Taxonomic notes and description of the male of <i>Xenochlora nigrofemorata</i> (Smith, 1879) (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Halictinae)

Abstract

The present work describes for the first time the male of the bee genus Xenochlora Engel, Brooks & Yanega, 1997. The male of X. nigrofemorata (Smith, 1879) is described and illustrated. Additionally, Megalopta opacicollis Friese, 1926 is placed as a junior synonym of X. nigrofemorata (Smith, 1879).

Pollination of Peltogyne chrysopis: an endemic tree of the Atlantic Forest

“…05h00min), yet during dim-light. The flowers release a slight sweet scent that attracts Xenochlora nigrofemorata, the first floral visitors and a poorly documented bee species belonging to a small, poorly known and rarely collected bee genus (Engel et al 1997;Engel 2000;Santos & Melo 2013). Despite anthesis occurring during in the dark, the set of floral traits of P chrysopis (e.g., small and slightly zygomorphic flowers, presence of osmophores and UV-reflective pigments, and pollen as the main floral resource) fit traditional melittophily (Faegri & Pijl 1979).…”

“…Xenochlora nigrofemorata is considered the main pollinator of P. chrysopis due to: (i) bees visiting flowers when the stigma was receptive and pollen grains viable; (ii) bee body size and foraging behavior favoring contact with the stigmatic surface during visits; and, (iii) bee pollination efficiency (i.e., pollen transference from the anthers to the stigma), as confirmed by the presence of pollen tubes on the stigmatic surface and in the styles of visited flowers. All the information available in the literature thus far for the genus consists of taxonomic treatments (Engel et al 1997;Engel 2000;Santos & Melo 2013) and phylogenetic analyses of the tribe Augochloroni (Tierney et al 2012;Gonçalves 2016), and reports on nesting biology and social behavior for two species (Tierney et al 2008). Thus, the present study is the first to report on the association between flowers and a species of the genus Xenochlora, with detailed information on pollination mediated by X. nigrofemorata -pollen transference via floral sonication behavior (i.e., buzzing the anthers) as indicated by epifluorescence microscopy, which contradicts that assumed by Cardinal et al (2018) for the genus.…”

Updating the taxonomy of the bee genusMegalopta(Hymenoptera: Apidae, Augochlorini) including revision of the Brazilian species

“…Megalopta differs from other augochlorines, including Xenochlora, by the large ocelli and the closely packed series of hamuli in the hind wing (Engel 2000;Michener 2007), as well as in the morphology of the male S3-S5 (Santos and Melo 2013). Megalopta and Xenochlora differ from most augochlorines for their non-metallic, pale brown metasoma.…”

Xenochlora meridionalis sp. nov. (Hymenoptera: Apidae), a new halictine bee from eastern Brazil as evidence of past connections between Amazonia and Atlantic Forest

“…is a rare genus of halictine bees until recently assumed to be restricted to the Amazon Basin and the Guiana shield (Engel et al 1997, Santos andMelo 2013). The genus comprises four species: X. ianthina (Smith, 1861), X. nigrofemorata (Smith, 1879), X. chalkeos Engel, Brooks &Yanega, 1997 andX.…”

“…ochrosterna Engel, Brooks &Yanega, 1997. Specimens of Xenochlora are rarely collected, and the entire genus is known only from a few females and a single male of X. nigrofemorata (Santos and Melo 2013). Nests of Xenochlora are built by females in dead wood, notably small dead branches hanging on the understory vegetation, and can be inhabited by single or multiple females (Smith 1861, Tierney et al 2008.…”