Xylocopa (Schonnherria) simillima Smith 1854: 357–358

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 : 10

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3699701
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:8EB081BE-6413-4CE7-861C-97B4746E075A
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3705558
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03C2879C-FF9F-AB5E-62FC-4566FC841925
treatment provided by	Felipe (2020-03-06 16:57:35, last updated 2024-11-27 06:25:57)
scientific name	Xylocopa (Schonnherria) simillima Smith 1854: 357–358
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Xylocopa (Schonnherria) simillima Smith 1854: 357–358 View in CoL

Fig. 20 View Figures 14–23

Known distribution. Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil (Acre, Amazonas, Minas Gerais, Pará, Santa Catarina, São Paulo), Paraguay, Peru ( Hurd 1978: 23). Type locality: “ Australia ” ( Smith 1854: 358), which Hurd and Moure (1963: 315) indicate was almost certainly in error for South America.

Material examined. Brazil: Amazonas: Tapuruquara , VI.1961, L. Guindani (1 ♀), Tefé, VI.1957, R. Carvalho (1 ♀), XI.1959, R. Carvalho (5 ♀), XII.1959, R. Carvalho (1 ♀), 1-4.XII.1961, F. M. Oliveira (1 ♀), 8.XII.1961, F. M. Oliveira (1 ♀) ; Pará: Belem , VI.1946, M. Alvarenga (1 ♀), VII.1960, F. Oliveira (1 ♀), Mangabeira, Mocajuba, IV.1953, O. Rego (4 ♀), Óbidos, VIII.1957, F. M. Oliveira (2 ♀), XII.1955, F. M. Oliveira (1 ♀) ; Santarém , IX.1955, M. Alvarenga (22 ♀), XI.1955, M. Alvarenga (6 ♀), Santarém, Ulumari, 15.IX.1955, M. G. Silva (12 ♀) ; Rondônia: Abunã, XI.1962, W. Bokerman (8 ♀), Forte Principe da Beira , XI.1961, F. M. Oliveira (1 ♀), Vilhena, XI.1960, M. Alvarenga (2 ♀) .

Notes. Smith (1854: 357–358) based his original description of this species on female specimens in which the metasomal tergites of the female have distinct orange-pigmented transverse bands. However, in a majority of the female specimens that I examined, the metasomal tergites are entirely black. This color variation (entirely black metasomal tergites versus black tergites with orange transverse bands) is similar to the color variation displayed by various populations of the widespread X. (N.) frontalis ( Hurd 1978: 80–81) and also by X. (N.) nigrocincta Smith which occurs in Argentina, Paraguay, and southern Brazil. The female of X. (S.) simillima superficially resembles females of some of the sympatric species of subgenus Neoxylocopa but can be separated from the species of that subgenus by the lack of the central longitudinal carina on the metasomal sternites.

References

Hurd, P. D., and J. S. Moure. 1963. A classification of the large carpenter bees (Xylocopini) (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). University of California Publications in Entomology 29: 1 - 365.

Hurd, P. D., Jr. 1978. An annotated catalog of the carpenter bees (Genus Xylocopa Latreille) of the Western Hemisphere (Hymenoptera: Anthophoridae). Smithsonian Institution Press; Washington, DC. 106 p.

Smith, F. 1854. Apidae. Catalogue of hymenopterous insects in the collection of the British Museum. 2: 199 - 465.

Figures

Figures 14–23. Dorsal habitus photographs of pinned, preserved specimens of females of Xylocopa (Schonnherria) species from the Amazon River basin, from the USNM collection. 14) X. (S.) dimidiata. 15) X. (S.) lucida. 16) X. (S.) macrops. 17) X. (S.) metallica. 18) X. (S.) muscaria. 19) X. (S.) ornata. 20) X. (S.) simillima. 21) X. (S.) subcyanea. 22) X. (S.) varians. 23) X. (S.) viridis.