Centris flavifrons nigritula Friese, 1899

Vivallo, Felipe, 2020, Species of the bee genus Centris Fabricius, 1804 described by Heinrich Friese (Hymenoptera: Apidae), Zootaxa 4820 (2), pp. 231-259 : 236

Centris flavifrons nigritula Friese, 1899

Centris flavifrons var. nigritula Friese, 1899: 46 . Junior synonym of C. flavifrons ( Fabricius, 1775) ( Snelling, 1984) .

Type data: Friese (1899) mentioned that the type of this variety was deposited in the München collection (currently the Zoologische Staatssammlung München ‒ ZSM), while Moure et al. (2007) mentioned that it is in the ZMB. However, the type specimen was found in the former collection. The holotype has the following data label: [green label] America merid. [handwritten]\ C. flavifrons v. nigritula ♀ [handwritten] det. Friese 1898 [printed] n. var. [handwritten]\ [green label] 47. [handwritten]\ [pink label] typus [printed]\ [red label with black rim] Type [printed]\ [white label with red lateral margins] HOLOTYPE [printed] Centris flavifrons nigritula Friese, 1899 [handwritten] det. Melo, 2016 [printed] ( ZSM).

According to the original description, this species was described based on a single female specimen collected in Africa. The type locality is evidently wrong, as mentioned by Cockerell (1926) and subsequently by Moure (1969). The specimens identified as this subspecies have the mesosoma predominantly covered by blackish pubescence and not restricted to an intertegular band as found in most specimens of C. flavifrons . Despite this difference, both forms are morphologically inseparable. The dark exemplars of this species have been recorded mainly in Trinidad and Tobago flying together with the “normal” specimens.

Type locality: “Africa”. Probably Trinidad and Tobago ( Cockerell 1926) .