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Hylaeus graenicheri Mitchell, 1951
Life   Insecta   Hymenoptera   Apoidea   Colletidae   Hylaeus
Subgenus: Hylaeana

Hylaeus graenicheri, male face 2
John Pascarella · 5
Hylaeus graenicheri, male face 2

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Hylaeus graenicheri, male face 3
John Pascarella · 5
Hylaeus graenicheri, male face 3
Hylaeus graenicheri, female, abd side
John B. Pascarella · 1
Hylaeus graenicheri, female, abd side

Hylaeus graenicheri, female, abd top close
John B. Pascarella · 1
Hylaeus graenicheri, female, abd top close
Hylaeus graenicheri, female, abd top
John B. Pascarella · 1
Hylaeus graenicheri, female, abd top

Hylaeus graenicheri, female, antenna below
John B. Pascarella · 1
Hylaeus graenicheri, female, antenna below
Hylaeus graenicheri, female, antenna
John B. Pascarella · 1
Hylaeus graenicheri, female, antenna

Hylaeus graenicheri, female, face
John B. Pascarella · 1
Hylaeus graenicheri, female, face
Hylaeus graenicheri, female, mandibles
John B. Pascarella · 1
Hylaeus graenicheri, female, mandibles

Hylaeus graenicheri, female, mandibles2
John B. Pascarella · 1
Hylaeus graenicheri, female, mandibles2
Hylaeus graenicheri, female, scutum
John B. Pascarella · 1
Hylaeus graenicheri, female, scutum

Hylaeus graenicheri, female, side
John B. Pascarella · 1
Hylaeus graenicheri, female, side
Hylaeus graenicheri, female, side2
John B. Pascarella · 1
Hylaeus graenicheri, female, side2

Hylaeus graenicheri, female, thorax
John B. Pascarella · 1
Hylaeus graenicheri, female, thorax
Hylaeus graenicheri, female, top wide
John B. Pascarella · 1
Hylaeus graenicheri, female, top wide
Overview
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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Updated: 2024-03-28 23:59:48 gmt
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