Lophopedia Michener and Moure

Aguiar, Antonio J. C., 2009, Taxonomic revision of the bee genus Lophopedia Michener and Moure (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Tapinotaspidini), Zootaxa 2193, pp. 1-52 : 3-6

Lophopedia Michener and Moure

Lophopedia Michener and Moure 1957: 413 ; type species: Tetrapedia pygmaea Schrottky. Amphipedia Michener and Moure 1957: 413 ; type species: Tetrapedia haeckeli Friese. Lophopedia ; Michener (1997): 34.

Amphipedia ; Michener (1997): 6. Aguiar and Melo (2005): 32.

Comments and diagnosis. Michener and Moure (1957) listed some diagnostic characters for the genus Lophopedia . The diagnosis herein presented repeats some of these characters and complements them with others. The species of the genus Lophopedia can be distinguished mainly by the sharp post-ocellar carina extending laterally behind eyes ( Fig. 7 ); pronotal collar with a sharp lamella, usually concave on mid portion in dorsal view ( Fig. 5 ); the pubescence on S2−S5 of males is similar within Lophopedia ( Fig. 6 ) and distinctive in comparison to other genera of Tapinotaspidini . The species of Lophopedia share many characters with the genus Tropidopedia including: pygidial plate of female with apex of basal portion in obtuse angle ( Fig. 9 ), basitibial plate of female oval and smooth on margin ( Fig. 8 ), and row of stout flat setae on mid tibia ventrally with apices enlarged as a spoon ( Fig. 10 ). The genus Lophopedia resembles in general appearance species of the punctifrons-group of the genus Tropidopedia (see Aguiar & Melo 2007), but can be easily distinguished by the presence of notaulices sulcus on mesoscutum, the anterior surface of pronotal lamella mainly concave in dorsal view, the mandible of males with simple hairs on lower margin, and the S2 of male with a row of convergent setae on mid portion (in punctifrons species group of Tropidopedia , the notaulices is absent, the mandibles of male have long plumose hairs, and S2 of male has a triangular tuft of hairs on mid portion of margin with apex directed anteriorly).

Body length: 4.0− 8.7 mm; Color. Integument black, orange yellow or bicolored, dark brown to black and yellow. Color of wing membrane: yellow hyaline, yellow infumated, dark brown infumated with apical third white infumated; hyaline or dark brown infumated ( Figs. 11−16 ). Integument sculpture. Clypeus, supraclypeal area and frons with dense, very coarse punctures (except males of L. flava (Smith) , which presents sparse punctures on frons disc); in some species with fine punctures intermingled with coarse punctures on frons disc. Mesoscutum and scutellum with dense fine punctures (<2 pd) intermingled with sparse coarser punctures (> 2 pd); mesepisternum with coarse punctures, usually sparse (> 2 pd) with denser punctures on omaular area; metapostnotum with fine punctures (except males of some species with more conspicuous punctures, but never dense punctured by coarse punctures); terga mostly smooth. Pubescence. Completely pale yellow or dark brown, in some species mostly dark brown with tibial and basitarsal scopal hair pale yellow, almost white. Head, mesosoma and metasoma mostly glabrous; lower margin of mandible with simple setae; paraocular area, vertex and genal area with short plumose hairs; frons, vertex, and paraocular area with sparse erect simple setae. Mesoscutum and scutellum with dense very short plumose hairs, velvet-like (on females, denser than in males), intermingled with sparse long erect simple hairs; scutellum with sparse simple erect setae, in the males of some species (e.g., L. savanicola sp.nov.) forming a conspicuous tuft of long erect simple and plumose hairs; postero-lateral portions of scutellum with dense tufts of short plumose hairs; metanotum with long plumose hairs laterally; mesepisternum mostly glabrous, with dense stout hairs on ventral portion; metapostnotum with sparse short plumose hairs, usually very short; propodeum laterally with very short plumose hairs intermingled with longer sparse plumose hairs. T1 without marginal band laterally, on T2−T3, occupying less than third of margins laterally, on T4 of females occupying less than third of margin laterally, on T5-T6 of females occupying all margin, on T4−T6 of males varying from complete, glabrous, or with bands laterally. Sterna of females with a marginal hair row of long simple setae, on S2−S3 this row is medially interrupted; sterna of males with almost same pattern of pubescence on all species ( Fig. 6 ), on S2 with numerous decumbent simple setae adjacent to margin diverging from mid portion, longer on lateral third, S3 with a row of simple setae, usually with a conspicuous gap medially; S4 with a dense band of decumbent plumose hairs curving medially; S5 mostly smooth medially, with plumose hairs on lateral third; S6 with simple setae apically. Legs with simple and plumose pubescence related to oil and pollen-collecting. Fore basitarsus of male and female modified to collect oil: posterior surface concave with dense plumose hairs; outer margin with a conspicuous row of simple spatulate stout setae forming a comb. Row of stout setae in mid line of ventral surface of mid tibia, apices of these setae enlarged, like a concave spoon ( Fig. 10 ); ventral surface of mid and hind basitarsus with spatulate setae; scopa of hind leg with dense fine plumose hairs intermingled with sparse long simple setae. Structure. Head about 1.2x wider than long; clypeus about 2x wider than long; eyes conspicuously diverging dorsally, ratio between the lower interocular and the upper interocular distances: 0.7; metasoma about 1.2x longer than wider (T2 = maximum width). Supraclypeal area of male with lower margin surpassing the upper margin of clypeus as a lamellate expansion. Post-ocellar carina extending laterally to eyes on upper third of genal area ( Fig. 7 ); distance of post-ocellar carina to eye margin on vertex less than or equal to F2 diameter (except L. fulviventris sp.nov. and L. nigrispinis (Vachal) , which is slightly wider). Anterior surface of pronotal lamella concave ( Fig. 6 ) or almost flat in dorsal view; pronotal lobe triangular and narrowly rounded dorsally. Pygidial plate of female differentiated with apical and basal portions; basal portion with margins conspicuous carinate and converging in an obtuse angle on apices ( Fig. 9 ); pygidial plate of male absent, with only a short obtuse pygidial process. Fore basitarsus of females with apices conspicuous projected above the articulation with second tarsomere; mid basitarsus of males, about 3x longer than wider; tibial plate of females oval convex, densely hairy with margins smooth ( Fig. 8 ); tibial plate of male almost absent, with only the lower margin conspicuous; hind tibia of female with a conspicuous depressed area on distal portion of hind margin, almost in right angle; tibial spurs finely pectinate, rami of spurs slight longer than the main trunk on base.

The species of Lophopedia are distributed in forest and open areas of the Neotropical region, from northern Argentina, province of Tucuman to northern Mexico, state of Tamaulipas ( Fig. 17 ).

The species of Lophopedia are absent in xeric areas of Western Neotropics west of the Andes Cordillera, Caatinga and Chaco. One species of Lophopedia is endemic to the Cerrado savanna of central Brazil ( L. savanicola sp.nov.), others are endemic to Atlantic Forest on eastern Brazil (e.g., L. fulviventris sp.nov. and L. nigrispinis ), and some of them are endemic to Amazon forest (e.g., L. flava (Smith)).

Figures

FIGURES 5 − 10. Lophopedia pygmaea (Schrottky). Fig. 5: mesossoma; Fig. 6: male sterna; Fig. 7: head of female; row indicate the end of pos-ocellar carina laterally to eye; Fig. 8: tibial plate of female; Fig. 9: pygidial plate of female; Fig. 10: row of flat stout setae on ventral carina of mid tibia, female. Scale = 0.5 mm, Figs. 5, 6, 7; scale = 0.1 mm, Figs. 8, 10; scale = 0.2, Fig. 9.

FIGURES 11 − 16. Fore wing of species of Lophopedia. Fig. 11: Lophopedia pygmaea. Fig. 12: L. apicalis. Fig. 13: L. savanicola sp. nov. Fig. 14: L. nigriceps. Fig. 15: L. nigrispinis. Fig. 16: L. minor sp. nov.

FIGURES 17 − 20. Distribution records for species of Lophopedia. Fig. 17: general distribution of the genus Lophopedia; Fig. 18: L. apicalis (●) and L. buchwaldi (˔); Fig. 19: L. flava (●), L. haeckeli (□), L. nigriceps (Δ), L. klugi (˔); Fig. 20: L. minor sp. nov. (●), L. paraensis sp. nov (Δ).