Augochlora (Oxystoglossella) erubescens Cockerell, 1923

Lepeco, Anderson & Gonçalves, Rodrigo Barbosa, 2023, A review of Augochlora (Oxystoglossella) bees from South America: unexpected Amazonian diversity and assessment of vulnerable species, Journal of Natural History (Oxford, England) 57 (9 - 12), pp. 608-664 : 624-625

Augochlora (Oxystoglossella) erubescens Cockerell, 1923

( Figure 14B )

Augochlora erubescens Cockerell, 1923 . Holotype female (BMNH) from British Guyana, ′ Issororo ̍. Examined through photographs.

Augochlora (Oxystoglossella) bipunctata Lepeco and Gonçalves, 2020b . Holotype female (DZUP) from Brazil, Bahia, Salvador [likely mislabelled]. Examined. New synonym.

Diagnosis

Females of this species have the basal elevation of labrum orbicular and both sexes exhibit the portion of mesepisternum anterior to mesepisternal groove mostly covered with coarse rugae and gena and post-gena striate ( A. morrae subgroup). Augochlora erubescens have the mesoscutum disc with punctures of two diameters similarly to Augochlora thalia , from which it can be separated by the anterior portion of mesoscutum very weakly rugulose and the preoccipital carina not produced (about as thick as 0.2 OD laterally), and to Augochlora antonita , from which it can be separated by head and mesosoma with abundant long yellowish setae. Males are unknown.

Comments

Despite the copper-red mesoscutum, in common with specimens of Augochlora thalia , the holotype of Augochlora erubescens has the anterior portion of mesoscutum weakly rugulose and the preoccipital carina weakly produced, features distinctive from A. thalia . Indeed, the holotype of Augochlora thalia does not have the strong copper reflections found on other individuals of this species. We conclude that copper reflections are variable on both species, despite being more common on A. thalia .

Soon after the publication of our taxonomic revision of the genus Oxystoglossella from north-eastern Brazil ( Lepeco and Gonçalves 2020b), Dr Gabriel A.R. Melo drew our attention to several specimens in the DZUP collection mislabelled as the holotype of Augochlora bipunctata : ′ Salvador – BA, Brail (sic) [ Brazil] 19-III 61 H and A. Cordeiro̍. Camargo and Pedro (2003) published a short note with a similar case involving Partamona nigrilabris Pedro and Camargo, 2003 ( Apidae : Meliponini), discussing that the specimens should come from Trinidad or Venezuela. Another relevant record is a DZUP specimen of Melipona trinitatis Cockerell, 1919 (type locality: Port of Spain, Trinidad; also known for Venezuela) mislabelled from Salvador. Finally, we examined an additional conspecific female of A. erubescens from St. Augustine, Trinidad (DZUP 569259), reinforcing the occurence of this species in northern South America. At the time we described Augochlora bipunctata we did not have the identity of Augochlora erubescens and this name was a junior synonym of A. thalia . The male paratype of Augochlora bipunctata is interpreted henceforward by us as an unusually large specimen of Augochlora morrae .

Distribution

British Guyana, Trinidad.

Examined material

Supplemental material.

Figures

Figure 14. Map of distribution records for Oxystoglossella of the A. morrae and A. iphigenia species groups: (A) A. antonita, A. morrae, A. obidensis sp. nov. and A. thalia; (B) A. brevipilosa sp. nov., A. cymatoides, A. erubescens and A. laevinota sp. nov.; (C) A. iphigenia, A. matucanensis and A. phoenicis.