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

Abstract

Megalopta (Smith 1853) is a nocturnal and/or crepuscular bee genus, with Neotropical distribution. The present work presents a taxonomic revision of Megalopta with emphasis on the Brazilian species through diagnosis and description of species and an identification key for most species that occur in South and Central America, with figures and distribution maps. Moreover eight new species are described: Megalopta guarani sp. n, M. mura sp. n, M. piraha sp. n, M. munduruku sp. n, M. yanomami sp. n, M. xavante sp. n, M. mapinguari sp. n. and Megalopta karitiana sp. n. Sex association for the male of M. chaperi (Vachal, 1904) is presented. Also we present taxonomical notes of valid species, with designation of lectotypes, new synonymies and checklist of valid species. Now, 32 valid species are recognized for the genus, with 19 in the Brazilian fauna. The present work enables correct identification of the species, which should facilitate further studies with Megalopta.

A dataset of multi-functional ecological traits of Brazilian bees

“…Further steps will include a better understanding of the ecological functioning in these areas, with practical www.nature.com/scientificdata www.nature.com/scientificdata/ implications for the ecological restoration of mine-land rehabilitated areas in the Amazon Forest. Additionally, bee taxonomy for the Neotropical region is not complete, and recent taxonomic reviews continue to reveal new species, mainly from the less studied and most speciose areas, such as tropical rain forests 36,41,42 .…”

A molecular and morphological phylogeny of the extant Augochlorini (Hymenoptera, Apoidea) with comments on implications for biogeography

“…Morphological characters (Table S5) were coded following, in the main, Eickwort (1969a) and Danforth & Eickwort (1997), but with reference to Pesenko (1999Pesenko ( , 2004, Smith-Pardo (2005a), Gonçalves (2010), Santos (2010Santos ( , 2014 and Santos & Melo (2015). Figures S1-S4 highlight characters that were common to Pesenko (1999), Engel (2000) and Danforth & Eickwort (1997).…”

The first gynandromorph of the Neotropical bee Megalopta amoena (Spinola, 1853) (Halictidae) with notes on its circadian rhythm

“…Upon eclosion, we weighed the gynandromorph and measured its intertegular and interoccular distances using calipers. The bee was identified as M. amoena based on the lack of longitudinal rugulosities on the basal area of the metapostnotum, also known as the basal area of the propodeum (Engel 2006, Santos andMelo 2015). See Wcislo et al (2004b) for a description of the nesting biology of M. amoena, then classified as M. ecuadoria; the species has also been previously classified with nine other names (Santos and Melo 2015).…”