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Bee species Perdita female Perdita male Perdita west female Perdita west male

Overview

Reprinted with permission from: Mitchell, T.B. 1960 Bees of the Eastern United States. North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station Technical Bulletin No. 141. FEMALE: Length 4.5 mm.; head and thorax dark bluish-green, abdomen piceous, maculae absent; length of face very slightly greater than distance between eyes; eyes sub- parallel; cheeks narrower than eyes; vertex rounded, its hind margin indefinite, lateral ocelli subequally distant from eyes and each other; foveae elongate, narrow, quite deep and distinct; mandibles pale yellow, tip piceous; labrum, clypeus and entire face greenish, without maculae, face and cheeks shining, very minutely and obscurely punctate; pubescence of head and thorax very short and thin, entirely white; thorax entirely dark, without maculae; tegulae yellowish-hyaline; wings whitish-hyaline, veins nearly colorless and very obscure, stigma somewhat more testaceous; legs dark, tarsi becoming yellowish apically; scutum and scutellum shining, sparsely and very minutely punctate; pleura rather dull, punctures even more obscure; abdomen entirely dark, without maculae, apical rims narrowly depressed, the more basal terga impunctate, the more apical terga becoming very minutely, sparsely and obscurely punctate. MALE: Length 4 mm.; head and thorax bluish-green, abdomen piceous to almost black, without maculae; face almost as broad as its median length; eyes very slightly convergent below; cheeks subequal to eyes in width, with a ventral, rounded tubercle or protuberance; vertex rounded, its hind margin indefinite, lateral ocelli subequally distant from eyes and each other; foveae small, shallow and obscure; mandibles pale yellow, tips becoming pale ferruginous, not greatly elongated; labrum pale testaceous, subtriangular with cylindrical apex, length about equal to basal width; face entirely greenish, without maculae, clypeus short and very broad, width fully twice its median length; scape dark brown, becoming somewhat yellowish toward base, flagellum testaceous beneath on the more apical segments, piceous above; face below ocelli shining, punctures very minute and sparse on clypeus where they are distinct, hardly evident on other areas of face; pubescence of head and thorax rather short and thin, entirely white; thorax entirely green, without maculae; tegulae whitish hyaline; wings whitish-hyaline, veins and stigma nearly colorless and very obscure, stigma narrowly margined with brown, first intercubitus forked to form a small intercalary cell; legs piceous in large part, front tibiae yellow anteriorly, and all tarsi yellow; scutum and scutellum shining, punctures sparse and exceedingly minute and inconspicuous, hardly visible; pleura somewhat shining, punctures quite sparse and obscure; abdominal terga somewhat shining, apical rims rather narrowly depressed but dark, the more apical segments with very minute, sparse punctures; sterna 7 and 8 much as in floridensis (fig. 79); gonostyli short, compressed, more or less rounded apically, not equaling in length the slender penis valves, cuspis of volsellae compressed, nearly equaling the gonostyli in length, digitus slender, well developed. DISTRIBUTION: North Carolina, Florida, Alabama and Mississippi, in June. FLOWER RECORDS: Ceanothus, Cyrilla and Oxydendrum.

Identification

Extracted from P. H. Timberlake. 1947. NEW SPECIES OF PERDITA FROM THE SOUTHERN STATES (Hymenoptera, Apoidea). University of California Citrus Experiment Station,' River-side, California This is a member of the subgenus Allope1'difa Viereck and is easily distinguished from the other species by the entire lack of light markings on the face, thorax, and abdomen Female.-Head and thorax dark green, the underparts nearly black. Abdomen black, the apical margin of tergites tinged with testaceous. Antennae and legs black, the tarsi testaceous,. with outer margin of hind basitarsus, and the front 'and middle basi tarsi, especially toward base, dusky or blackish. Mandibles yellow testaceous at base, more reddish at middle, and piceous at apex. Tegulae pale testaceous: Wings whitish hyaline. Stigma testaceous, the nervures nearly colorless, except for the brownish subcosta. Head a little broader than long, with inner orbits slightly diverging above. Head and thorax weakly, very finely tessellate, shining, the tessellation faint on disk of mesoscutum and on scutellum and basal area of propodeum, and absent on clypeus and supraclypeal area. Clypeus With well-separated, fine punctures. Remainder of face and sides of frons with a few remote punctures. Mesonotum with fine, widely spaced punctures. Pubescence sparse, whitish. Fore wing with a small supernumerary submarginal cell as in other Alloperdita. Length, 5 mm.; anterior wing, 3.3 mm. Male.-Similar to female. Head and thorax dark blue. Apical tergite of abdomen brownish testaceous. Labrum testaceous, prominent, convex, tapering, blunt at apex, and thus nasiform. Mandibles, yellow testaceous, becoming red at apex. Tarsi yellow testaceous. Tegulae whitish hyaline. Wings as in female, except that the stigma has a brownish margin. Head a little more transverse than in female, /its anterior margin truncate except for the projecting labrum and supporting apical middle of clypeal margin. Cheeks about as wide a~ width of eye, hardly wider behind and abruptly truncate in front, with the outer corner a little produced and sharp. Antennae reaching about apex of tegulae; the flagellum stout, cylindrical; the scape very short. Sculpture about as in female. Pubescence sparse, erect, whitish. Length, 4, mm.; anterior wing, 3.3 mm. Described from. 12 females (holQtype and paratypes), Hattiesburg, Mississippi, collecting pollen at :flowers of Oyrilla, J \IDe 4, 1944 (C. D. Michener), in the Michener collection; 1 male (allotype), sandhills near Lillington, North Carolina, June 13, 1941 (T. B. Mitchell), in collection of U. S. National Museum, Cat. _ No. 58140. The Alloperdita group now includes four species: Perdita novae-angliae Viereck, P. obsc1trata Cresson, P. floridensis Timberlake, and P. mitchelli, n. sp. P. bradleyi Viereck also belongs here, but is, I am sure, the male of obscurata Cresson (new synonymy). A. uoperdita is restricted to the Atlantic Coast and Gulf States, from Massachusetts to Mississippi.

Names

Scientific source:

Discover Life bee species guide and world checklist, Ascher and Pickering. Integrated Taxonomic Information System

Hosts · map Family Scientific name @ source (records) Ericaceae   Oxydendrum arboreum @ BBSL (1)

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