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Melissodes comptoides Robertson, 1898
Melissodes martini hitei Cockerell, 1908

Life   Insecta   Hymenoptera   Apoidea   Apidae   Melissodes
Subgenus: Melissodes

Melissodes comptoides, Mid-Atlantic Phenology
© Copyright source/photographer · 9
Melissodes comptoides, Mid-Atlantic Phenology

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Melissodes comptoides, m, face, Kent Co
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Melissodes comptoides, m, face, Kent Co
Melissodes comptoides, m, side, Kent Co
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Melissodes comptoides, m, side, Kent Co

Melissodes comptoides, m, back, Kent Co
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Melissodes comptoides, m, back, Kent Co
Melissodes comptoides, Barcde of Life Datat Systems
Barcode of Life Data Systems · 1
Melissodes comptoides, Barcde of Life Datat Systems

Melissodes comptoides, female, scopa
© Mary Paul · 1
Melissodes comptoides, female, scopa
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 12.5-13 mm., breadth of abdomen 5-5.5 mm.; black, mandibles with a subapical testaceous maculations; segments of flagellum beyond 2nd brownish-testaceous beneath, black above; apical tarsal segments becoming brownish-testaceous, spurs testaceous, tegulae rather dark anteriorly, becoming reddish-testaceous posteriorly, margin more yellowish; wings lightly infuscated, veins piceous; cheeks considerably narrower than eyes; clypeus only slightly protuberant, its median length about half the distance between eyes below; eyes very slightly convergent below; basal segment of flagellum about twice length of segment 2 on its shorter side, this about equal to apical width; clypeus rather dull, punctures quite coarse, deep and close, becoming narrowly finer and densely crowded toward apical margin, labrum with dense fine punctures along mid-line, these becoming more distinctly and widely separated laterally; lateral areas of face above clypeus closely, finely and quite deeply punctate, median area between antennae much more sparsely punctate, punctures becoming somewhat more sparse above; vertex very closely and finely punctate behind ocelli; cheeks with close, fine, deep and distinct punctures posteriorly, these becoming minute and obscure along margin of eye; punctures of scutum and mesopleura deep, distinct and quite coarse, slightly separated on scutum medially, becoming somewhat finer and much closer laterally, anteriorly and posteriorly, pleural punctures rather evenly distributed and quite close; punctures of scutellum much finer and closer, almost crowded; posterior face of propodeum dull, punctures quite deep and distinct, irregularly scattered, dorsal area much more closely, deeply and regularly punctate, lateral faces finely, closely and deeply punctate throughout; basal abdominal tergum largely covered with fine, deep, distinct, slightly separated punctures, only the apical third fourth impunctate, the punctate area nearly reaching apical margin laterally; tergum 2 with deep, distinct, rather fine and slightly separated punctures across basal area, these invading the apical impressed areas, but punctures finer and somewhat more widely separated, only the very narrow apical rim impunctate; terga 3 and 4 quite deeply, closely and rather finely punctate across base, punctures invading apical impressed areas where they are somewhat more sparse, apical rim of 3 narrowly impunctate; pygidium sub- triangular, with narrowly rounded apex; pubescence rather short but largely pale on face, with some elongate black hairs between antennae and eyes, a row of black hairs across vertex, and a few elongate, black hairs around margin of clypeus; pubescence of cheeks whitish; scutum, scutellum and pleura above chiefly pale ochraceous pubescent, scutum posteriorly with a very few dark, erect hairs and a small amount of dark pubescence on scutellum; mesopleura with an intermixture of dark and light hairs on outer surface becoming black or fuscous pubescent beneath; propodeum entirely pale ochraceous pubescent; pubescence of legs largely dark, the fore and mid tibiae with a fuscous patch on outer surface toward apex, scopa entirely pale yellow, scopal hairs densely plumose; basal abdominal tergum with rather copious, erect, pale ochraceous pubescence basally, disc apically with some short but definite black pubescence on each extreme side, median area bare; tergum 2 with a basal, pale ochraceous fascia which is usually largely covered by tergum 1, and with a narrow, submedian, whitish fascia that is usually broadly interrupted medially, intermediate area between these fasciae with extremely short, suberect, black pubescence; tergum 3 with a submedian white fascia, with some thin white pubescence and scattered, erect black hairs toward basal margin; tergum 4 with a broad, dense, white fascia which is completely apical on each side, but median area rather broadly interrupted on apical margin, basal area of disc with erect, rather coarse and elongate black hairs which tend to overlie the white fascia; terga 5 and entirely blackish or fuscous pubescent.


MALE—Length 10-13 mm., breadth of abdomen 3.5-5 mm.; black, the clypeus, labrum and base and apex of mandibles yellow; segments of flagellum beyond the 1st brownish-testaceous beneath, more piceous above, and basal segment piceous; apical tarsal segments becoming testaceous, spurs pale yellowish, tegulae brownish-testaceous, becoming somewhat more yellowish posteriorly; wings quite uniformly lightly infuscated, veins testaceous to piceous; apical margins of abdominal terga narrowly yellowish; cheeks much narrower than eyes; clypeus very slightly protuberant, its median length slightly greater than distance between eyes below; eyes rather strongly convergent below; shorter side of basal segment of flagellum no longer than pedicel, much shorter than apical width, segment 2 at least six times longer; clypeus with rather fine, well separated but quite distinct punctures, those on labrum much finer and closer medially, becoming rather sparse at each extreme side; lateral areas of face above clypeus closely, finely and rather deeply punctate, supraclypeal area very sparsely so, punctures becoming more minute and indistinct above, surface shining; vertex quite closely and deeply punctate behind ocelli, and cheeks shining, with rather coarse and close punctures posteriorly, these becoming minute and obscure toward margin of eye; punctures of scutum, scutellum and pleura coarse, deep and distinct, rather well separated on scutum medially, becoming closer anteriorly and posteriorly, quite close over most of scutellum, rather uniformly slightly separated on pleura; posterior face of propodeum quite deeply, distinctly and coarsely punctate, punctures rather sparse on each side, otherwise close, dorsal area quite closely punctate medially, becoming more rugoso-punctate laterally, lateral faces shining between numerous, rather close, fine and shallow punctures; abdominal terga 1 and 2 with rather coarse, deep and distinct punctures basally, rather widely separated medially on 1, somewhat closer on 2, becoming minute and indistinct toward apical margin of 1, and invading the broad, impressed, apical area of 2 where the punctures are very sparse and minute; discs of terga 3 and 4 finely and closely punctate, punctures becoming densely crowded toward each side, apical impressed areas invaded only slightly by minute punctures; terga 5 and 6 very finely and densely rugoso-punctate; tergum 5 not noticeably angulate at each side, but tergum 6 with a triangular, robust, apical spine at each extreme side; pubescence entirely pale ochraceous on bead, thorax and legs; basal abdominal tergum with copious ochraceous pubescence anteriorly, and somewhat shorter, suberect, fuscous or black pubescence posteriorly; tergum 2 with a broad, dense, basal, white fascia which is usually covered by apical margin of tergum 1, and with traces of oblique, narrow, whitish fasciae on each side, widely interrupted medially, disc otherwise covered with very short, suberect, blackish or fuscous pubescence nearly to the rim; tergum 3 with a submedian, white fascia which is slightly interrupted medially, and with some obscure white tomentum between this and base on each side, and tergum 4 with a subapical, dense, white fascia which is narrowed medially exposing the impunctate, shining, apical margin of the plate, basal areas of both 3 and 4 covered with suberect rather long dark hairs, and with some similar dark hairs beyond the fascia on 3; terga 5 and 6 entirely blackish pubescent; median length of pygidial plate about equal to basal width, margin strongly carinate, abruptly constricted toward apex which is broadly rounded or subtruncate; sterna 7 and 8 and genital armature as shown (fig. 81).

DISTRIBUTION — Arizona, Colorado and South Dajçota, east to New Jersey and Florida, April to October.

FLOWER RECORDS — LaBerge (1956) lists the following: Amphiachyris, Asclepias, Aster, Blephilia, Campanula, Cassia, Cleome, Cicuta, Cirsium, Diodea, Euphorbia, Gossypium, Helenium, Helianthus, Lepachys, Lespedeza, Ludwegia, Lycopus, Lythrum, Medicago, Melilotus, Monarda, Peto2ostemum, Prunella, Pycnanthemum, Ratibida, Solidago, Symphoricarpos, Taraxacum, Teucrium, Verbena, Vernonia and Veronica.

Names
Scientific source:

Supported by

Hosts · map
FamilyScientific name @ source (records)
Convolvulaceae  Jacquemontia pentanthos @ BBSL (1)
Fabaceae  Galactia volubilis @ BBSL (2)

Melilotus albus @ UCRC_ENT (1)

Melilotus officinalis @ AMNH_BEE (6)

Sesbania exaltata @ BBSL (2)
Lamiaceae  Hyptis mutabilis @ CUIC_ENT (2)
Onagraceae  Ludwigia alternifolia @ AMNH_BEE (3)

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Updated: 2024-03-29 07:54:26 gmt
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