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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 12-13 mm., breadth of abdomen 4.5 mm.; black, the mandibles more reddish, with an obscure faint yellow area apically; segments of flagellum beyond the 2nd testaceous beneath, piceous above, basal segments darker brownish; apical tarsal segments and entire hind tibiae and tarsi brownish-testaceous, spurs pale yellow, tegulae yellowish-hyaline; wings pale yellowish-hyaline, veins testaceous to brownish; abdominal terga becoming narrowly yellowish-hyaline apically; cheeks considerably narrower than eyes; clypeus very slightly protuberant, its median length slightly less than half the distance between eyes below; eyes very slightly convergent below; shorter side of segment of flagellum about equal to breadth, about half the length of segment 1; punctures of clypeus rather coarse but shallow, slightly separated, becoming fine and densely crowded along apical margin, those on labrum very fine and densely crowded medially, becoming rather sparse laterally; lateral areas of face above clypeus finely, closely and rather shallowly punctate, the supraclypeal area very sparsely punctate, punctures becoming very sparse on each side above antennae where the surface is shining, but close and fine medially below ocelli, vertex closely and finely punctate behind ocelli; cheeks shining, with fine, slightly separated punctures posteriorly, these becoming minute and indefinite toward eye margin; scutum shining between rather deep, moderately coarse punctures, these well separated over posterior half of disc, becoming closer laterally and anteriorly, those on scutellum somewhat finer and quite close; pleura somewhat shining between quite deep, distinct and rather coarse punctures, these well separated in general but becoming closer above beneath wing bases; posterior face of propodeum dull, punctures rather close but not very coarse, dorsal area quite coarsely hut shallowly and closely punctate, lateral faces dull and tessellate between fine and very shallow punctures beneath dense pubescence; basal abdominal tergum quite closely and deeply punctate across base, punctures nearly reaching apical margin at each side, becoming more sparse apically, the broad median area impunctate; tergum 2 with deep, distinct, fine and well separated punctures across basal half, apical half with scattered, exceedingly minute, barely visible punctures; basal area of tergum 3 much more closely punctate, 5 and 6 very densely and finely rugoso-punctate, punctures of apical areas of 4 and 5 very fine but definite and distinct; pygidium triangular, with narrowly rounded apex; pubescence of head almost entirely pale ochraceous, with only a few dark hairs on vertex between ocelli, and thorax densely pale ochraceous pubescent, largely obscuring surface of scutum and scutellum, long and copious elsewhere; pubescence of legs largely pale, but front coxae with a few dark hairs, and front basitarsi with some dark hairs anteriorly, mid tibiae with more brownish pubescence on outer surface, the hind tibial scopa pale yellowish, hairs distinctly plumose; basal abdominal tergum with rather abundant, pale ochraceous pubescence across base, apical portion of disc with some suberect, dark pubescence visible toward each side; terga 2 and 3 with whitish, basal fasciae that are usually covered by the preceding tergal plate, and a narrow, median, whitish fascia separated from basal fascia by an area of suberect fuscous pubescence, and with some blackish pubescence across the apical impressed areas; tergum 4 with some blackish, suberect pubescence across base, but the broad apical area densely covered with whitish tomentum which is slightly interrupted on apical margin medially; terga 5 and 6 largely blackish or fuscous pubescent, with some pale hairs on 5 laterally.
MALE�Length 9.5-11 mm., breadth of abdomen 3.5 mm.; black, the clypeus, labrum and base of mandibles bright yellow, mandibles with a testaceous apical maculation; antennal flagellum pale testaceous beneath, piceous above; apical tarsal segments becoming testaceous, tibiae more or less infused with testaceous apically, spurs pale yellow, tegulae testaceous or yellowish-hyaline; wings faintly yellowish, veins pale testaceous to brownish; apical margins of abdominal terga broadly yellowish-hyaline; cheeks little more than half as broad as eyes; clypeus only slightly protuberant, its median length about half the distance between eyes below; eyes quite strongly convergent below; basal segment of flagellum about equal to pedicel in length, segment 2 fully six times this length; punctures of clypeus rather shallow and obscure, well separated above medially, becoming rather close at each extreme side, close and fine on apical margin, those on labrum fine and close medially, becoming quite sparse laterally; lateral areas of face above clypeus quite closely and rather finely punctate, supraclypeal area impunctate medially, face becoming finely and densely punctate on each side, surface above antennae becoming minutely and more sparsely punctate between eyes and ocelli, surface shining, median area quite coarsely and closely punctate; punctures of vertex close and rather fine behind ocelli, cheeks shining, with rather fine and close punctures posteriorly, these becoming very minute and sparse toward eye margin; scutum shining, punctures quite deep and distinct, rather coarse and widely separated medially over posterior half, becoming much closer laterally and anteriorly, somewhat finer and rather sparse on scutellum, and pleura shining between deep, distinct and rather sparse punctures; posterior face of propodeum rather dull, punctures quite coarse, deep and close, dorsal area rather coarsely, closely and shallowly punctate, lateral areas more shining, punctures somewhat finer and quite close throughout; discs of abdominal terga with quite deep, distinct, well separated punctures medially, the punctures becoming slightly closer laterally and coarser across base, finer and more sparse toward the largely impunctate, impressed, apical areas, those on 4 and 5 very close across the base, crowded on 6; tergum 5 only obscurely angulate at each extreme side, and 6 with a rather short, slender, apical spine at each side; pubescence entirely pale yellowish on head, thorax and legs; basal abdominal tergum largely covered with pale ochraceous pubescence, but with some obscure, suberect, dark pubescence across apical third; tergum 2 with a rather broad, basal, pale tomentose fascia which is covered in part by the preceding plate, and with a narrow submedian pale fascia, these separated by an area of suberect blackish hairs, and apical impressed area with similar dark hairs; terga 3 and 4 with submedian, pale ochraceous fasciae, the basal pubescence suberect but entirely pale, apical areas with more elongate, suberect hairs; tergum 5 with a subapical fascia and with some elongate dark hairs across base; tergum 6 apparently entirely dark pubescent; median length of pygidial plate about equal to basal width, slightly narrowed apically, with a narrow but deep subapical constriction on each side, apex subtruncate or broadly rounded; sterna 7 and 8 as shown (fig. 82); genital armature resembling comptoides (Fig. 81), but gonostyli very short, without evident setae.
DISTRIBUTION � Central America, north and east to Kansas, Illinois, North Carolina and Florida, March to November in the United States.
FLOWER RECORDS � LaBerge (1956) lists the following genera as host plants
the United States: Abutilon, Agastache, Asclepias, Aster, Baccharis, Borrichia, Brazoria, Callirrhoe, Cephalanthus, Cercidium, Coreopsis, Dalea, Eryngium, Gaillardia, Gossypium, Grindelia, Helenium, Lactuca, Lindheimeria, Lythrum, Marrubium, Medicago, Monarda, Opuntia, Parkinsonia, Petalostemon, Phacelia, Phlox, Prosopis, Ratibida, Rubus, Rudbeckia, Salvia, Sisyrinchium, Teucrium, Verbesina and Verbena.
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Identification | |
Extracted from: Charles Robertson (1900). Some Illinois Bees. Trans. Acad. Sci. Of st. Louis.
Female. Related to and closely resembling M. communis Cr., but is somehwat smaller and the mesonotum and scutellum are without black pubescence. Also resembles m. comptoides, but the pubescence is less fulvous aboce, and not dark on the thorax beneath, the front and middle legs, and the hind metatarsi beneath. Length 9-11 mm.
Extracted from: Mellisodes simillima Robertson 1897 Trans. Aq. St. Louis 7. p. 356
Female .-- head clothed with whitish pubescence, that on labrum long and ochraceous, that on occiput fulvous with a line of long erect line hair behind the ocelli; thorax above clothed with a dense fulvous pubescence, that on the sides and beneath ochraceous; tegulae pale fulvous; wings subhyaline, dusky at apex, nervures fuscous, second submarginal cell half the length of first, the third rounded at tip and narrowed one-half towards marginal ; four anterior legs clothed with fuscous pubescence, that on all the femora whitish, that on posterior tibiae and tarsi •yellow, long, and dense; base or first segment and sides of ventral segments with long ochraceous pubescence; a narrow band at of second segment, a narrow band across the middle. a broad band at base of third, and another at tip of fourth, all of dense
Extracted from: Melissodes petalostemonis, Robertson, 1902 Trans. Ac. St. Louis (1900), p. 53
Appears as Melissodes petalostemonis in this excerpt.
Female .— Related to and closely resembling M. communis Cr., but somewhat smaller and the mesonotum and scutellum are without black pubescence. Also resembles M. comptoides, but the pubescence is less fulvous above. and not dark on the thorax beneath, the front and middle legs, and the hind metatarsi beneath. Length 9-11 mm.
Carlinville. Illinois; 9 specimens.
Extracted from: Melissodes tepaneca 1878 Proc. Ac. Sci. Phil. p. 212
Male.—The pubescence longer and more dense, and entirely fulvous or ochraceous except on apical segments of abdomen; clypeus, labrum, and spot on base of mandibles pale yellow; antennae three-fourths the length of abdomen, third Joint a little larger than second, flagellum pale fulvous beneath ; legs brownish. clothed with ochraceous pubescence, tarsi pale fulvous; abdomen as in 9, with the pubescence on basal segment fulvous; two apical segments each with a short tooth on extreme sides. Length .40 inch.
Hab. Mexico (Sumichrast). Twelve specimens
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Updated: 2024-04-19 20:47:27 gmt
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