Halictus malachurus (Kirby)

Weissmann, Julie A., Picanco, Ana, Borges, Paulo A. V. & Schaefer, Hanno, 2017, Bees of the Azores: an annotated checklist (Apidae, Hymenoptera), ZooKeys 642, pp. 63-95 : 77

Halictus malachurus (Kirby)

Halictus malachurus (Kirby), ( Lasioglossum malachurum )

Description.

Small dark brown bee (total length 7-10 mm in both sexes, wing length 5,5-6,5 mm in females and 4,5-6,5 mm in males); males and females with densely punctuated scutum and top of propodeum with angulate hind corner; males with black or extensively red abdomen, particularly long antennae and extensively yellow legs (Fig. 7 c–f).

Distinguishing features.

The largest representative of the genus in the Azores; “shoulders” of the thorax strongly angled (Fig. 7e).

General distribution.

North Africa; Eurasia, from Portugal to Iran and North to Denmark.

Distribution in the Azores.

All islands except Terceira (where probably overlooked).

First record.

1930 (first mentioned by Benoist et al. 1936).

Nesting.

Ground nesting (mostly in compacted soil), often in large aggregations; sentinel bee closes access with her head (Fig. 7f).

Social behaviour.

Eusocial, sometimes polygynous, and sometimes (in warmer environments) with several broods of workers.

Foraging.

Polylectic, observed e.g., on Apiaceae ( Foeniculum vulgare ), Asteraceae ( Galactites tomentosus , Helminthotheca echioides , Solidago azorica , Tolpis azorica ) and Resedaceae ( Reseda luteola ).

Phenology.

July-September.

Material.

São Miguel (Furnas) and Faial (Horta), August-September 1930, leg. L. Chopard, det. Blüthgen ( Benoist et al. 1936, not seen). São Miguel, September 1954, 5 males, leg. M. Diñiz. São Miguel (Lagoa das Furnas), 07.08.1984, 1 female; São Miguel (Ponta Delgada), 12.08.1984, 2 females; São Miguel (Ginetes), 11.08.1984, 2 females; São Miguel ( São João), 09.08.1984, 2 females, 2 males; São Miguel (Feteiras), 11.08.1984, 4 males, all leg. La Roche, det. Ebmer (Ebmer, pers. comm.). Flores, 02.08.2014, 1 female; Graciosa, 3 females, 1 male, all leg. H. Schaefer, coll. TUM (specimens B21-B25).

The COI sequences of specimens H. Schaefer B21 and B23 (TUM), acc. no. KX824763-64, differ in 1-5 positions from the Halictus malachurus sequences from Spain and Germany in GenBank (see Fig. 2).