Reprinted with permission from: Rightmyer, M.G. A Review of the Cleptoparasitic Bee Genus Triepeolus (Hymenoptera: Apidae)
TRIEPEOLUS REMIGATUS (FABRICIUS)
(Figs. 185–187, 260)
Melecta remigata Fabricius 1804: 387 [Carolina] [Type lost? (See Comments, below)].
Epeolus remigatus; Lepeletier de Saint-Fargeau (in Lepeletier de Saint-Fargeau and Serville 1825): 104.
Epeolus superbus Provancher 1895: 190–191 [Holotype: Université Laval, Collection Provancher; female, (Los Angeles, California); 1734 (See Comments, below)]. new synonymy
Triepeolus remigatus; Robertson 1901: 231; Mitchell 1962: 480–481, Fig. 112 [redescription, illustration of scutellum, axillae]; Rozen 1966: 17–19, Fig. 24 [description, illustration of predefecating larva]; Bohart 1966: 255–261, Figs. 1–20 [descriptions, photographs and illustrations of egg, first through fourth instar, prepupa, adult].
Epeolus texanus var. nigripes Cockerell 1898: 61 [Holotype: U. S. National Museum of Natural History No. 18966; male, Mesilla (Dona Ana Co.), New Mexico; 14 August; Helianthus ciliaris]. new synonymy
Triepeolus texanus nigripes; Cockerell 1916: 392.
Description.—Length ca. 10.5–15.5 mm; ITW 2.4–3.5 mm. Integument black, with red on basal half of mandible and sometimes on axillar spine; often with orange on labrum, apical margin of clypeus, basal antenna, and legs in Southwestern specimens; dorsum of mesosoma and metasoma with bands of yellow setae. Face sometimes slightly elongate. Clypeus black, with midline absent or rarely weak; larger punctures weak; mostly asetose (some females), basally covered with white setae (some females and some males), or entirely covered with white or brown setae (some males). Paramedian band joining laterally with yellow setae on apical margin of mesoscutum to form strong anchor pattern (both sexes). Scutellum strongly to moderately bigibbous; axillar spine reaching midpoint or, more commonly, surpassing midpoint, with slightly incurved apical point. Mesepisternum lacking erect, simple setae; with distinct dorsal region of dense, yellow, branched setae (lacking on hypoepimeron) and ventral region of black, branched setae; integument beneath with small punctures nearly contiguous to separated by 0.5 puncture diameter. T1 discal patch ovate to subtriangular, sometimes small; T2 with LLB forming 90 degree angle with ATB or forming semicircular, basal black region. Female: Pseudopygidial area subovate to subquadrate, setae almost uniformly glossy, fine, and dark, but slightly denser and finer basally; ventral metasoma lacking pale setae (Eastern and Midwestern distributions) or S2–S4 with bands of pale setae on apicolateral margins (Western distribution); S5 not downcurved or very slightly downturned apically. Male: Pygidial plate of moderate size, with distinct basal transverse ridge; S2–S3 with apicolateral bands of pale setae (S3 medially also with dark brown setae, which slightly extend past apical margin); S4–S5 with apical fringes of dark brown setae, S4 also with white setae on apicolateral margin in specimens from Western distribution.
Comments.—According to Zimsen (1964), the holotype of this species and Epeolus mercatus Fabricius should be located in the Bosc collection in the Museum of Natural History in Paris; however, the specimens could not be found (Claire Villemont, in lit., 2005). Nonetheless, the original description mentions an important feature for identifying T. remigatus, namely the distinctly trilobed (i.e., anchor-shaped) black region on the mesoscutum, and this species is consistently understood by workers to mean the one described herein (to judge from numerous previously identified specimens in the collections that I have examined).
According to the original description, the species name Epeolus superbus was apparently based on a single female type specimen. The holotype specimen, a female from the same collection locality as indicated in the original description, nonetheless has two lectotype labels on it. To my knowledge neither lectotype designation has been published. The full label data for the holotype are as follows: “1734 // Epeolus superbus Prov. Cal. // Lectotype 442 Epeolus superbus (Huart) Provancher Comeau 1944 [red label] // Lectotype Epeolus superbus Provancher 1734 Barron ’71 [red label].”
Females of T. remigatus can be distinguished by the anchor-shaped region of black setae on the mesoscutum in combination with the nearly uniform, darkly shining setae of the pseudopygidial area. Males of T. remigatus resemble T. concavus; however, in T. remigatus the paramedian bands and yellow setae on the anterior margin of the mesoscutum form a strong anchor pattern, while in T. concavus the paramedian bands are not distinct from the region of dense yellow setae on the anterior third or fourth of the mesoscutum. Triepeolus remigatus is also similar to T. nevadensis, but in T. nevadensis the paramedian bands are not so strongly developed as in T. remigatus, the mesoscutum is more distinctly shining, the scutellum is more flattened and extended posteriorly, and the T1 discal patch is distinctly rectangular (as opposed to ovate or subtriangular in T. remigatus). The males have white banding only on S3 in T. nevadensis (as opposed to both S2 and S3 in T. remigatus).
Distribution.—MÉXICO: Chihuahua; Coahuila, Durango, Jalisco, San Luis Potosí, Sinaloa, Sonora, Zacatecas; USA: Arizona, California (Tulare Co. south to Riverside Co. and San Diego Co.), Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington D.C.
Host Records.—Dieunomia (Dieunomia) heteropoda (Say) (2 specimens, at nest entrance, Hidalgo Co., New Mexico); Centris sp. (1 specimen with label “Centris Nest #1” from Cochise Co., Arizona), Peponapis pruinosa (Say)? (Mitchell, 1962, collection records; John S. Ascher, in lit., 2003, unpublished data), Xenoglossa strenua (Cresson) (Mitchell, 1962, collection records; Rozen, 1966, larvae taken from nest; Bohart, 1966, eggs and larvae taken from nests).
Floral Records.—Bahia absinthifolia var. dealbata (Gray) Gray, Centaurea repens [= Acroptilon repens (L.) DC.], Cichorium intybus L., Cosmos sp., Crotalaria incana L., Eriogonum abertianum neomexicanum (= Eriogonum abertianum Torr.), E. deflexum Torr., Eupatorium linearifolium (= Eupatorium glaucescens Ell.), Gaillardia pulchella Foug., Helianthus annuus L., H. ciliaris DC., Kallstroemia grandiflora Torr. ex Gray, Melilotus alba [= Melilotus officinalis (L.) Lam.], Petalostemon sp. (= Dalea sp.), Sphaeralcea fendleri Gray ssp. elongata Kearney, Verbesina encelioides (Cav.) Benth. & Hook. f. ex Gray, Vernonia noveboracensis (L.) Michx., China aster [= Callistephus chinensis (L.) Nees], “cultivated cucurbits”.
Seasonal Records.—9 May to 22 October.
Specimens examined.—183 female, 50 male (AUSTIN, BOULDER, CHAMELA, CORVALLIS, DAVIS, ITHACA, LAWRENCE, LOGAN, LOS ANGELES, NEW YORK, QUÉBEC, RIVERSIDE, SAN FRANCISCO, URBANA, WASHINGTON D.C.).
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 1243 mm.; black, including tubercles, tegulae and legs, but tibiae and tarsi more or less brownish; basal segment of flagellum somewhat reddish, slightly shorter than segment 2, median segments somewhat longer than broad, piceous below, black above; space separating lateral ocelli from margin of vertex slightly less than their diameter; cheeks slightly less than half width of eyes, slightly narrower below, posterior margin subcarinate; median length of labrum somewhat greater than half the breadth, with a pair of apical, submedian denticles; posterior margin of scutellum strongly outcurved, broadly and shallowly impressed medially, free part of axillae rather strongly divergent from sides of scutellum, tips slightly exceeding mid transverse line of scutellum (fig. 112); wings subhyaline basally, becoming rather strongly infuscated apically, with the usual three submarginal cells, veins brownish to piceous; face with a few pale hairs intermixed with some fuscous pubescence just above antennae, head otherwise entirely black; pronotum dorsally, tubercles, adjacent L-shaped area of pleura, metanotum and adjacent margin of scutellum, and anterior, lateral and posterior margins of scutum, densely yellow tomentose; anterior band of scutum narrowly interrupted medially, quite broad on each side, lateral margins quite broadly tomentose, with the scutello-mesothoracic suture very narrowly tomentose, a pair of small tomentose spots on anterior margin of scutellum adjacent to the suture; disc of basal abdominal tergum largely yellowish tomentose, interrupted medially, forming a rounded or subtriangular median black tomentose area, anterior face black tomentose, and apical rim narrowly black; tergum 2 with a broad, dense, yellowish tomentose band which is very slightly interrupted medially, gradually broadened on each side to occupy nearly the entire lateral areas of the plate; terga 3 and 4 with entire, yellowish tomentose, subapical fasciae; tergum 5 with a small patch of greyish-white tomentum on each side of pseudopygidium; tegulae very minutely and closely punctate throughout; face above antennae with deep and distinct but rather fine and close punctures, these becoming fine and densely crowded on vertex, slightly more coarse and distinct, but still very fine on cheeks, face below antennae very finely and densely punctate, clypeus with shallow, scattered, somewhat coarser punctures superimposed on the finely punctate field; scutum with uniformly fine and very close punctures throughout, those on median portion of scutellum very minute and obscure, densely crowded, scutellum laterally and axillae more distinctly but very finely and closely punctate; punctures of pleura very fine and densely crowded; punctures of abdominal terga beneath the yellow or black tomentum extremely minute and densely crowded; median length of pseudopygidium barely equal to the breadth, very broadly rounded or subtruncate apically, covered with very fine, short and suberect, pale setae; sternum 5 broadly convex as seen from beneath.
MALE—Similar to female; terga 5 and 6 pale fasciate apically, that on 6 quite short; sterna 2 and 3 with apical, transverse, silvery tomentose fasciae that are quite narrow, 4 and 5 with rather dense, subapical fringes of elongate, apically curved setae; pygidial plate strongly elevated above disc of tergum 7, with a rather distinct, basal, transverse ridge, apical part slightly longer than broad, evenly rounded, margins carinate, surface with some very fine, obscure reticulations.
DISTRIBUTION — In the East, from Minnesota to New Jersey, south to Texas and Florida; May to September.
FLOWER RECORDS — Helianthus and Pontederia, as well as cultivated cucurbits (Canteloup, Cucumber and Squash). It is recorded by Robertson (1929) on the following: Asclepias, Actinomeris, Bidens, Blephilia, Cirsium, Ipomoea, Lepachys, Liatris, Monarda, Nepeta, Petalostemum, Pycnanthemum, Silphium, Trifolium, Verbena and Vernonia.
HOST—Collection records suggest the possibility that Peponapis pruinosa or Xenoglossa strenua may be the host of this species.
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