Melissodes sphaeralceae Cockerell, 1896
  Apoidea   Apidae   Melissodes
Subgenus: Apomelissodes


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IDnature guide Identification Extracted from Wallace E. LaBerge. New Species and Records of Little-known Species of Melissodes from North A,nerica (HYlnenoptera: Anthophoridae). VOLUME. 4, NUMBER 10 AUGUST 1963

ARIZONA: Southwestern Research Station (5 miles west of Portal): 2 tt tt, August 21, 1956, on Melilotlls alba;, C. and IV!. Cazier; 1 tt, September 2, 1958 and I ~,September 3, 1958, on Sphaeralcea sp., E. G. Linsley. NE"V IVIEXICO: Pecos: I ~, August 31, T. D. A. Cockerell (probably a para type but not marked as such). Mexico. AGU ASCALIENTES: Aguascalientes: Itt, June 26, 1952, E. E. Gilbert and C. D. IVIacNeil. MEXICO: Guadalupe: 1 ~, September 7, 1903, '\tV. L. Tower. SAN LUIS POTOSi: San Luis Potosi: 1 ~, July 15, 1952, F. ''''. and F. G. "Verner. ZACATECAS: Fresnillo (9 miles southeast): 1 ~, August 7 to 14, 1954, E. G. Linsley, J. W. IVIacSwain and R. F. Smith. These specimens are in the collections of the American lVIuseum of Natural History, New York City, the University of Arizona at Tucson, the New York State lVluseum at Albany, the University of California at Berkeley, and the University of Nebraska State IVluseum at Lincoln.

Extracted: Melissodes sphaeralceae Cockerell (1896) Entomologist, p. 304

Male. Length about 9.5 mm., hair, antennae 5 mm. Black, rather densely covered with erect mouse-grey hair, which becomes white on the face, lower part of cheeks, lower part of pleura, margin of abdominal segments, and legs. Head broad, clypeus wholly black, mandibles with a large yellow spot without near base, quite densely hairy. Vertex shining but punctured, flagellum entirely fulvous beneath, its first joint distinctly shorter than the fourth or third. Mesothorax shining, with large and deep rather close punctures; metathorax closely punctured, except its basal middle, which is very sparsely punctured. Tegulae shining brown, hairy. Wings hyaline, nervures and stigma fuscous, third submarginal cell longer than first, narrowed rather more than half to marginal. Legs black, tarsal joints after the first rufous. tarsal joint of all the legs with orange-rufous hairs on inner first segment of abdomen with erect very pale grey hairs, the first five segments with rather broad apical bands of appressed dull white hairs, the dark areas before these bands with fuscous hairs, even on the first segment. On the sixth segment the band itself becomes pale fuscous. Fifth and sixth segments with a tooth on each side; apex narrowly truncate, broad at base, strongly notched on each side before the end. Hab. Santa Fe, New Mexico; three specimens, July 25th, 1895 in Mr. Boyle’s garden, at flowers of sphaeralecea There is another species with a black clypeus in the male found in New Mexico, M. tristis, Ckll., which I have taken in the Mesilla Valley and at San Marcial. It is easily Known from sphaeralceae thus:— Larger, antennae longer than head and thorax, mandibles with no yellow spot, pubescence of sixth abdominal; species of the Upper Sonoran zone tristis. Smaller, antennae only reaching to metathorax, mandibles with light yellow spot, pubescence of sixth abdominal brown; species of the transition zone sphaeralceae. M. intorta, Cr., from Texas, has the clypeus black in the male, but the abdomen is not banded, and the antennae are shorter than in sphaeralceae.

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FamilyScientific name @ source (records)
Fabaceae  Melilotus officinalis @ AMNH_BEE (2)

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