Revision of the bee genus <i>Chlerogella</i> (Hymenoptera: Halictidae), Part IV: A new species from southwestern Colombia

Abstract

Abstract.A new species of the diverse augochlorine bee genus Chlerogella Michener (Halictinae: Augochlorini) is described and figured from southwestern Colombia. Chlerogella anchicaya Engel, Gonzalez, & Hinojosa-Díaz, new species, is similar to C. agaylei Engel and C. materdonnae Engel, both occurring on the eastern slopes of the Andes in Ecuador. There are also some similarities with C. eumorpha Engel from the western Andean foothills in northern Ecuador, but differences in rostral length and male terminalia can distinguish these species. Revised couplets are provided to the South American species of Chlerogella to permit identification of the new species.1 Division of Entomology, Natural History Museum, and Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, 1501 Crestline Drive -Suite 140, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045, USA (msengel@ku.edu; victorgonzab@gmail.com). 2 Department of Environmental Studies, Math and Science Center, 400 Dowman Drive, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, USA (hinojosadiaz@gmail.com). INTRODUCTIONOne of the most vital and fundamental contributions toward a comprehensive understanding of any group of organisms is a revision and hypothesis as to the circumscription of its constituent species. Upon such a foundation are built our edifices of knowledge on everything from natural history, relationships, biogeography, ecology, and genetics. There is a long tradition of such revisions and species-level phylogenies among bees and such work is continually growing in interest and importance (Engel, 2011;Gonzalez et al., 2013), although it is understandable that many groups remain to be investigated in a modern context. Remarkably, for the bee tribe Augochlorini a number of genera have been revised, particularly during the last 20 years, and keys to the species provided -these include Paroxystoglossa Moure (Moure, 1960), Ctenaugochlora Eickwort (Engel, 1995a;), Rhectomia Moure s.l. (Engel, 1995b;Gonçalves, 2010b) Brooks & Engel, 1999;Engel et al., 2006;Engel & Gonzalez, 2009;Engel, 2009a), Ischnomelissa Engel (Engel, 1997, 2013aEngel & Brooks, 2002) et al. (Engel, 2013b). In addition, several regional revisions have been completed for Neocorynura Schrottky (Smith-Pardo, 2005a, 2005b, 2010Smith-Pardo & Gonzalez, 2009;Engel & Smith-Pardo, 2012), Pseudaugochlora Michener (Almeida, 2008), Megalopta Smith (Santos & Silveira, 2009;Gonzalez et al., 2010), Caenaugochlora Michener (Gonçalves & Engel, 2010, and Augochlora Smith (Dalmazzo & Roig-Alsina, 2011). It is fair to say that the systematics of these bees has undergone a true revival and it is hoped that this momentum shall be maintained for decades to come. Herein we provide a fourth installment to the earlier revision of Chlerogella (Engel, 2009b(Engel, , 2010b, and its supplement (Engel & Rasmussen, 2013). The present account documents a further new species from the Andes of Colombia (Fig. 1), and provides modifications to existing keys that will permit its recognition from close congeners. This is the sixth species hitherto reco...

Three new species of the bee genus <i>Caenaugochlora</i> from Central America and Colombia (Hymenoptera: Halictidae)

“…For the descriptions, morphological terminology follows that of Eickwort (1969), Engel (2000, 2001, 2009b), and Michener (2007, while the format is adapted from that used elsewhere in Caenaugochlora (e.g., Engel, 1995aEngel, , 2009aEngel, , 2014, as well as more broadly among augochlorine bees (e.g., Engel, 1995bEngel, , 1997bEngel, , 2003Engel, , 2010aEngel, , 2010bEngel, , 2013aEngel, , 2013bEngel & Brooks, 2002;Engel et al, 1997Engel et al, , 2014Brooks & Engel, 1998, 1999Oliveira et al, 2012). Measurements were taken with an ocular micrometer on an Olympus SZX-12 stereomicroscope.…”

Another year of growth for the <i>Journal of Melittology</i>

“…Of the 18 published issues, 78% of them were focused on systematics (e.g., Engel & Prado, 2014;Gibbs et al, 2014), with a subset of these describing 20 species as new (Ayala & Engel, 2014a, 2014bEngel, 2014aEngel, , 2014bEngel, , 2014cEngel et al, 2014b;Gonzalez et al, 2014aGonzalez et al, , 2014bHinojosa-Díaz & Engel, 2014;Kuhlmann, 2014), along with three subgenera (Engel, 2014b;Michez et al, 2014) and one genus, and these figures include a remarkable genus and species of extinct corbiculate apine from the Middle Eocene of Europe (Table 1). As is our policy, all new taxa were registered in ZooBank and in full accordance with the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature's standards for electronic validation of new zoological names (ICZN, 2012).…”