Thomas Onuferko · 9
Epeolus australis, Axillae mesoscutellum female |
Click on map for details about points.
|
| Links | This species appears to be associated with Colletes brevicornis.
|
80x5 -
240x3 -
240x4 -
320x1 -
320x2 -
320x3 -
640x1 -
640x2
Set display option above.
Click on
images to enlarge. |
Thomas Onuferko · 9
Epeolus australis, Dorsal view female |
Thomas Onuferko · 9
Epeolus australis, Head frontal view female |
|
Thomas Onuferko · 9
Epeolus australis, Lateral view female |
Thomas Onuferko · 9
Epeolus australis, Lateral view male |
|
Thomas Onuferko · 9
Epeolus australis, Pseudopygidial area female |
Thomas Onuferko · 9
Epeolus australis, Pygidial plate male |
|
© Copyright source/photographer
· 5
Epeolus australis, f, GA, baker, back |
© Copyright source/photographer
· 5
Epeolus australis, f, GA, baker, face |
|
© Copyright source/photographer
· 5
Epeolus australis, f, GA, baker, side |
© Rebekah Andrus Nelson
· 1
Epeolus australis, both, top of thorax |
|
Overview |
Reprinted with permission from: Mitchell, T.B. 1962 Bees of the Eastern United States. North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station Technical Bulletin No. 152.
FEMALE�Length 7-8 mm.; black, basal segments of antennae, legs, tubercles and tegulae testaceous, segments of flagellum beyond the first more brownish; scutellum in part, and axillae entirely ferruginous, spurs pale yellow; mandibles testaceous at base, becoming piceous apically; lateral ocelli separated from margin of vertex by about their own diameter; cheeks very narrow, about one third width of eye, posterior margin subcarinate, strongly narrowed below; median length of labrum about half the width, with a pair of subapical denticles that are obscured by rather dense, pale pubescence; inner margin of mandibles with a barely perceptible sub-median angle; scutellum rounded posteriorly, with a very deep, median excavation or impression (fig. 110); tips of axillae projecting only slightly from sides of scutellum, reaching slightly beyond its mid transverse line; wings with the usual three submarginal cells, hyaline, very faintly clouded apically, veins brownish; most of head covered with short, pale tomentum, quite dense between eyes below ocelli and over clypeus, somewhat thinner on vertex, cheeks and upper part of face; venter of thorax rather thinly white tomentose, not entirely obscuring the surface, upper part of pleura very densely white tomentose; pronotum quite densely whitish tomentose, the tubercles more thinly covered with pale hairs, and with a quite distinct fringe of the same color; scutum with a pair of rather broad and extensive patches of pale tomentum on each side of midline anteriorly, the latero-anterior areas more thinly tomentose, lateral and posterior margins narrowly fringed with the same color; posterior face of propodeum largely covered with white tomentum, the triangular dorsal area relatively bare; metanotum and lower posterior surface of scutellum densely white tomentose; anterior face of basal abdominal tergum densely white tomentose, continuous laterally with a broad, dense, apical, transverse, tomentose band, the resulting median black patch broad and very short, covered with black tomentum, narrowed at each extreme side; terga 2-4 with similar, transverse, apical bands of white tomentum. discs covered with black tomentum, tergum 2 laterally with a basal area of white tomentum produced toward midline for a short distance, tergum 5 with an extensive area of white tomentum on each side, basal area black tomentose, this produced medially to margin of pseudopygidium; tegulae very finely and closely but quite distinctly punctate, the punctures fading out toward posterior margin; vertex, cheeks and upper part of face rather deeply and distinctly but quite coarsely punctate, the punctures becoming minute and densely crowded below, beneath the tomentum; scutum densely and rather finely rugoso-punctate throughout, scutellum and axillae somewhat more coarsely rugoso-punctate; lower portion of pleura rather finely rugoso-punctate, with a few irregular, narrow, shining spaces evident, upper surface densely and finely rugose beneath the tomentum; discs of abdominal terga very finely, closely and quite regularly punctate beneath dense black tomentum, punctures becoming progressively more minute and close toward the apical terga; median length of pseudopygidium about half the apical width.
MALE�Closely resembles female in most characters, but scutellum and axillae usually entirely black; posterior margin of scutellum less deeply grooved; silvery tomentum of face, pleura and venter of thorax more copious and dense; pygidial plate unusually narrow and elongate, median length much longer than the expanded basal width, rather narrowly rounded or subtruncate apically, margin carinate, surface shallowly pitted or punctate.
TYPES � Holotype: Female, Raleigh,
N. C., May 19, 1950. Allotype: Southern Pines, N. C., May 12, 1950 (both Mitchell) [author�s coil.]. Paratypes: NORTH CAROLINA: 1 female, Southern Pines, May 12, 1950; 2 females, Raleigh, May 19, 1950 (at nest site), and May 9, 1948 (on Senecio); 1 female, Wake Co., June 9, 1960 (on Ceanothus); 1 male, Umstead State Park, Wake Co., May 16, 1957 (on Specularia); 1 male, Aberdeen, May 9, 1958 (on Rubus) (all Mitchell) ; 1 female, Taylor�s Bridge, Sampson Co., May 24, 1951 (H. T. Townes); 1 male, 1 female, Raleigh, April 1 and May 4. GEORGIA: 1 male, 1 female, Augusta, Richmond Co., April 26, 1959; 1 female, Fort Gordon, Richmond Co., May 8, 1958 (both R. R. Snelling).
Paratypes are in collections of R. R. Snelling and the author.
|
|
|
Identification | |
Extracted from: Brumley R.L., (1965). A Revision of the Bee Genus Epeolus Latreille of Western America North of Mexico. All Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 2682
Female. (figs. 12, 15). Length 7 to 9 mm; forewing length 5 to 6 mm; labrum black, often reddened medially; clypeus black; antennae reddish mahogany, somewhat more reddish on first three segments; legs reddish orange, except black to dark mahogany on coxae, occasionally faint marks on femora; pronotal lobes, tegulae red-dish orange; scutum black with reddish lateral margins; axillae reddish orange to burnt red; scutellum nearly entirely dark
reddish orange to black with reddish spots submedially; metasomal tergites black to dark mahogany, apices clear, except tergite V reddish orange apically; pygidium reddish orange; clypeu, margins of antennal fossae with appressed silvery pubescence to nearly nude with few hairs apically; frons above, vertex with squamiform, subsilvery pubescence, few straight, semi-erect, faintly coppery hairs; pronotum, metanotum with dense, silvery to whitish pubescence; mesopleuron nearly nude ventrally, with only sparse, silvery pubescence, except white, squamiform on margins, two often poorly defined, antero-median, longitudinal lines; metasorna with tergite I with whitish pubescence, except black with coppery reflections on large, transverse band on disc; apical fascia on tergite II whitish, entire, with antero- lateral extensions forming acute angles within; fascia of tergites III , IV entire, that of V usually interrupted anterior to pseudopygidium; sternite V with a moderately long apical fimbria with a dark basal line, hairs coppery, of unequal lengths ; pseudopygidium poorly defined, usually about twice as broad as long, silvery hairs extending beyond apex of tergite; clypeus with small, contiguous punctures, slightly elongate, more widely spaced laterally; frons above, vertex more coarsely punctured, interspaces about as large as one-half puncture diameter ; scutum finely rugosapunctate, punctures somewhat larger laterally; scutellum with slightly larger, more widely spaced punctures; mesopleuron densely punctured, ~ew interspaces ventrally nearly as large as one puncture diameter; propodeal enclosure finely, irregularly, transversely striate medially, only slightly more coarsely striate dorsally; remainder of posterior face of propodeum often impunctate bordering enclosure, closely punctured laterally; forewings with three submarginal cells, subhyaline basally, darker apically, veins ferruginous to mahogany; frontal carina large and bulbous below, of a uniform height across its ventral width, occupying the entire space between antennal fossae; flagellomere II usually slightly more than three-fourths as broad as long; axillae prominent, often slightly arcuate on lateral margins, joined to sides of scutellum from two-thirds to three-fourths of their entire length; scutellum with a broad, rather shallow, median emargination.
Male. Length 6,5 to 8 mm; forewing length 5 to 6 mm; Much the same as female but differs as follows: flagellomereII short, slightly broader than long; frons, vertex, mesopleuron more densely pubescent; scutellum axillae often entirely black; sternites IV, V with subapical row of coarse, coppery hairs, often darkened apically; pygidium narrow, median length nearly twice as great as basal width, tapering apically, reddish orange, darker marginally, rather coarsely punctured.
Extracted from: Onuferko TM (2018). A revision of the cleptoparasitic bee genus Epeolus Latreille for Nearctic species, north of Mexico (Hymenoptera, Apidae). ZooKeys 755: 1–185. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.755.23939
Diagnosis. The following morphological features in combination can be used to tell
E. australis apart from all other North American Epeolus: the frontal carina is strongly
convex, such that the supraclypeal area is distinctly protuberant in lateral view; T1–T4
have complete fasciae; and the T2 fascia has a pair of anterolateral extensions of tomentum that are strongly convergent basally. In E. chamaesarachae and E. diadematus and
commonly in E. bifasciatus the frontal carina is also strongly convex, but in the first
two species the vertexal area has two pairs of shiny (usually impunctate) protrusions
and in E. bifasciatus the frontal area bears a pair of granulose protrusions whereas in E.
australis the frontal and vertexal areas lack protrusions. Epeolus australis most closely
resembles E. brumleyi, but in E. brumleyi the frontal carina is only weakly convex and
the pygidial plate of the male is wider (the medial length ≈ the basal width) than in E.
australis (the medial length is ~1.5 × the basal width).
Redescription. FEMALE: Length 7.5 mm; head length 2.0 mm; head width 2.8
mm; fore wing length 5.7 mm.
Integument coloration. Mostly black; notable exceptions as follows: partially to entirely ferruginous on mandible, antenna, pronotal lobe, tegula, axilla, mesoscutellum,
legs, pygidial plate, and metasomal sterna. Mandible with apex darker than rest of
mandible; preapical tooth slightly lighter than mandibular apex. Both antennae missing in holotype, but brown and orange in part in paratype. Pronotal lobe and tegula
pale ferruginous to amber. Wing membrane subhyaline, apically dusky. Legs more
extensively reddish orange than brown or black.
Pubescence. Face with tomentum densest around antennal socket, slightly sparser
on clypeus, upper paraocular and frontal areas, and vertexal area. Dorsum of mesosoma and metasoma with bands of off-white to pale yellow short appressed setae.
Mesoscutum with paramedian band. Mesopleuron with upper half densely hairy, except beneath base of fore wing (hypoepimeral area); ventrolateral half sparsely hairy.
Metanotum with tomentum uninterrupted, uniformly off white. T1 with discal patch
elliptical and very wide, the basal and apical fasciae only narrowly joined laterally. T1
with basal and apical fasciae and T2–T4 with apical fasciae complete, T2 with fascia
with basomedially convergent anterolateral extensions of tomentum. T5 with two large
patches of pale tomentum lateral to and separate from pseudopygidial area, enclosing
pseudopygidial area in triangle, except for medial separation at base. T5 with pseudopygidial area lunate, its apex more than twice as wide as medial length, indicated by
silvery setae on disc of apicomedial region elevated from rest of tergum. S5 with apical
fimbria of coppery to silvery hairs extending beyond apex of sternum by ~1/3 MOD.
Surface sculpture. Punctures dense. Labrum with larger punctures than clypeus, but
punctures of both equally dense (i≤1d). Impunctate spot lateral to lateral ocellus absent
in holotype, but shiny spot present in some non-type specimens. Mesoscutum, mesoscutellum, and axilla coarsely and densely rugose-punctate. Tegula densely punctate
mesally (i≤1d), less so laterally (i=1–2d). Mesopleuron with ventrolateral half densely
punctate (i<1d); mesopleuron with punctures more or less equally dense throughout.
Metasomal terga with punctures very fine, dense (i≈1d), evenly distributed on disc.
Structure. Preapical tooth inconspicuous, blunt and obtuse. Labrum with pair of
small subapical denticles (approximately at 1/4 length of labrum from apical margin)
not preceded by carinae. Frontal keel strongly raised. Scape (missing in holotype) with
greatest length 1.6 × greatest width in paratype. F2 (missing in holotype) not noticeably longer than wide (L/W ratio = 1.1) in paratype. Preoccipital ridge not joining
hypostomal carina, from which it is separated by no less than 1 MOD at its terminal.
Mesoscutellum moderately bigibbous. Axilla intermediate in size, its lateral margin
(L) nearly half as long as mesoscutellar width (W) (L/W ratio = 0.4–0.5) and tip not
extending beyond midlength of mesoscutellum; axilla with tip visible, but unattached
to mesoscutellum for less than 2/5 the medial length of axilla; axilla with lateral margin
relatively straight and without carina. Fore wing with three submarginal cells. Pygidial
plate apically truncate.
MALE: Description as for female except for usual secondary sexual characters and
as follows: F2 shorter, as long as wide (L/W ratio = 1.0); S4 and S5 with much longer
coppery to silvery subapical hairs, which individually are often darker apically; pygidial plate unusually narrow (Triepeolus-like) and apically rounded, with large deep punctures closely clustered.
|
|
|
Names | |
|
|
| Supported by | |
Updated: 2024-04-19 18:10:39 gmt
|
