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Stelis australis Cresson, 1878
Heterostelis australis (Cresson, 1878); Heterostelis australis floridensis Mitchell, 1962; Stelis (Protostelis) australis Cresson, 1878; Stelis (Protostelis) australis floridensis (Mitchell, 1962); Protostelis australis (Cresson, 1878); Stelis (Heterostelis) australis floridensis (Mitchell, 1962), valid subspecies

Life   Insecta   Hymenoptera   Apoidea   Megachilidae   Stelis
Subgenus: Heterostelis

Stelis australis, F, back, Sandhills NWR, South Carolina
© Copyright source/photographer · 5
Stelis australis, F, back, Sandhills NWR, South Carolina

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Stelis australis, F, Back, Sandhills NWR, South Carolina
© Copyright source/photographer · 5
Stelis australis, F, Back, Sandhills NWR, South Carolina
Stelis australis, F, face, Sandhills NWR, South Carolina
© Copyright source/photographer · 5
Stelis australis, F, face, Sandhills NWR, South Carolina

Stelis australis, F, side, Sandhills NWR, South Carolina
© Copyright source/photographer · 5
Stelis australis, F, side, Sandhills NWR, South Carolina
Stelis australis, M, Back, GA, Baker County
© Copyright source/photographer · 5
Stelis australis, M, Back, GA, Baker County

Stelis australis, M, Face, GA, Baker County
© Copyright source/photographer · 5
Stelis australis, M, Face, GA, Baker County
Stelis australis, M, Side, GA, Baker County
© Copyright source/photographer · 5
Stelis australis, M, Side, GA, Baker County

Stelis australis floridensis male top
photo by John Pascarella, jbp014@shsu.edu; 936-294-1458 · 1
Stelis australis floridensis male top
Stelis australis floridensis male wing
photo by John Pascarella, jbp014@shsu.edu; 936-294-1458 · 1
Stelis australis floridensis male wing
Overview
Reprinted with permission from: Mitchell, T.B. 1960 Bees of the Eastern United States. North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station Technical Bulletin No. 141.


Heterostelis australis australis (Cresson)
FEMALE- Length 10 mm.; black, with yellow maculations; head black except for the yellow, lateral, facial maculae which extend narrowly to top of eye; mandibles ferruginous in large part, and scape brownish, with a more testaceous base and apex, flagellum rather dark brown; tubercles, axillae, a small spot on metapleura beneath hind wing, triangular maculations on scutellum laterally, and lateral and anterior margin of scutum yellow, but median portion of margin of scutellum, black; abdominal terga 1-5 with large, transverse, lateral, yellow maculae, these widely separated on the more basal terga, becoming somewhat more approximate on tergum 5; face slightly longer than distance between eyes above; eyes slightly convergent below; ocelli very small, diameter about that of some of the coarse punctures of vertex, lateral pair slightly nearer each other than to margin of vertex, more distant from eyes; clypeus very slightly convex, apical margin nearly straight, with a dense fringe; mandibles 3-dentate, teeth black, middle tooth nearer the apical than to inner angle; cheeks somewhat narrower than eyes; wings rather deeply and quite uniformly infuscated, veins brownish-testaceous; tegulae brownish-testaceous, quite deeply, closely and rather coarsely punctate; legs reddish-piceous at base, the femora more or less yellowish at apex, tibiae and tarsi yellowish, with reddish infusions; spurs yellowish; pubescence very short and thin, entirely pale, somewhat more copious around antennae and below wing bases; 2nd recurrent vein ending beyond apex of 2nd submarginal cell; punctures deep and distinct, quite coarse, rather close over most of the body but sparse across vertex, very fine and rather sparse between ocelli; punctures close over lower portions of head and over most of thorax, coarser on scutellum and pleura; punctures rather distinctly separated but not sparse on abdominal terga medially, becoming rather fine toward apical margins, these narrowly impunctate and shining, entirely black; tergum 6 rounded, apical margin on each side finely denticulate, but this obscured by the short and rather dense pubescence; abdominal sterna shining, apical margins narrowly yellowish-hyaline, discs rather coarsely punctate at least laterally, but these becoming very fine toward midline on the more basal segments.
DISTRIBUTION—New Jersey to Georgia, in August.
FLOWER RECORD—Helenium.


Heterostelis australis floridensis
FEMALE—Length 10 mm.; black, with yellow and ferruginous maculations; mandibles except teeth, clypeus laterally, scape, a narrow line across vertex, upper portion of pleura, metapleura in large part, basal portions of legs, posterior face of propodeum above, and median areas of abdominal terga 1 and 2, ferruginous; lateral facial maculae extending broadly to top of eye where they terminate abruptly, tubercles, axillae, lateral portions of scutellum, lateral marks of scutum produced along anterior margin, and large, transverse, lateral maculations on abdominal terga 1-5, bright yellow; tegulae ferruginous; apical portions of legs brownish-testaceous; general structure, puncturation and pubescence as in australis s. str.

MALE—Length 9 mm.; black, with yellow and ferruginous maculations; mandibles, scape, pronotum in large part, tegulae, a spot on metapleura below wing base, and median portion of basal segment of abdomen, ferruginous; lateral face marks ending abruptly near top of eye, tubercles, axillae, lateral triangular marks on scutellum, lateral margins of scutum extending up onto anterior margin, and lateral transverse maculations on abdominal terga 1-5, bright yellow; face slightly longer than distance between eyes above; eyes somewhat convergent below; ocelli very small, not much larger than the more coarse punctures, subequally distant from eyes and margin of vertex, slightly nearer each other; clypeus quite flat, apical margin straight, with a quite dense and elongate apical fringe; mandibles 3-dentate, teeth black, median tooth much nearer apical tooth than to inner angle; cheeks much narrower than eyes; wings pale fuliginous, slightly darker along outer margin and in marginal cell, veins brownish-testaceous; tegulae closely, deeply and distinctly punctate; legs yellowish-testaceous in large part; spurs testaceous; pubescence very short and thin, entirely pale, hardly evident dorsally, becoming somewhat more copious around antennae, on pleura below wing bases, and on tibiae and tarsi; punctures deep and distinct, rather coarse, close in general on head and thorax, but quite sparse across vertex, very fine and rather sparse between ocelli, quite coarse on pleura and scutellum; punctures distinctly separated but not sparse on abdominal terga medially, becoming somewhat finer toward the shining, narrow, impunctate, apical margins which are entirely dark; tergum 6 quite short, minutely denticulate on each side, slightly protuberant medially, this protuberance with a slight emargination; tergum 7 much smaller, but much broader than long, with a median, compressed, carinate projection; abdominal sterna 1-3 exposed, ferruginous, with rather close punctures and fine, pale pubescence; sterna 4-8 retracted, 4 with a median, apical comb which is piceous in color in contrast with the other portions of the plate, apical margin on each side with an elongate fringe, other sternal plates as shown (fig. 11); genital armature very small, relative to breadth of abdomen, the gonostyli angulate and abruptly dilated, as shown.

TYPES—Holotype: Female, Levy Co., Fla., July 13, 1954 (H. V. Weems, Jr., on Eriogonum tomentosum). Allotype: Topotypical. Paratypes: 1 ♂, topotypical; 2 ♀♀, Gainesville, Alachua Co., Fla., Aug. 26 and 27, 1953, (Weems, on Rhus copallinum) [all Fla. State Plant Board].

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Updated: 2024-03-28 16:10:59 gmt
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