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Tetraloniella albata Cresson, 1872 Life Insecta Hymenoptera Apoidea Apidae Tetraloniella |
IDnature guide | 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 9-10 mm., breadth of abdomen 4 mm.; black, the mandibles reddish at base, testaceous on outer surface apically; antennal flagella brownish-piceous, legs more piceous, apical tarsal segments becoming testaceous, spurs pale yellow, tegulae yellowish hyaline; wings whitish-hyaline, veins testaceous to piceous; cheeks much narrower than eyes; clypeus quite flat, its median length about half the distance between eyes below; eyes very slightly convergent below; mandibles rather short, rounded apically; labrum broadly triangular and quite densely pubescent, its median length about half the basal width; basal segment of flagellum somewhat shorter than 2nd and 3rd combined; clypeus dull, quite coarsely and densely punctate, the supraclypeal and lateral areas of face somewhat more finely and less densely punctate, punctures becoming minute and sparse on each side above, quite coarse and close medially, surface shining between eyes and ocelli; cheeks very finely and closely punctate beneath quite dense pubescence; scutum shining, punctures quite coarse, close in general but somewhat separated in median area posteriorly, those on scutellum somewhat finer and uniformly close, almost contiguous; pleura coarsely, closely and deeply punctate; posterior face of propodeum shining, punctures rather fine, irregularly scattered and sparse, dorsal area dull, obscurely rugose along upper margin, lateral faces quite closely and deeply punctate; abdominal terga finely and closely punctate beneath dense tomentum; pygidium elongate triangular, apex rather narrowly rounded; pubescence entirely white, rather short but copious and dense on head and thorax; legs largely white pubescent, outer surfaces of front and mid tibiae densely white tomentose, becoming somewhat yellowish at apex, basitarsi with yellowish pubescence beneath; hind tibial scopa white, hairs rather sparsely plumose; basal abdominal tergum somewhat more thinly covered with elongate greyish-white pubescence, apical margin narrowly yellow, following terga densely and completely white tomentose, hiding the surface, apical margins of the terga apparently narrowly yellow apically, faintly evident through the tomentum; apical margin of tergum S becoming yellowish tomentose medially; tergum 6 with yellowish-brown pubescence on each side of pygidium. MALE: Length 8 mm., breadth of abdomen 3.5 mm.; black, the clypeus and labrum entirely bright yellow, and mandibles yellow at base; antennal flagellum brownish-testaceous beneath, piceous above; legs chiefly black, but apical tarsal segments becoming brownish testaceous, spurs pale yellow; tegulae yellowish-hyaline, wings whitish-hyaline, veins yellowish to piceous; apical margins of abdominal terga narrowly yellowish-hyaline; cheeks much narrower than eyes; clypeus quite flat, its median length about half the distance between eyes below; eyes slightly convergent below; mandibles short, simple; labrum rather broadly rounded, its median length about half the basal width, densely covered with pubescence, hiding the surface; tergum 6 with a triangular apical process on each extreme side; clypeus quite coarsely and closely punctate, punctures rather vague on the yellow surface; supraclypeal area rather closely punctate, lateral areas of face below antennae very finely and closely punctate, punctures becoming minute and quite sparse above laterally, but deep, distinct and relatively coarse medially, surface shining between eyes and ocelli; cheeks somewhat shining, punctures close and fine; scutum somewhat shining between quite coarse and rather close punctures, these more distinctly separated medially over posterior half; scutellum with somewhat finer, quite crowded punctures; pleura quite coarsely and closely punctate throughout; propodeum rather dull, quite closely and rather coarsely punctate, becoming more finely rugose on dorsal area laterally, and lateral surfaces very finely and closely punctate; basal abdominal tergum quite deeply and rather coarsely punctate toward base, punctures slightly separated, becoming finer and closer laterally and toward apical margin; following terga uniformly, finely and closely punctate beneath the tomentum; pubescence of head, thorax and legs rather short but dense and copious, entirely white, that on basal abdominal tergum rather thin but more elongate and erect, following terga with dense white tomentum; margins of pygidial plate carinate, convergent apically, apex rather narrowly rounded; sterna 7 and 8 and genital armature as shown (fig. 86). DISTRIBUTION: Colorado and Texas to Illinois, June and July. FLOWER RECORD: Robertson (1929) records this species on Petcaostemum purpureum.
Identification |
Extracted from Wallace E. LaBerge. 2001. Revision of the Bees of the Genus Tetraloniella in the New World (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin 36(3);67-162 | This small bee known chiefly from prairie areas of central United States differs from any of the foregoing species in the female sex by having simple scopal hairs. The male lacks the lateral teeth on the sixth sternum, has pale yellow to cream-colored clypeus, labrum, and mandibular bases and long antennae that are usually red or yellow below. Both sexes are marked by the white, densely plumose pubescence covering metasomal terga 3-5 in the female and 3-6 in the male. Tergum 2 in both sexes is also covered by white pubescence but less densely so. FEMALE. Measurements and Ratios.- N = 20; length, 8.5-10.0 mm; width, 3-4 mm; wing length, M = 2.12 0.114 mm; hooks in hamulus, M = 10.25 0.204; flagellar segment 1/2, M = 7.96 0.180. Integumental Color.- Black except as follows: mandibles rufescent mediobasally; flagellum dark reddish brown to red below except first segment and rarely second often dark brown; tegulae hyaline, yellow; wing mem- branes hyaline, clear, veins dark reddish brown to red; metasomal tergum 1 with apical area translucent brown shaded to yellow or pale brown apically; terga 2-5 with apical areas translucent, brown or yellowish brown but largely hidden by dense white pubescence; distitarsi red; tibial spurs pale yellow. Structure.- Clypeus and oculoclypeal area as in eriocarpi but surface shiny; supraclypeal area, face, vertex, and genal area as in eriocarpi. Maxillary palpal segments 6, ratio about as 1.0:0.9:0.9:0.6:0.1:0.1; galeae dulled by fine shagreening at least in apical half or more. Flagellar segment 2 slightly shorter than broad, about half as long as segment 1 and subequal to segment 3, segments 3-9 slightly longer than broad. Mesoscutum sculptured as in eriocarpi but posteromedian area with punctures crowded as in fulvotecta, surface occasionally finely shagreened at least peripherally; scutellum similar but usually slightly dulled by shagreening; mesepisterna densely punctate, surface moderately shiny. Propodeum as in fulvotecta. Metasomal tergum 1 with punctures in median half separated largely by one puncture width or slightly more, laterally and along base of apical area more crowded; apical area minutely punctate except narrow impunctate margin; surfaces moderately dulled by fine shagreening. Terga 2-4 similar but basal areas more densely punctate medially. Pygidial plate with apex rounded, almost U-shaped. Sterna 2-5 punctate except in narrow apical areas, surfaces finely shagreened, moderately shiny. Vestiture.- In general vestiture white, of- ten dorsum of thorax and vertex of head pale ochraceous to ochraceous; sterna yellowish brown to brown but white apicolaterally on each sternum. Scopal hairs long, simple, dense, white. MALE. Measurements and Ratios.- N = 20; length, 8-10 mm; width, 2.5-3.0 mm; wing length, M = 2.07 0.094 mm; hooks in hamulus, M = 9.75 0.143; flagellar segment 2/1, M = 7.96 0.180. Integumental Color.- Integument black except as follows: clypeus, base of mandibles, labrum cream-colored to yellow, clypeal base often narrowly infuscated; flagellar segments 2-11 red to dark red below, dark red to red- dish brown above; tegula hyaline, colorless to yellow; wing membranes hyaline, colorless, veins reddish brown to red; terga with apical areas translucent, red to reddish brown, narrow apical rims hyaline, yellow; sterna piceous with narrow apical areas yellow to almost colorless; distitarsi red; tibial spurs pale yellow. Structure.- Head sculptured as in female; maxillary palpus with 6 segments, as in female; antennae long, segments not much flattened, weakly crenulate, second flagellar segment about eight times as long as first. Mesoscutum sculptured as in female but posteromedial area often with punctures separated by half a puncture width or slightly more, sur- face usually shiny; mesepisternum and scutellum as in female. Metasomal terga and sterna sculptured much as in female, surfaces moderately shiny. Sternum 6 (Fig. 67) flat, with- out apicolateral teeth; vestiture more abundant than in vandykei and forming a pattern as figured. Terminalia (Figs. 67-71) similar to vandykei. Sternum 7 (Fig. 68) with blunt, relatively narrow apical plates, strong V-shaped carina anterior to plates, sparse hairs. Sternum 8 (Fig. 69) with few apical hairs, shallow apicomedian emargination. Genital capsule and gonocoxite as drawn (Figs. 70 and 71). Vestiture.- White to extremely pale ochraceous, darkest on thoracic dorsum and vertex. Sternal vestiture weak, scarcely hiding surfaces, especially medially, often yellow, sternum 6 with little or no vestiture; inner surfaces tarsi pale yellow. Tergal vestiture highly plumose, hiding surface except on tergum 1 and medially on tergum 2.
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