© Mary Paul
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Eucera belfragii, male, top |
Click on map for details about points.
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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 15 mm., breadth of abdomen 5.5 mm.; black, the antennae and legs somewhat more piceous, spurs pale testaceous, tegulae testaceous-hyaline; wings subhyaline, veins testaceous to piceous; cheeks subequal to eyes; clypeus slightly protuberant, its median length somewhat less than half the distance between eyes; eyes subparallel; mandibles entire apically; basal segment of flagellum slightly shorter than segments 2 and 3 combined; tibial spurs straight and simple; clypeus coarsely, confluently punctate throughout, labrum with very fine, close punctures medially, these becoming somewhat more coarse and sparse laterally; supraclypeal area dull, rather sparsely punctate medially, lateral areas of face below level of antennae very fine1y and rather closely punctate, the surface dull, surface above antennae somewhat more coarsely but quite closely punctate, the polished areas adjacent to lateral ocelli with exceedingly minute, sparse punctures; cheeks rather dull, minutely and closely punctate below, somewhat more coarsely and deeply so above; punctures rather coarse and deep, only slightly separated in median area of scutum posteriorly, becoming finer, closer and rather obscure laterally and anteriorly; scutellum somewhat more finely but very deeply and closely punctate throughout; pleura dull, densely tessellate, punctures rather shallow but close throughout; posterior face of propodeum rather dull, punctures shallow and vague, rather sparse and irregular, dorsal area becoming somewhat coarsely roughened or rugose along upper margin, lateral areas dull, quite closely and shallowly punctate; disc of basal abdominal tergum quite coarsely and closely punctate across basal area, punctures becoming much finer and closer laterally, the rather broad, apical margin polished and impunctate, the more median punctures rather sparse; punctures of basal areas of terga 2-4 fine but deep and distinct, quite close on 2, becoming more densely crowded on 3 and 4, largely obscured by dense tomentum, the apical impressed areas minutely and sparsely punctate in part, the rather narrow, apical rims impunctate; median length of pygidium slightly greater than basal width, apex rather broadly rounded; pubescence copious and elongate, entirely pale on head and thorax, whitish on face below and on thorax laterally and posteriorly, the vertex and dorsum of thorax somewhat more yellowish pubescent; legs largely covered with pale pubescence, somewhat more brownish and quite dense on outer face of mid tibiae, basitarsi with reddish- brown hairs; hind tibial scopa whitish; pubescence of basal abdominal tergum whitish, rather copious and elongate, with no dark hairs in evidence, apical rim bare; basal areas of terga 2-5 densely covered with appressed black tomentum, this followed by a broad and dense, white tomentose fascia which is slightly removed from rim on 2 and 3, but is entirely apical on 4; tergum 5 brownish pubescent across median area of apical margin, but becoming white at extreme sides; pubescence of tergum 6 brownish on each side of pygidium.
MALE—Length 11-12.5 mm., breadth of abdomen 4-5 mm.; black, the clypeus and labrum largely or entirely whitish-yellow; apical tarsal segments becoming brownish-testaceous, spurs pale yellowish, tegulae testaceous-hyaline; wings subhyaline or very faintly brownish, veins testaceous to black; cheeks subequal to eyes in width; clypeus somewhat protuberant, its median length very slightly greater than half the distance between eyes below; eyes very slightly convergent below; mandibles obscurely bi-dentate apically; apical margin of labrum deeply, triangularly incised medially; basal segment of flagellum about twice length of pedicel, segment 2 about three times the length of segment 1 and pedicel combined; mid and hind tibial spurs straight and simple; punctures of clypeus rather coarse and close throughout, somewhat obscure on yellowish surface, labrum quite sparsely punctate throughout, but with a few fine, close punctures medially; supraclypeal area dull and densely tessellate, with only a few, very shallow, obscure, scattered punctures, lateral areas of face below level of antennae dull, punctures rather shallow but quite close, surface above antennae rather dull, punctures scattered and irregular, a limited area adjacent to lateral ocelli largely impunctate; cheeks rather dull, punctures shallow but fine and rather close; median area of scutum posteriorly somewhat shining, punctures deep and distinct, well separated but hardly sparse, becoming fine and close laterally, anteriorly, and to some degree posteriorly; scutellum with somewhat finer but deep, distinct, uniformly close punctures (punctures are quite sparse medially on scutum and scutellum in some specimens); pleura dull, punctures shallow and rather vague, usually quite close throughout; posterior face of propodeum rather dull, punctures scattered and irregular, rather sparse, dorsal area becoming somewhat vaguely rugose or striate along upper margin, lateral faces dull, rather finely and closely punctate; punctures of abdominal terga rather deep and distinct, fine in general, well separated on basal tergum medially, becoming very fine and quite close laterally, only the narrow apical margin impunctate; punctures of the following terga quite deep and distinct, finer and closer on the more apical terga, apical margins somewhat invaded by finer and more sparse punctures, apical rims narrowly impunctate; pubescence copious and elongate, pale ochraceous to almost whitish on head, deeper ochraceous on thorax, legs with entirely whitish pubescence, and basal abdominal tergum with long, copious, pale ochraceous to whitish pubescence, tergum 2 with somewhat shorter but erect thin pale pubescence across the base, the depressed apical margin very narrowly and thinly whitish fasciate, this rather widely interrupted medially; terga 2-4 with thin, rather short but erect, blackish pubescence across basal areas, apical impressed area fringed with a quite dense but narrow whitish fascia, that on S more nearly apical in position; and apical margin of 6 with rather dense and elongate whitish pubescence medially, this becoming much narrower laterally; median length of pygidial plate somewhat greater than basal width, sharply carinate, nearly parallel, rather abruptly but only slightly constricted near the broadly truncate, apical margin.
DISTRIBUTION — Texas to Michigan, in April.
FLOWER R E C 0 R D S — Robertson (1929) records belfragei on the following:
Aesculus, Arabis, Camassia, Cercis, Claytonia, Collinsia, Dentaria, Dicentra, Erythronium, Geranium, Hydrophyllum, Isopyrum, Lithospermum, Mertensia, Pentstemon, Polemonium, Ranunculus and Viola.
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Updated: 2024-04-25 08:47:49 gmt
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