Centris (Paracentris) ancashsumaq, Zanella, Fernando César Vieira & Vivallo, Felipe, 2009

Zanella, Fernando César Vieira & Vivallo, Felipe, 2009, A new species of the bee genus Centris from Peru (Hymenoptera: Apidae), Zootaxa 2175, pp. 66-68 : 66-68

Centris (Paracentris) ancashsumaq new species

( Figures 1–4 )

Diagnosis. This species is unique among South American Centris (Paracentris) by its intense bluish metallic reflections on the metasoma, the dark pilosity all over the body and by its dark wings with bluish-violaceous iridescence. The male of this new species is unknown, but probably has a similar coloration on the metasoma and wings, but with the disc of clypeus and labrum yellow, a character found in most species of the subgenus.

Description. Holotype Female. Measurements: approximate body length: 13.5; head width: 5.0; forewing length: 11.4; thoracic width: 6.3; scape length: 0.3; F1 length: 1.0; F2 length: 0.2; F3 length: 0.3; upper interocular distance: 2.6; lower interocular distance: 2.7; mandible length: 2.3; mandible basal width: 0.9; labrum length: 1.1; labrum width: 1.5; middle ocellar diameter: 0.3; ocellocular distance: 0.6. Coloration: integument predominantly black. Legs, T1, except narrow apical band, basal half of T2 and metasomal sterna dark reddish brown. Metasomal terga dark with strong bluish metallic reflections. Wings dark with bluish-violaceus iridescence. Pubescence and surface sculpture: pubescence dark brown to black, including scopae and prepygidial and pygidial fimbriae. Integument densely and uniformly punctured on paraocular area and frons, smooth and shiny areas in front of middle ocellus and between the lateral ocelli and compound eyes. Clypeus with setigerous punctures (distance between punctures wider than puncture diameters), with a smooth median longitudinal band, wider than middle ocellus, slightly narrower in upper fourth. Labrum with similar punctation, but slightly less dense and relatively uniform, without smooth band. Metasomal terga densely punctated, punctures slightly scattered on base of T2 and dorsal surface of T1. Structure: Maxillary palpus 5-segmented, second palpomere subequal in length to the third (relative lengths: 2≈3>4>1>5). Mandible with four teeth, the second the smaller (relative sizes: 1>4>3>2); apical tooth normal, without basal expansion; acetabular carina ending at the basis of 3rd tooth; trimmal angle straight, forming a small denticle at the trimmal expansion; labrum semicircular. Vertex slightly elevated above ocular orbits. Fore elaiospathe with primary anterior comb restricted to apical half of basitarsus, with few setae on basal half, distance between setae greater than their diameters. Secondary comb formed by three giant apical spatulate setae. Setae of elaiospathe of middle basitarsus juxtaposed, forming a complete comb. Basitibial plate with rounded apex; secondary plate well defined, margin S-shaped with median part slightly projected over primary plate, in lateral view. Pygidial plate well developed, with lateral margins slightly sinuous and narrowly truncate apically. Secondary pygidial plate well defined, triangular, acuminate apically. Apical border of hind basitarsus with a slight angle near insertion of second tarsomere; inner tooth of hind claw small.

Type Material. Holotype, female, PERU, Lima Department (Deposited at the Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Peru), with a hand-written label: ‘Lima, San Bartolomé, 9.iv.77, col: R. Garcia’. The type locality is in the Rímac Valley at approximately 1800 m.a.s.l (Claus Rasmussen, pers. comm.).

Etymology. The name of this species is derived from Quechua, one of the Peruvian native languages, by combining ancash, blue, referring to the characteristic color of its metasoma, and sumaq, beautiful.

Comments. Notwithstanding the description is based only on a single female specimen, by the morphology of the mandible, the pygidial and basitibial plates, it is assumed that the species belongs to the subgenus Centris (Paracentris) in the sense of Zanella (2002). According to his study, this subgenus, as defined by most previous authors, is not a monophyletic group (see Moure 1950; Ayala 1998; Roig-Alsina 2000; Michener 2007; Moure et al. 2007). Centris (Paracentris) is monophyletic only if the North American lineages (=subgenera) Acritocentris Snelling, Exallocentris Snelling and Xerocentris Snelling, are included, and the species of the subgenus C. (Penthemisia) Moure and C.

xanthomelaena Moure and Castro , are excluded from it. In the analyses performed by Zanella (2002) C. xanthomelaena appears as sister group of Centris s. str., and C. (Penthemisia) as sister group of the clade (Paracentris ( Centris s. str. + C. xanthomelaena )).

The possibility of including this new species in Centris s. str. is not considered here because of the absence of a welldeveloped trimmal extension of the mandible, and of yellow areas forming an inverted “ Y ” on clypeus, synapomorphic characters of that subgenus (Ayala 1998). A relationship with C. xanthomelaena is also discarded due to the following characteristics: the subapical teeth of the mandible smaller than the apical tooth; anterior primary comb of fore elaiospathe restricted to the apical half of basitarsus (as in many Andean Paracentris); maxillary palpus 5-segmented; the presence of a well defined smooth vertical band on clypeus; and secondary pygidial plate extending to the apex of the pygidial plate. The synapomorphies of the subgenus Paracentris are exclusively male genitalic characters (see Zanella, 2002); therefore the discovery of the male of the new species will allow confirmation of the proposed affiliation of the new species with this subgenus.

Due to the description of this new species, it is necessary to introduce a modification to Zanella’s (2002) key to females to allow its identification. The amendment is indicated below (the numbers in brackets ‘[]’ correspond to those in original key):

1. Metasoma with intense bluish reflections; wing membrane dark with bluish-violaceus iridescence ........................... ................................................................................................................................ Centris ancashsumaq new species

- Metasoma without metallic reflections or, if present, green and very weak; wing membrane almost translucid, slightly light brown in some species (except C. burgorfi Friese with dark wings) ..................................................... 2

2. Apical tooth of mandible widened at the base. Basitibial plate narrow, anterior edge of the secondary plate almost parallel to the posterior edge of the primary basitibial plate..................................................................................... [2]

- Apical tooth of mandible not widened at the base. Basitibial plate widened in the middle; posterior edge of the secondary plate rounded ................................................................................................................................................. [3]

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 4. Centris ancashsumaq new species, holotype, female: (1) Habitus, lateral view. (2) Head, frontal view. (3) Apex of metasoma and pygidial plate. (4) Basitibial plate. (Scale bars: Fig. 1: 2 mm; Fig. 2: 1 mm).