A new bee genus from the pampas of eastern Argentina, with appended notes on the classification of “paracolletines” (Hymenoptera: Colletidae)

Abstract

A new genus and species are described and figured from the eastern pampas of Tandil, Argentina. Aenarete roigi Engel & Gonzalez, new genus and species, is quite similar to Spinolapis Moure (here used in a restricted sense), occurring in southern Chile, and particularly Patagoniapis Engel, new genus (type species: Pasiphae cyanea Cockerell) from further southward in Argentina (Rio Negro to Tierra del Fuego). The genus is distinguished from these two genera and other South American “paracolletines”. Given the employment of different concepts for “paracolletine” genera herein and in recent published works relative to the classification outlined by Michener, a revised key to these groups is appended based on the genera as envisioned by the authors. This necessitates making available the following new taxa (eight new subtribes, 20 new genera, 13 new subgenera): Aageocolletes Engel, new genus; Aglaocolletes Engel, new genus; Asciocolletes Engel, new genus; Baeocolletina Engel, new subtribe; Bicolletopsis Engel, new subgenus of Bicolletes Friese; Calloproctus Engel, new genus; Chilicolletina Engel, new subtribe; Chrysopasiphae Engel, new genus; Conospermapis Engel, new genus; Cyanopasiphae Engel, new subgenus of Bicolletes; Cygnella Engel, new subgenus of Euryglossidia Cockerell; Cyranocolletes Engel, new genus; Damocrateia Engel, new genus; Donovanapis, new subgenus of Leioproctus Smith; Eremocolletes Engel, new genus; Erythropasiphae Engel, new subgenus of Bicolletes; Hexaproctus Engel, new genus; Houstoniella Engel, new subgenus of Eremocolletes; Kanakapis Engel, new subgenus of Lamprocolletes Smith; Leucopasiphae Engel, new subgenus of Perditomorpha Ashmead; Lonchorhynchina Engel & Gonzalez, new subtribe; Manocolletes Engel, new subgenus of Euryglossidia; Machaerocolletes Engel, new genus; Maoricolletes Engel, new subgenus of Leioproctus; Maynardapis Engel, new genus; Nanopasiphae Engel, new genus; Niltoniina Engel, new subtribe; Notinopasiphae Engel, new subgenus of Euryglossidia; Packercolletes Engel, new genus; Perditomorphina Engel, new subtribe; Phenacolletina Engel, new subtribe; Rhamphocolletes Engel, new genus; Ruzopria Engel, new subgenus of Belopria Moure; Sarocolletidion Engel, new genus; Spinolapina Engel, new subtribe; Sthenele Engel, new genus; Stilbopasiphae Engel, new genus; Stoclele Engel, new subgenus of Lamprocolletes; Torocolletina Engel, new subtribe; Walkerapis Engel, new genus; Zyzzocolletes Engel, new genus.

axonomic revision of the Australian native bee subgenus Australictus (Hymenoptera: Halictidae: Halictini: genus Lasioglossum) – “Wood-Splitting Axe Bees”

“…Terminology follows Michener (2007), except the propodeum is called the metapostnotum (Brothers, 1976;Gibbs et al, 2022;Engel and Gonzalez, 2022) and the inner hind tibial spur is called the anterior metatibial spur (Aguiar and Gibson, 2010). To assist with the descriptions, the following notes are provided: relative head measurements were standardised to a head width of 100 units; absolute measurements are expressed as minimum-mean-maximum if multiple specimens were available; body length was measured from antennal sockets to end of metasoma; forewing length was measured from the base of the arcuate basal vein (vein M) to the distal margin of the third submarginal cell (vein 2rs-m); and, intertegular distance was measured as the greatest width between the tegulae.…”

A revised classification for the neopasiphaeine line, with description of new species of the bee tribe Lonchopriini (Apidae, Colletinae)

“…A subtribal system was recently proposed by Engel & Gonzalez (2022) for the Eulonchopriini and Neopasiphaeini. Their system was mostly based on the phylogenetic results of Almeida et al (2019), although this is not explicitly stated in their article, and Almeida's et al paper is not even cited.…”

“…Proposals of formal taxa based on current phylogenetic knowledge of these two tribes seem premature and prone to unnecessarily pollute our classification system. Therefore, the higher-level taxa recently proposed in Engel & Gonzalez (2022) are here ignored until further discussions about the consequences of accepting such names are held within the…”

Leioproctus zephyr Prendergast (Hymenoptera, Colletidae, Leioproctus), an oligoletic new bee species with a distinctive clypeus

“…The genus Leioproctus Smith 1853 (Colletidae Lepeletier 1841), as currently described, is a highly diverse, speciose taxon (Almeida and Daforth 2009;Engel and Gonzalez 2022). In Australia, it is distributed throughout most of the continent, and the most recent guide to native bees of Australia divides this genus into 24 subgenera, with 193 named species (Houston, 2018), yet with hundreds awaiting description (Houston, personal comm.).…”

“…In the magnum opus on the classification of native bees, Michener (2007) drew attention to how the sub-genera of Australian Leioproctus can be ill-defined, with partial intergradation among some taxa, as evident in the last revision of seven subgenera of Leioproctus (Maynard, 2013), A comprehensive and more thorough understanding of the Australian subgenera is hampered by the sheer diversity of many unusual species that are undescribed, and even of those that are described, many are described from only one sex. It is clear that an updated classification for the Australian Neopasiphaeinae is needed (Almeida et al 2019;Engel and Gonzalez 2022). A new species, with a distinctive clypeus, that does not fit neatly into an existing subgenus is described, including its CO1 barcode, and data on its restrictive foraging and distribution range.…”