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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. (fig. 22). Length 5.5 to 8.5 mm; forewing length 4 to 6 mm; labrum black, often reddened lterally, apically, or entirely reddish orange; clypeus black; antennae reddish orange, except black on femora proximally, often coxae, trochanters; thorax black, except pronotal lobes ,tegulae reddish orange; metasomal tergites black to mahogany, apices clear, except V reddened apically ; pygidium reddish orange; clypeus, at least basally, frons with extremely dense, silvery, appressed pubescence; vertex with silvery to coppery , semi- erect hairs long anterior, lateral to , between ocelli , short on posterior margin; pronotum, metanotum with dense, whitish pubescense, scutellum with white, coppery pubescence less dense on dorsal face ; mesopleuron with dense, silvery, appressed pubescence, often with coppery hairs medially, dorsally, occasionally nearly nude medially; scutum with long, appressed, coppery hairs, except white on posterior, lateral margins, two short, antero-median, longitudinal lines; metasomal tergite 1 with whitish pubescence, except dark to light coppery on wide to narrow, transverse band on disc; tergites 11, Ill, IV with apical whitish bands broadened laterally, coppery otherwise; tergite V with whitish pubescence anterior, lateral to pseudopygidium; sternite V with an extremely long, golden to silvery , apical fimbria , extending well beyond apex of sternite; pseudopygidium elevated from rest of tergite, about twice as broad as long, with silvery hairs extending well beyond apex of tergite; clypeus with punctures small, shallow, dense; punctures of frons larger, shiny interspaces evident; vertex often with shiny, impunctate areas lateral to lateral ocelli, punctures about one-half a puncture apart, often obliquely elongated antero-lateral to lateral ocelli; scutum scutellum, mesopleuron closely, shallowly punctured, interspaces less than average puncture diameter; axillae with larger, deeper, more widely spaced punctures ; propodeal enclo sure finely rugose dorsally , finely, irregularly, obliquely striate dorso-medially, transversely striate ventrally; remainder of posterior face of propodeum with shallow, widely spaced punctures, two to three puncture diameters apart, very dense, compact laterally, or enclosure a narrow, median, longitudinal, striate strip separated from lateral punctures by a broad, shiny, impunctate area; forewings with two submarginal cells , hyaline throughout , only slightly darkened apically, veins ferruginous to black; antennae short, flagellomere 11 nearly as broad as lcng; axillae short, extending less than one-half distance to posterior margin of scutellum, blunt apically; scutellum with a deep or narrow median emargination.
Male. Length4.5to8mm;forewinglength3.5to6mm;
This species exhibits more sexual dimorphism than perhaps any other species . The male differences can be described as follows : flagellomere II often broader than long; scutum often without coppery hairs, with uniform,long , silvery pubescence, anteromedian lines poorly defined; metasomal fasciae usually distinctly pronounced, discs with little pubescence, or if discs pubescent then primarily silvery, rarely coppery; scape, pedicel black, flagellomeres mahogany, except I often reddish orange; striae of propodeum often entirely transverse ; sternites Ill, IV, V with long, golden to silvery, subapical rows of hairs; pygidium reddish orange to black, with deep, elongate punctures api cally, fewer, round punctures basally, or uniformly punctured with large, deep punctures.
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. mesillae apart from all other North American Epeolus: the axilla does not attain the
midlength of the mesoscutellum and like the mesoscutellum is black, the fore wing
has two submarginal cells, and T1–T4 have complete fasciae. Only in E. americanus
and E. asperatus is the fore wing commonly with two submarginal cells, but in both
species at least the T1 and T2 apical fasciae are interrupted or at least greatly narrowed
medially. Epeolus brumleyi is similar to E. mesillae in axillar structure; in that in females
F2 is shorter, as long as wide; and in that T1–T4 have complete fasciae. However, in
E. brumleyi the axilla is commonly ferruginous in part and the fore wing has three
submarginal cells.
Redescription. MALE: Length 6.6 mm; head length 1.7 mm; head width 2.4
mm; fore wing length 4.9 mm.
Integument coloration. Mostly black; notable exceptions as follows: at least partially
ferruginous on mandible, antenna, pronotal lobe, tegula, and legs. Mandible orange
between dark brown base and reddish-brown apex; preapical tooth slightly lighter than
mandibular apex (difficult to see in the P. mesillae neotype because mandible closed;
described from non-type specimens). Flagellum brown, except F1 extensively orange,
and slightly lighter than dark brown scape and pedicel. Pronotal lobe reddish brown.
Tegula pale ferruginous to amber. Wing membrane hyaline throughout. Legs, except
tarsi, with brown or black more extensive than reddish orange.
Pubescence. Face with tomentum densest on clypeus and around antennal socket,
sparser on upper paraocular area and vertexal area. Dorsum of mesosoma and metasoma with bands of off-white to pale yellow short appressed setae. Mesoscutum with
paramedian band partly obscured by surrounding pale tomentum. Mesopleuron almost entirely obscured by white tomentum, except where rubbed off in the P. mesillae
neotype. Metanotum with tomentum uninterrupted, uniformly off white. T1 with
discal patch elliptical, narrow, and short. T2–T6 each with complete fascia, those of
T2 and T3 somewhat broader laterally, T2 with fascia with anterolateral extensions of
sparser tomentum. S3–S5 with long coppery to silvery subapical hairs.
Surface sculpture. Punctures dense. Labrum and clypeus with punctures equally
dense (i<1d). Small impunctate spot lateral to lateral ocellus. 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) to rugose; mesopleuron with punctures more or less equally dense throughout.
Metasomal terga with punctures very fine, dense (i≈1d), evenly distributed on disc.
Structure. Labrum with pair of small subapical denticles, each preceded by small
discrete longitudinal ridge. Frontal keel not strongly raised. Scape with greatest length
1.7 × greatest width. F2 nearly as long as wide (L/W ratio = 0.9). Preoccipital ridge
not joining hypostomal carina, from which it is separated by about 1.5–2 MOD at
its terminal (difficult to see in the P. mesillae neotype; described from non-type specimens). Mesoscutellum moderately bigibbous. Axilla small to intermediate in size, its
lateral margin (L) less than half as long as mesoscutellar width (W) (L/W ratio = 0.3)
and tip not extending beyond midlength of mesoscutellum; axilla with tip visible, but
unattached to mesoscutellum for less than 1/3 the medial length of axilla; axilla with
lateral margin relatively straight and without carina. Fore wing with two submarginal
cells. Pygidial plate apically rounded, with large deep punctures closely clustered.
FEMALE: Description as for male except for usual secondary sexual characters and
as follows: F2 slightly longer, as long as wide (L/W ratio = 1.0); wing membrane subhyaline, apically dusky; T5 with large, continuous patch of pale tomentum bordering
and separate from pseudopygidial area present only in female; T5 with pseudopygidial
area lunate, its apex more than twice as wide as medial length, indicated by silvery
setae on impressed disc of apicomedial region elevated from rest of tergum; S3–S5
with much shorter hairs (S5 with apical fimbria of coppery to silvery hairs extending
beyond apex of sternum by ~2/5 MOD); pygidial plate apically truncate, with small,
denser punctures.
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