Apiomerus californicus Berniker & Szerlip, 2011

Berniker, Lily, Szerlip, Sigurd, Forero, Dimitri & Weirauch, Christiane, 2011, 2949, Zootaxa 2949, pp. 1-113 : 14-15

Apiomerus californicus Berniker & Szerlip , sp. nov. Figs 1–16, Map 1

Apiomerus crassipes (all of the following in part)

Uhler 1876: 328 (catalog); Uhler 1884: 281 (biology); Uhler 1894: 284 (distribution); Lethierry and Severin 1896: 144 (catalog); Champion 1899: 242 (diagnosis, key); Fracker 1913: 236 (key); Barber 1914: 505 (distribution); Van Duzee 1914: 13 (regional check list); Blatchley 1926: 565 (distribution); Readio 1927: 156 (biology); Wygodzinsky 1949: 17 (catalog); Costa Lima et al. 1951: 348 (biology, distribution, diagnosis, key); Henry and Froeschner 1988: 619 (catalog); Maldonado 1990: 4 (catalog).

Apiomerus (Herega) crassipes

Van Duzee 1916: 30 (checklist); Van Duzee 1918: 257 (catalog).

Type data: Holotype: 1 ♂; [ USA:] California: Alameda Co.: Arroyo Mocho Canyon [37.50845 ° N 121.76694 ° W], 10 May 1972, W. H. Tyson / Collected on the flowers of Ceanothus / Apiomerus californicus Szerlip 1977 Det. by S.L. Szerlip 1977 / HOLOTYPE ♂ Apiomerus californicus n. sp. Berniker & Szerlip Det. by: Berniker & Szerlip 2011 / (UCR_ENT 00009717) (USNM).

Diagnosis: Recognized by the mostly black pronotum, red hemelytra, pale yellow posterior pronotal margin, pale yellow connexiva, fore legs black with red ring at the apex of the femora ( Figs 1A, 16A), and sclerotizations of the male genitalia, including the posterior margin of the dorsal phallothecal sclerite pointed in dorsal view, the dorsolateral lobes of the endosoma not clearly divided into proximal and distal portions, and the median basal sclerotization tongue shaped ( Fig. 6A).

Description: Male: Medium-sized, total length 14.2–15.2 mm. COLORATION: HEAD: black. THORAX: anterior pronotal lobe black, sometimes with anterior portion red or entirely red, posterior pronotal lobe black, sometimes with red band along anterior edge, margin of posterior pronotal lobe pale yellow to white, scutellum black with yellow margin, thoracic pleura black with a red circle on supracoxal lobes, corium red to black, foreleg black with red ring at apex of femur, mid and hind legs black. ABDOMEN: black, connexivum pale yellow to white, pygophore black to red ( Figs 1A, 16A). STRUCTURE: HEAD: about 3/4 as long as pronotum, about 4 times width of one eye, eye in dorsal view about 1/4 of head length. THORAX: pronotum 1.3 times wider than long, anterolateral angle acute, disc of anterior lobe with paired greatly convex lobes, posterior margin straight. ABDOMEN: pygophore about 1/5 length of abdomen, rami of the median process of the pygophore U-shaped in caudal view, ramus as long as base width ( Figs 2A, 3A, 4A, 5A). GENITALIA: distal portion of tergite 9 with setae on entire distal portion, posterior margin of dorsal phallothecal sclerite pointed in dorsal view ( Fig. 8A), apex in dorsal view narrow, less than half the width of dorsal phallothecal sclerite, endosomal struts fused only at base, dorsolateral lobes a single folded sclerite, not divided into proximal and distal portions ( Fig. 8A), median basal sclerotization tongue shaped ( Fig. 8A), distal dorsal lobe with two parallel rows of strong denticles ( Figs 6A, 7A).

Female: Total length 15.3–16.6 mm. STRUCTURE: ABDOMEN: syntergite 9/10 with distal margin slightly emarginate ( Fig. 11A). GENITALIA: gonapophysis 8 with two distinct sclerotizations ( Fig. 15A), bursa copulatrix with two narrow, transverse sclerotized folds ( Fig. 14A).

Etymology: Named for its distribution throughout California and the Baja California peninsula.

Biology: Specimens examined have been collected in all months of the year except January and November, and from sea level up to 1997 m in elevation. They have been trapped with heptyl butyrate and found on the following plants: Cercocarpus betuloides (Rosaceae) , Cirsium undulatum (Asteraceae) , Cryptantha sp. (Boraginaceae) , Encelia sp. (Asteraceae) , Eriodictyon sp. (Boraginaceae) , Eriogonum fasciculatum (Polygonaceae) , Gnaphalium californicum (Asteraceae) , Helianthus annus (Asteraceae) , Marrubium vulgare (Lamiaceae) , Salvia sp. (Lamiaceae) , Stanleya pinnata (Brassicaceae) , Yucca sp. (Asparagaceae) , cactus, composites, and grasses.Several specimens (UCR_ENT numbers 652, 977, 1033, 19480, 19506 and 43142) were collected with honeybee prey.

Distribution: California south into Baja California, Mexico. In California as far north as Yuba County, and generally found in the following areas: coastal regions, coastal mountain ranges, and the Sierra Nevada Mountains , but not in deserts or the Central Valley. In Baja California, the distribution is limited to the coastal regions and coastal mountain ranges. One individual has been collected in “Oregon” with no further locality information given on the label, however, no other specimens examined have been collected this far north (see Map 1). Whether this disjunctive distribution is due to a lack of sampling in Northern California or a mislabeled specimen is unknown.

Discussion: Individuals of A. californicus vary in corium and pronotum color, however, in comparison to other species in the crassipes and pictipes species groups, this variation is minor. The corium is uniformly bright red in some individuals while in most others it is brightest along the costal margin and fades to a dark red towards the posterior margin of the wing. The most commonly seen individuals have the pronotum completely black on both the anterior and posterior lobes. Other individuals examined exhibit varying degrees of increased pigmentation on the anterior pronotal lobe, ranging from red spots at the anterolateral edges to having the entire lobe red. The posterior pronotal lobe is usually uniformly black ( Fig. 16A). The individuals which exhibit the most red on the pronotum and on the corium are usually found along the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Apiomerus californicus most closely resembles Apiomerus montanus among members of the crassipes group, although the two are not sympatric (see Maps 1, 4). Apiomerus californicus is sympatric with A. cazieri in south eastern California, but can usually be distinguished easily by color differences ( Fig. 1). When similar in color, they can confidently be distinguished by size, with A. cazieri always being smaller than A. californicus ( Table 2).

Paratypes: See Appendix; a total of 1,086 specimens were studied.