, Kansas, USA. 1♂, Guyane Fr. [French Guiana], Patawa, viii.1999 [August 1999], PM; deposited in the Department of Entomology, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels, Belgium.

Diagnosis.

Integument predominantly honey yellow with metallic olive green highlights only on the head, mesoscutum, mesoscutellum, and metanotum (Figs 2, 3); postgena uniformly covered by plumose setae except; mesotrochanter without prominent ventral tubercle and not strongly bent (Fig. 5); mesofemur greatly expanded and flattened along inner surface, with a prominent tubercle on ventral surface in apical third (Fig. 5); mesotibia with inner surface twisted and flanked by non-contiguous, ill-defined carinas converging medioapically (Fig. 5); mesobasitarsus about twice as long as wide and weakly concave on inner surface; male terminalia as in figures 7-10.

Description.

♂: Structure: Total body length 6.60 mm; forewing length 4.50 mm. Head elongate, length 1.80 mm, width 1.47 mm (Figs 2, 3); clypeus longer than maximum width, length 0.60 mm, width 0.47 mm, almost entirety of clypeus (85%) set below lower tangent of compound eyes; frontal line weakly carinate between antennae, becoming a faintly impressed line from there to median ocellus; antennal scape relatively short (excluding basal bulb), length 0.50 mm; pedicel about as long as F1; F1 wider than long, slightly longer than F2; F2-F5 slightly wider than long; F6-11 progressively becoming longer than previous flagellomeres; distance from median ocellus to lateral ocellus 0.05 mm; between lateral ocelli 0.20 mm; ocellocular distance 0.22 mm (1.46 × ocellar diameter); compound eye about 3.25x wider than gena in profile (width of compound eye 0.65 mm, width of gena 0.20 mm), beginning a little below middle of compound eyes. Intertegular distance 0.95 mm; mesoscutellum less than twice as long as metanotum (mesoscutellum length 0.35 mm, metanotum length 0.20 mm); dorsal surface of propodeum faintly concave, elongate (as for the genus: vide Engel et al. 1997; Engel and Brooks 1999; Engel 2000). Mesofemur greatly enlarged, approximately twice as long as wide (measurement made on internal surface: length 1.2 mm, width 0.55 mm), with flattened inner surface (Fig. 5), ventrally ridged along external border from apex basad to ventral tubercle in apical third; mesotibia slightly twisted on internal surface (in posterior view), with two non-contiguous carinae along borders and converging medioapically, one from base of mesotibia and with a small elevation near apex, other more apical on external border, both carinae terminating at a weakly depressed medioapical area from which spur articulates; mesobasitarsus twice as long as wide, flattened on dorsal surface and with carinae bordering weakly depressed inner surface. Forewing pterostigma very long, almost as long as first submarginal cell; hind wing with basal hamuli arranged 2-1, distal hamuli arranged 2-1-2. Male terminalia as in figures 7-10.

Sculpturing: Integument smooth and polished, faintly imbricate in some places, with sparse small to minute punctures, except face above level of antennal toruli with punctures more closely spaced as well as on mesoscutum, mesoscutellum, and metanotum; punctures separated by 2 –5× a puncture diameter on mesepisternum; dorsal surface of propodeum smooth, polished, and glabrous.

Coloration: Integument predominantly honey yellow with brownish areas laterally pronotum near pronotal lobe, dorsal surface of propodeum, apex of metafemur, external surface of metatibia, apical third of T1, apical two-thirds of T2-T3, and T4-T7 with yellowish areas slightly darker than elsewhere (darker areas wider and longer in paratype). Head metallic olive green except honey yellow on clypeus (sometimes with some brown areas extending from base in paratypes from French Guiana), labrum, mandible, malar area, and antennal scape; pedicel flagellum dark brown. Mesoscu tum, mesoscutellum, and metanotum metallic olive green, less shiny than on head; axilla dark brown with metallic reflections; tegula translucent brown; axillary sclerites brown, base of C+Sc honey yellow otherwise wing venation brown to dark brown; pleura honey yellow except mostly brown on hypoepimeral area, with weak metallic green highlights (almost imperceptible in most places); wing membranes hyaline, slightly and faintly infumate apically, with some iridescence depending on lighting.

Pubescence:Pubescence largely consisting of golden simple setae. Head with scattered, largely simple setae, those on supraclypeal area, vertex, gena, and postgena longer; setae dorso-apically on scape longer, between one-third and one-half DS, remainder much shorter; a few short, branched setae in lower paraocular area and surrounding upper border of supraclypeal area; gena with uniformly distributed branched setae, setae with branches arising from one side of rachis in apical two-thirds; setae along borders with compound eyes very short. Mesosomal setae generally simple except more plumose around pronotal lobe and surrounding propodeal spiracle; disc of mesoscutum with relatively short and sparse setae, shorter than those of mesepisternum, although denser than on the latter; disc of mesoscutellum with setae little longer than those of mesoscutum, distinctly longer along posterior margin; metanotum with yellowish, short, plumose setae intermixed with longer, branched, golden setae, laterally longer, about 1.5DS; lateral and posterior surfaces of propodeum with long (about 2DS), largely-simple, scattered setae, although less numerous than on mesoscutum. Leg pubescence typical for male Augochlorini except distal half of anterior surface of procoxa with dense, long, branched setae, such setae about 1.2 DS; anterior area formed by carinae along ventral surface of mesobasitarsus glabrous and separate from posterior area covered by minute setae. Wing membranes uniformly pilose. Metasoma generally with sparsely-scattered, simple, long setae, on T1-T3 simple setae mostly distributed across discs, with apical margins glabrous, such setae varying from 1-1.5DS in length, setae becoming progressively longer on more apical segments, on T4-T7 with short, dense, plumose setae intermixed with long setae.

♀: Unknown.

Etymology.

The specific epithet is taken from the Latin word nexosus, meaning “complicated”, and is a reference to the complex morphology of this and other species in the genus.

Comments.

A single female, collected in French Guiana with one of the males, is indistinguishable from that of Chlerogelloides simplex (specimen from Patawa, deposited in Brussels). It is possible that it is a female of Chlerogelloides nexosa , but given that definitive Chlerogelloides simplex is known from the same area we cannot be certain that it is a definitive female of the new species. Only further collecting in the region will be able to determine the correct association of females for this complex genus of bees.