Apis meriana Olivier, 1789 and Apis dimidiata Fabricius, 1793

Description of the NEOTYPE male (same specimen for both species) (Fig. 4): Measurements: total length ca. 26.0 mm; head width ca. 7.3 mm; eye length ca. 5.0 mm; scutellum width ca. 5.5 mm; scutellum length ca. 3.2 mm; abdominal width ca. 11.0 mm. Color and vestiture. Face and head entirely black (Fig. 4 C), mesosoma dark brown with black hairs, T1–T4 dark with greenish metallic hues, first 2/3 of its length clothed in black setae and distal 1/3 clothed in yellow setae; T5–T7 brown with predominantly long reddish setae (Fig. 4 A); fifth sternum with very sparse setae (Fig. 4 B). Legs. Velvet area of mesotibia not reaching the distal portion, leaving only a broad black area around; mesotibial tuft small, occupying the basal first quarter of the velvet area (Fig. 4 D); metatibia covered with very sparse black hairs.

Diagnosis. Eulaema meriana is similar to the sympatric El. bombiformis (Packard, 1869) . Nevertheless, they can easily be distinguished by the presence of dense setae on the fifth sternum of El. bombiformis, leaving only a glabrous median longitudinal line (only sparse and short setae on the fifth sternum in El. meriana).