Reprinted with permission from: Pascarella, J.B. and K. Waddington. 2011. A description of the male of Hylaeus graenicheri Mitchell (Hymenoptera: Colletidae). Journal of Agriculture Research 50: 316-320
The Florida endemic species Hylaeus graenicheri Mitchell
(Hymenoptera: Colletidae) was described by Mitchell (1960) based on
female specimens obtained by Graenicher (1930) in Miami-Dade
County and additional collections in Monroe County, Florida, USA.
Since then, females have been collected in Broward County in SE
Florida (anonymous collector, pers. comm., 2000; Discover Life, 2009)
and males in Pinellas and Manatee Counties in SW Florida (R. Snelling,
pers. comm., 1998). During a survey of pollinator communities in the
Everglades National Park (ENP), collections of both females and males
of H. graenicheri were made (Pascarella et al., 2000). Females were
caught from 2 December 1996 to 30 April 1997 at the Flamingo, Long
Pine Key, Chekika, and Shark Valley regions of ENP. Males were
caught on two occasions. One male and five females were caught at
Long Pine Key, on 23 January 1997, foraging on Salix caroliniana
(Salicaceae). Seventeen males were obtained on 25 February 1997, at
Chekika, foraging on Borreria ocimioides (Rubiaceae). On this second
date, four females were also caught, foraging on Mikania scandens
and Bidens alba (both Asteraceae). Collection sites in ENP included
both coastal and interior locations and habitats ranged from Slash
Pine rockland, marl prairies, mangrove, and weedy disturbed areas,
suggesting a wide variety of habitats utilized. Specimens were,
however, not recorded in the deepest freshwater slough areas of ENP,
where Hylaeus schwarzii Cockerell was extremely abundant.
Description of male
Males of H. graenicheri may be separated from the other known
species of Hylaeus in Florida by characteristics of the male terminalia
that define the subgenera, the lack of a maculated supraclypeal area,
and the incomplete clypeal maculation. H. formosus Krombein
(synonym: H. metopium Mitchell) is the only other member of the
subgenus Hylaeana in Florida and the species most likely to be
confused with H. graenicheri. Females of this species, however, have
red legs instead of yellow and brown legs, are only known from the
Florida Keys, and have a differently shaped paraocular maculation
that is pointed at the apex and terminates between the level of the
antenna and the top of the eye (Krombein, 1953; Mitchell, 1960).
Males have been recently been collected in Cuba (Sam Droege, pers.
comm., 2011). The only other Hylaeus male in Florida lacking a
supraclypeal maculation and with an incomplete clypeal maculation is
H. schwarzii. This species is much larger (7-7.5mm in length), has
white facial maculae of different shapes, and occurs primarily in
wetland habitats, differentiating it from the smaller, yellow maculated,
and more generalist H. graenicheri.
Measurements (based on 14 specimens retained in the senior
author’s collection, mean ± 1 SE, mm): Head length 1.09 ± 0.01;
head width 1.07 ± 0.01; fore wing length 2.88 ± 0.05mm; hind wing
length 2.21 ± 0.02; mesosoma length 1.43 ± 0.02; metasoma length
1.75 ± 0.03; total length 4.28 ± 0.05.
Head-head width: 1.00 × head length; scape short, scape length
0.18 × head length; scape length 1.45 × scape width; first flagellar
segment broader than long, shorter than second; remaining segments
equal in length and breadth, pedicel short, 0.38 × scape length; eyes
very strongly convergent below, upper facial width 1.76 × lower facial
width; gena narrower than eyes; mandibles bidentate apically (Figs. 1
a-c).
Clypeus: narrow, clypeal width 0.77 × clypeal length; basal
clypeal width 0.57 × clypeal width, 0.8 × interantennal distance, 6.7
× antennal socket diameter, 4 × clypeocular distance; frontal shield
about twice longer than wide, apex narrow, frontal shield width 0.7 x
antennal socket diameter; interocellar distance about 2.9 × ocellar
diameter, 1.25 × ocellocular distance.
Clypeus and maculated intraclypeal region: obscurely tessellate,
punctures very minute, scattered; face above antenna very finely
rugosopunctate; face and vertex with minute to fine, close punctures;
gena moderately shiny (Figs. 1a-c).
Mesosoma: mesoscutum 1.2 × wider than long; scutellum
flattened, about 0.44 times length of mesoscutum; metanotum
flattened; mesoscutum dull, tessellate between close, minute to fine
punctures; scutellum moderately shiny, tessellate, punctures minute
to fine and sparse; metanotum tessellate, slightly shiny between
minute, sparse punctures; pronotum, preepisternum, and
mesepisternum tessellate, moderately shiny between close to sparse,
minute to fine punctures; metepisternum and lateral faces of
propodeum tessellate, slightly roughened, minute punctures
scattered; dorsal area of propodeum much longer than metanotum,
finely tessellate and smooth, posterior face of the propodeum
subcarinate and truncate, lateral and oblique carina produced slightly,
propodeal triangle and disc smooth, shining, impunctate, basal area
tessellate, shining (Figs. 2a,b; Fig. 3).
Metasoma: disc of first and second terganearly impunctate, shiny
with very minute, scattered punctures on apical (first 1/5th) and distal
portions (last 1/5th); remaining terga with very minute, scattered
punctures mostly in centre of disk. Metasomalsterma and terga are
transversely microstriate (Fig. 2b). Terminalia (Figs. 4a,b) typical of
subgenus Hylaeana with branched hairs along the lateral margins of
the apex of sternum 8 and rounded apical lobes of sternum 9.
Pilosity: body covered in short white simple to plumose hairs, not
obscuring the surface in any region; very short on clypeus,
supraclypeal area, and supraantennal area, longer on vertex and
lower gena, longest and densely plumose on metanotum and adjacent
portions of lateral faces of propodeum, absent from propodeal
triangle and posterior face of propodeum; metasomal hairs scattered
and short on terga 1 2, denser and sparse on terga 3-6 (Figs. 2a,b).
Colour: head and mesosoma blackish, metasoma and legs brown;
labrum brown; maxillary and labial palpi yellow-orange to brown; the
following yellow-orange, except as noted: ventral half of scape and
pedicel, but basal condyle brown; central portion of clypeus bordered
by brown margin on all sides; paraocular face marks yellow-orange,
narrow, elongate, entirely filling area between clypeus and eyes,
extending along inner orbits above antenna to just below top of eyes;
mandibles, except the reddish tips and line at base; collar yelloworange
laterally and black medially; tubercules; tegulae brownish-red
with yellow-orange areas apically; and apex of sternum 5 and
sternum 6. Legs yellow-orange and brown, front tibiae yellow-orange
anteriorly, dark basally, fore coxa, trochanter, and femur brown, meso
- and metatibiae yellow-orange basally and apically, dark medially
(Fig. 1d); all tarsi yellow except middle tibial claw brown dorsally; tips
of claws reddish; arolia between claws brownish; spurs pale yelloworange;
flagellum light brown above, paler beneath. Wings clear,
veins brown, stigma brownish black. In the specimens examined,
there was no variation in maculation colour or extent in the scape,
pedicel, clypeus, paraocular maculation, mandibles, collar, or
tubercules. The tegulae was the most variable in maculation, with five
specimens having no maculation. The maculation in the tibia also
varied, with some all yellow while others were yellow dorsally and
brown ventrally, primarily in the meso- and metatibiae.
Reprinted with permission from: Mitchell, T.B. 1960 Bees of the Eastern United States. North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station Technical Bulletin No. 141.
FEMALE—Length 4 mm.; thorax mostly black, head above and laterally black, abdomen chiefly red, but apical terga blackish; antennae, including scape, ferruginous, paler beneath; clypeus yellowish in center, more ferruginous around the margin; face marks yellow, narrow, elongate, entirely filling area between clypeus and eyes, extending along inner orbits nearly to top of eyes; mandibles ferruginous, labrum somewhat darker; collar and tubercles yellow; tegulae pale ferruginous, yellow anteriorly; legs reddened, front tibiae yellow anteriorly, basal third of hind tibiae yellowish; spurs yellowish; face narrow and elongate; eyes much converging below; cheeks slightly narrower than eyes; foveae short, extending from tip of yellow face mark to top of eye, separated from eye by a space of about equal width, little if any divergent from eye above; segments of flagellum slightly broader than long, the more apical ones about as long as broad; front coxae simple; dorsal area of propodeum slightly longer than metanotum, finely tessellate but otherwise smooth, posterior face truncate, subcarinate laterally, finely and obscurely reticulate, lateral surfaces tessellate or finely subrugose; metanotum somewhat shining; clypeus obscurely tessellate, impunctate; face above antennae very finely rugoso-punctate; scutum finely and quite closely punctate, dull; scutellum more shining, punctures less close and more coarse; pleura tessellate, punctures rather fine and sparse; abdomen impunctate.
DISTRIBUTION—Since the description of the unique type, five more females have been received, records of which follow:1, Plantation Key, Fla., November 27, 1955; 2 , Saddlebunch Keys, Fla., December 29, 1953 (on Flaveria linearis)1, Key Largo, March 27, 1957 (all H. V.Weems, Jr.) [Florida State Plant Board];1, Key Largo, Fla., April 10, 1955 (T. B.Mitchell, on Metopium toxiferum).
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