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Svastra compta Cresson, 1878
Life   Insecta   Hymenoptera   Apoidea   Apidae   Svastra




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Overview
Note: Oenothera pollen specialist


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 18 mm., breadth of abdomen 6.5 mm.; black, the apical half of mandibles obscurely testaceous, antennal flagellum piceous beneath, legs piceous, becoming somewhat more brownish apically, mid and hind spurs pale testaceous; tegulae yellowish-hyaline; wings subhyaline basally, becoming faintly infuscated apically, veins testaceous to piceous; cheeks somewhat narrower than eyes; clypeus quite flat, its median length somewhat greater than half the distance between eyes; eyes subparallel; mandibles simple; median length of labrum about half its breadth, rather broadly rounded apically; length of basal segment of flagellum equal to segments 2 and 3 combined; clypeus coarsely and closely punctate above, punctures becoming very fine and densely crowded toward apical margin, those on labrum rather fine and close but quite distinct; punctures of supraclypeal area finer and rather sparse, lateral surfaces below level of antennae very finely, closely and distinctly punctate, punctures above antennae becoming more minute, shallow and obscure laterally, quite distinct medially, surface between ocelli and eyes largely impunctate and somewhat shining; cheeks finely and closely punctate, punctures becoming somewhat more distinct posteriorly; punctures of scutum and scutellum fine and close in general, somewhat more distinctly separated along mid-line, surface shining; pleura somewhat shining between deep, slightly separated punctures; posterior face of propodeum rather dull, punctures rather coarse and close, dorsal area quite fully and closely punctate, surface becoming more rugose along upper margin, lateral faces rather dull, very closely and rather finely punctate; disc of basal abdominal tergum quite closely, finely and distinctly punctate, punctures becoming somewhat closer and finer laterally, apical third of disc impunctate; following terga quite fully and uniformly punctate, punctures fine and close, becoming crowded laterally and on the more apical terga medially, the apical impressed areas quite fully punctate, punctures more minute, rims very narrowly impunctate; pygidium rather broadly triangular, apex narrowly rounded; pubescence quite copious but rather short on head and thorax, pale ochraceous to almost whitish on head, bright ochraceous on thorax dorsally, becoming more whitish below; legs entirely pale pubescent, the hind tibial scopa pale ochraceous, hairs slender and simple; basal abdominal tergum rather copiously pale pubescent across base, and rather narrowly so on lateral margins, disc apically with some very short, obscure, dark pubescence; remaining terga largely covered with short, black pubescence, that on apical impressed areas appressed and very obscure; tergum 2 with a narrow, basal, white fascia, 2 and 3 with narrow, submedian, white fasciae, and 4 with a broader fascia which reaches apical rim toward each side; terga 5 and 6 entirely blackish or fuscous pubescent.

MALE: Length 13-16 mm., breadth of abdomen 5.5-6 mm.; black, the clypeus and lab- rum entirely pale yellow, mandibles broadly yellow at base; legs piceous to black, apical tarsal segments becoming brownish-testaceous, spurs pale testaceous, tegulae yellowish-hyaline; wings lightly infuscated, veins brownish to piceous; cheeks much narrower than eyes; clypeus slightly protuberant, its median length considerably greater than half the distance between eyes; eyes subparallel; mandibles slender and simple; segments 1 and 2 of flagellum about equal in length, the apical segment attenuate apically; punctures of clypeus rather fine, somewhat separated but not sparse, becoming closer along apical margin, punctures rather vague on the yellow surface; median length of labrum somewhat less than half the breadth, margin broadly rounded, punctures fine and close but distinct; supraclypeal area somewhat shining and sparsely punctate, lateral surfaces below level of antennae very finely, closely and distinctly punctate, punctures becoming more minute above, area between eyes and ocelli shining, punctures exceedingly minute and close; cheeks finely and quite closely punctate beneath dense pubescence; scutum and scutellum shining, punctures quite deep and rather coarse, close in general, slightly separated in center of scutum posteriorly; pleura somewhat shining, punctures fine and quite close throughout; posterior face of propodeum shining, punctures rather fine but deep, distinct and quite close, dorsal area quite fully punctate, the punctures becoming densely crowded across upper margin, lateral faces very closely punctate throughout; abdominal terga quite fully punctate, only the very narrow apical rims impunctate, punctures of apical impressed areas somewhat more minute than those on basal areas; punctures relatively coarser and slightly separated on terga 1 and 2, becoming progressively finer and closer on the more apical terga; pubescence of head and thorax entirely pale, quite copious and dense but not very long, entirely pale ochraceous on head, becoming somewhat whitish on face and cheeks below, brighter ochraceous on dorsum of thorax, pale ochraceous below and posteriorly, legs entirely pale pubescent; pubescence copious, elongate and entirely pale ochraceous on basal abdominal tergum, with only a few obscure dark hairs toward apex on each side; tergum 2 with a narrow, basal, white fascia and a submedian fascia fringing the apical impressed area, these separated by an area of short, dense, black pubescence, and apical impressed area with very short subappressed black pubescence; terga 3 and 4 black pubescent basally, with a rather broad, submedian white fascia, the apical impressed area thinly black pubescent, with some scattered, erect, long black hairs toward the base of each; terga 5 and 6 largely black pubescent, the hairs long and erect toward base; tergum 5 with a very small amount of appressed, whitish pubescence at each extreme side; tergum 6 with a quite conspicuous, apical, spine-like angle on each extreme side; tergum 7 not angulate, the median length of pygidial plate about equal to basal width, margins carinate, rather strongly convergent apically to the rather broadly sub- truncate apex; sterna 7 and 8 and genital armature as shown (fig. 77).

DISTRIBUTION: Colorado and Texas to New Jersey and Georgia, July and August.

FLOWER RECORDS: Recorded by Robertson (1929) on Acerates, Monarda, Oenothera, Pycnanthemum and Verbena.


Identification
Female unique among Svastra in that all the scopal hairs are simple, without branches. Male unique in that F1 is about equal to F2 while in the other species it is much shorter. Note that Mitchell put this species in the genus Anthedonia.

Names
Scientific source:
Hosts · map
FamilyScientific name @ source (records)
Euphorbiaceae  Euphorbia @ AMNH_BEE (1)
Onagraceae  Oenothera pallida @ BBSL (3)

Oenothera @ AMNH_BEE (13)
_  Withheld @ BBSL__ZION (3)

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Updated: 2024-10-08 05:44:08 gmt
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