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Melissodes pilleata LaBerge, 1961
Life   Insecta   Hymenoptera   Apoidea   Apidae   Melissodes


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    Female holotype seen and scored
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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 11-12 mm., breadth of abdomen 4-5 mm.; black, the antennal flagellum somewhat more piceous beneath, apical tarsal segments somewhat more piceous, spurs dull testaceous; tegulae piceous; wings very lightly infuscated, veins piceous; cheeks somewhat broader than eyes; clypeus very slightly protuberant, its median length about half the distance between eyes below; eyes subparallel; basal segment of flagellum nearly twice the length of segment 2; clypeus closely, deeply and rather coarsely punctate, the punctures becoming very fine and densely crowded toward apical margin, those on labrum much finer, closely crowded medially, becoming quite sparse laterally; supraclypeal area somewhat shining and very sparsely punctate, lateral areas of face below level of antennae very finely and quite closely punctate, becoming more sparsely and minutely punctate above, the surface shining between eyes and ocelli, the median punctures below ocelli much coarser and deeper; vertex finely and densely punctate behind ocelli, more widely separated laterally; cheeks quite smooth, punctures minute, becoming somewhat more coarse and distinct along posterior margin; scutum shining between quite coarse and deep punctures, these sparse medially over apical half of disc, becoming somewhat finer and much closer laterally and anteriorly, those on scutellum slightly finer, quite close and uniform; punctures of pleura deep, rather coarse and quite close, becoming much finer posteriorly above mid coxae; posterior face of propodeum dull, punctures shallow and rather close, dorsal area dull, rather coarsely rugose or reticulate on each side of mid-line along upper margin, lateral faces dull and obscurely punctate posteriorly, the punctures becoming finer and more obscure anteriorly and below; basal two-thirds of disc of basal abdominal tergum dull, rather shallowly but closely punctate, punctures becoming finer and closer laterally where they nearly reach the apical margin, the broad, median, apical area impunctate; discs of the following terga very finely punctate across basal area, punctures well separated on tergum 2, quite close on 3 and crowded on 4, apical impressed areas nearly impunctate, with only vague and extremely minute punctures at all visible; pygidium rather narrowly rounded apically; vertex with a transverse line of long black hairs, head otherwise with rather copious, short, whitish pubescence; scutum and scutellum largely covered with erect but rather short, fuscous or blackish pubescence, only the narrow anterior margin of scutum white pubescent; pleura and propodeum entirely whitish pubescent; legs largely pale pubescent, but fore and mid tibiae with some fuscous, appressed pubescence on outer face near apex, and basitarsi with dark hairs beneath; hind tibial scopa whitish or pale ochraceous, the hairs quite densely plumose; basal abdominal tergum with some short, rather inconspicuous, blackish pubescence on each side of disc, but otherwise with rather short, copious pale pubescence medially, anteriorly and at extreme sides; discs of the following terga largely covered with short, suberect but rather inconspicuous, black pubescence, the apical impressed areas only thinly pubescent; tergum 2 with a basal white fascia, usually obscured by the preceding tergum; terga 2-4 with sub- median, white fasciae that fringe the impressed apical areas, more or less interrupted medially on 2, that on 4 more nearly subapical in position; terga 5 and 6 entirely blackish pubescent.

MALE—Length 9-11 mm., breadth of abdomen 3.5-4 mm.; black, the clypeus yellowish-white, labrum with a large, median, ivory maculation, and mandibles ivory maculated at base; antennal flagellum testaceous beneath, piceous above; apical tarsal segments becoming brownish-testaceous, spurs pale yellowish; tegulae piceous; wings very lightly infuscated, veins testaceous to piceous; apical margins of abdominal terga becoming narrowly yellowish apically; cheeks slightly narrower than eyes; clypeus only slightly protuberant, its median length considerably greater than half the distance between eyes below; eyes slightly convergent below; basal segment of flagellum very short, no longer than pedicel, segment 2 nearly six times as long as segment 1 and pedicel combined; punctures of clypeus rather coarse and close laterally, becoming slightly separated medially, obscure on the whitish surface, those on labrum somewhat finer, slightly separated laterally; supraclypeal area shining, with only a very few, widely scattered punctures, lateral areas of face below level of antennae closely and finely punctate, punctures becoming minute above antennae where the surface is shining and between eyes and ocelli, the more median punctures below ocelli quite coarse and deep; vertex finely and rather densely punctate behind ocelli, the punctures more distinct on each side; cheeks somewhat shining beneath the pubescence, punctures minute, becoming more distinct and deep toward the posterior margin; scutum shining between deep and rather coarse punctures, these quite sparse over posterior half medially, becoming finer and closer laterally and anteriorly, those on scutellum somewhat finer and quite sparse, the surface shining; punctures of pleura quite coarse and deep, rather well separated, becoming rather minute and closer posteriorly above mid coxae; posterior face of propodeum rather dull, punctures rather coarse, not widely separated, dorsal area becoming very dull, quite densely reticulate along upper margin, lateral faces somewhat more closely and finely punctate, the punctures becoming obsolescent anteriorly and below; discs of abdominal terga with quite deep and distinct punctures, those on basal tergum well separated medially and rather coarse, evenly distributed, becoming minute and somewhat more sparse toward apical margin which is very narrowly impunctate, those on the following terga becoming progressively finer and closer, apical impressed areas largely impunctate but invaded to a slight degree by extremely minute, widely scattered punctures; terga 5 and 6 closely punctate basally, 5 with a slight angle on each extreme side, and 6 with a corresponding, more elongate and robust spine; vertex with a few, erect and elongate dark hairs, but head otherwise quite densely long white pubescent; scutum and scutellum with copious, erect, fuscous pubescence, only the narrow anterior margin of scutum with pale pubescence; pleura, propodeum and legs entirely whitish pubescent; basal abdominal tergum with copious, long, erect, whitish pubescence across basal area, the narrow apical area with elongate, suberect, fuscous pubescence; discs of the following terga with erect, blackish to fuscous pubescence, more abundant on the basal area, sparse on the impressed apical areas, these fringed basally with narrow white fasciae, and tergum 2 with a basal white fascia which is usually covered in part by the preceding tergum; tergum 6 entirely fuscous pubescent; median length of pygidial plate about equal to basal width, margins strongly carinate and quite strongly convergent apically to the constricted and rather broadly truncate apex; sterna 7 and 8 and genital armature much as in agilis (fig. 84).

DISTRIBUTION—North Carolina, September and October.

FLOWER RECORDS — Aster, Chrysopsis, Gerardia, Haplopappus, Kuhnistera and Liatris.

Names
Scientific source:

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FamilyScientific name @ source (records)
Asteraceae  Aster @ AMNH_BEE (2)

Chrysopsis sp @ BBSL (1)

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Updated: 2024-03-28 08:27:16 gmt
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