Xylocopa (Neoxylocopa) amazonica Enderlein 1913: 259–260

Mawdsley, Jonathan R., 2018, New records and diagnostic notes on large carpenter bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae: genus Xylocopa Latreille), from the Amazon River basin of South America, Insecta Mundi 631, pp. 1-15 : 3

Xylocopa (Neoxylocopa) amazonica Enderlein 1913: 259–260

Fig. 2

Known distribution. Brazil (Amapá, Amazonas, Ceará, Guapore, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, Pará, Paraíba, Rondônia; Hurd 1978: 46). Type Locality: “ Brasilien. Óbidos” ( Enderlein 1913: 260).

Material examined. Brazil: Pará: Cachimbo , VI.1955, F. M. Oliveira (1 ♂) , XI.1961, M. Alvarenga and F. M. Oliveira (2 ♀) , VI.1962, M. Alvarenga and F. M. Oliveira (8 ♀) ; Conceição do Araguaia , VII.1959, M. Alvarenga (1 ♂) ; Guama , 8.V.1956, E. Lobato (1 ♀) .

Notes. Females of this species are similar to those of X. (N.) suspecta Moure and Camargo from southern Brazil, a species which has also been reported from the Amazon basin ( Moure and Camargo 1988 and records below). The most obvious difference between females of these two species is in the coloration of the wing iridescence, which is brilliant green in X. (N.) suspecta but duller and more greenish-blue, particularly at the base of the wings, in X. (N.) amazonica . Females of X. (N.) suspecta also have much coarser punctures on the metasomal tergites than females of X. (N.) amazonica . Xylocopa (N.) suspecta was not described at the time that Hurd (1978) published his annotated catalog, and thus it is possible that some of the records for X. (N.) amazonica from southern Brazil in Hurd (1978) may actually refer instead to X. (N.) suspecta .

Figures

Figures 1–13. Dorsal habitus photographs of pinned, preserved specimens of females of Xylocopa (Neoxylocopa) species from the Amazon River basin, from the USNM collection. 1) X. (N.) aeneipennis. 2) X. (N.) amazonica. 3) X. (N.) aurulenta. 4) X. (N.) carbonaria. 5) X. (N.) cearensis. 6) X. (N.) fimbriata. 7) X. (N.) frontalis. 8) X. (N.) grisescens. 9) X. (N.) hirsutissima. 10) X. (N.) orthogonaspis. 11) X. (N.) similis. 12) X. (N.) suspecta. 13) X. (N.) tegulata.