D I S C O V E R    L I F E   
Bee Hunt! Odonata Lepidoptera 
  HomeAll Living ThingsIDnature guidesGlobal mapperAlbumsLabelsSearch
  AboutNewsEventsResearchEducationProjectsStudy sitesHelp


Nomada seneciophila Mitchell, 1962
Nomada (Nomadula) seneciophila Mitchell, 1962; Centrias seneciophila (Mitchell, 1962)

Life   Insecta   Hymenoptera   Apoidea   Apidae   Nomada
Subgenus: None

Nomada seneciophila, f, back, md, charles county
© Copyright source/photographer · 5
Nomada seneciophila, f, back, md, charles county

Click on map for details about points.

Links
80x5 - 240x3 - 240x4 - 320x1 - 320x2 - 320x3 - 640x1 - 640x2
Set display option above.
Click on images to enlarge.
Nomada seneciophila, f, face, md, charles county
© Copyright source/photographer · 5
Nomada seneciophila, f, face, md, charles county
Nomada seneciophila, f, side, md, charles county
© Copyright source/photographer · 5
Nomada seneciophila, f, side, md, charles county

Nomada seneciophila, m, back, md, charles county
© Copyright source/photographer · 5
Nomada seneciophila, m, back, md, charles county
Nomada seneciophila, m, face, md, charles county
© Copyright source/photographer · 5
Nomada seneciophila, m, face, md, charles county

Nomada seneciophila, m, side, md, charles county
© Copyright source/photographer · 5
Nomada seneciophila, m, side, md, charles county
Overview
Notes on Nomada seneciophila - On the 22nd of May I was working with a DOD biologist Neil Chartier to establish some native bee surveys on lands owned by the Navy near Pomonkey, Maryland in Charles County. A several acre tract of land on that facility had been undergoing succession long enough that there it was a mix of Virginia Pine, small deciduous trees and some residual small openings with an abundance of poison ivy, blackberry and numerous patches of Golden Ragwort with good numbers of attendant bees. I did not determine the species of Ragwort.

During that time I collected a large series of the Ragwort specialist Andrena gardineri and males and females of Nomada seneciophila. The nearest record for N. seneciophila at the time was North Carolina. This species was also on our list of species of bees not seen since 1990. The last record I am aware of was from 1960 collected by Ted Mitchell himself.

Given the location of these specimens in a giant ragwort patch and its species name (seneciophila - lover of ragworts ...Senecio being the old genus name), and several old floral records on Senecio, I conjecture that N. seneciophila's host isA. gardineri. Ragwort should be definitely be targeted for additional collections.
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 7-8 mm.; lateral ocelli considerably nearer margin of vertex than to each other; longer side of basal segment of flagellum equal to segment 2, but this only slightly longer than broad, median segments slightly shorter; mandibles slender and simple; wings hyaline basally, becoming somewhat infuscated along apical margin and in marginal cell, with the usual three submarginal cells, 2nd and 3rd about equal anteriorly; veins piceous to black, stigma somewhat more brownish-testaceous, basal vein interstitial with transverse median; tegulae closely, deeply, distinctly and rather uniformly punctate throughout; posterior margin of scutellum quite deeply grooved medially; front coxal spines rather short and triangular, quite densely pubescent; apex of hind tibiae with a row of three or four elongate, robust, fuscous bristles; body color red in large part, scape and basal segment of flagellum anteriorly more testaceous, area around ocelli and posterior margin of cheeks black; tubercles and tegulae somewhat more testaceous; legs reddish-testaceous, spurs pale yellow; scutum with a narrow, median, black line and metapleura and propodeum entirely black, thorax otherwise deep red; abdominal terga red but with small yellow maculations, those on tergum 2 small, widely separated, submedian if evident on 3, tergum 4 with a transverse, yellow band near midline, 5 with a pair of spots, sterna largely red; punctures coarse, deep, distinct and very close on face above, on vertex and on cheeks, slightly separated, deep and rather coarse on face below antennae, the clypeus and supraclypeal area with very fine, densely crowded punctures; scutum, scutellum and mesopleura densely and coarsely rugoso-punctate; propodeum dull, shallowly but very fine and closely rugoso-punctate, the triangle impunctate but dull and tessellate; basal abdominal tergum very finely and rather closely punctate toward apical margin, punctures becoming more minute and inconspicuous basally; terga 2-5 very finely, closely, deeply and distinctly punctate, only the very narrow apical rims impunctate, these becoming yellowishhyaline on the more apical terga; pseudopygidium transverse, very short, forming the rather narrowly truncate apical margin of tergum 5, densely covered with short, sub- erect, pale yellowish pubescence; sternum 5 with a dense apical tuft of elongate, plumose hairs on each side apically; pubescence in general very short and thin, entirely pale, rather conspicuous on face, cheeks, over most of thorax, and on apical segments of abdomen.

MALE—Length 8 mm.; lateral ocelli somewhat nearer margin of vertex than to each other; cheeks slightly narrower than eyes, posterior margin subcarinate; antennal scape slightly swollen, apex deeply excavated and completely enclosing pedicel, basal segment of flagellum very short, segment 2 somewhat longer but not much longer than broad, 3 nearly equal to 2, with a distinct but short and very slender spine beneath, median segments about as long as broad; mandibles slender and simple; wings hyaline basally, becoming lightly infuscated apically, with the usual three submarginal cells, 2nd and 3rd about equal in width anteriorly, veins testaceous to piceous, basal vein interstitial with transverse median; tegulae uniformly very finely, closely and rather deeply punctate; posterior margin of scutellum slightly impressed medially; front coxal spines very short, subtriangular, quite densely pubescent; ventral surface of hind femora considerably flattened but not concave; clypeus, adjacent lateral areas of face, labrum, and basal half of mandibles, bright yellow, lateral maculae continuing narrowly up eye margin to level of antennae; scape and basal part of flagellum bright yellow anteriorly, the more apical antennal segments more testaceous beneath, somewhat more reddish above; head otherwise black; tubercles and tegulae bright yellow, legs largely testaceous, spurs pale yellow, and pleura with a very small, anterior, yellow spot, thorax otherwise black; basal abdominal tergum piceous toward base, more testaceous apically, with a pair of widely separated, very narrow, lateral, yellow maculations; tergum 2 with a conspicuous, transverse, yellow band which is quite broad laterally, strongly narrowed and subinterrupted medially, basal area of disc blackish, apical portion more testaceous-hyaline; terga 3-6 with transverse yellow bands that are sub- median in position, discs dark basally, testaceous-hyaline apically, bands with lateral interruptions on 4 and 5, that on 6 rather short, sometimes with small lateral spots at extreme sides; abdominal sterna piceous or blackish basally, more testaceous-hyaline apically; punctures coarse, deep, distinct and close on face above antennae and on vertex, those on cheeks very much finer and very close, deep and distinct on each side below antennae, but minute and very close on supraclypeal area and clypeus, the lateral yellow areas somewhat more sparsely and obscurely punctate; scutum, scutellum and pleura densely and rather coarsely rugoso-punctate, somewhat more finely so on scutellum; lateral faces of propodeum somewhat smoother, but with shallow, obscure, close punctures or reticulations, posterior face quite coarsely, closely and shallowly punctate, triangle impunctate but rather dull; punctures of basal abdominal tergum minute and rather close, barely visible; terga 2-6 with deep, distinct, close and rather fine punctures, only the narrow apical rims becoming impunctate, the more apical terga with somewhat coarser and more widely spaced punctures; pygidial plate about as broad at base as median length, strongly narrowed apically, tip subtruncate or with a very slight median incision, lateral margins carinate, surface deeply and distinctly punctate toward base, the punctures becoming minute and obscure apically; sterna 3-5 with rather thin, subapical fringes of elongate pale hairs, that on 5 quite dense, 6 with dense tufts of elongate, yellowish hairs on each side that are directed toward the base, and with a submedian tuft of shorter hairs; pubescence otherwise very short, thin but rather copious over most of head and thorax, very minute and indistinct on abdomen dorsally; sternum 8 and genital armature as in rubicunda (figs. 103 & 104).

DISTRIBUTION and FLOWER RECORDS—Holotype: Female, Wake Co., N. C., May 7, 1960. Allotype: Male, topotypical (both Mitchell, on Senecio) [author’s coll.]. Paratypes: NORTH CAROLINA: 2 males, Raleigh, early May, 1921; 1 male, Raleigh, April 26, 1922 (on Rubus); 2 males, Raleigh, May 1, 1922 (on Senecio); 1 male, Raleigh, May 2, 1948 (on Senecio); 1 male, Raleigh, May 15, 1961; 1 male, Blue Ridge Pkwy., Wilkes Co., June 2, 1950 (all Mitchell); 1 male, Durham, May 11, 1952. (R. D. Cuyler); 2 males, Mt. Graybeard, May 23 (N. Banks); 5 females, Raleigh, April 24- May 30, 1941 & 42. FLORIDA: 1 female, Florida Caverns St. Pk., Jackson Co., April 13, 1960 (H. V. Weems, Jr., on Senecio).
Paratypes are in collections of the Florida Plant Board, the North Carolina Department of Agriculture, the Museum of Comparative Zoology, and the author.

Names
Scientific source:

Supported by

Hosts · map
FamilyScientific name @ source (records)
Geraniaceae  Geranium carolinianum @ BBSL (1)
Rosaceae  Potentilla canadensis @ AMNH_BEE (1)

go to Discover Life's Facebook group

Updated: 2024-03-28 15:34:41 gmt
Discover Life | Top
© Designed by The Polistes Corporation