Colletes himalayensis Kuhlmann, 2002

Ferrari, Rafael R., Niu, Ze-Qing, Kuhlmann, Michael, Zhang, Dan & Zhu, Chao- Dong, 2021, The cellophane bees of Colletes Latreille (Hymenoptera: Colletidae) from Xizang (Tibet), China, Zootaxa 5022 (1), pp. 1-72 : 19-21

Colletes himalayensis Kuhlmann, 2002

( Figs 8B , 9A–F )

Colletes himalayensis Kuhlmann, 2002: 1167 (holotype ♂: China, Xizang, Saugang-Khangmar [ZMB]).

Colletes himalayensis ; Niu et al. 2013b: 106 , 2014b: 476 ; Ascher & Pickering 2021.

Diagnosis. The following set of features is sufficient to diagnose females of C. himalayensis among the Tibetan species of Colletes : clypeus broader than long, mesoscutal black hairs absent and T2 with basal band. Males are diagnosable through the combination of malar area as long as basal width of mandible, mesosomal dorsum covered with off-white pubescence and S7 without subasal lateral expansion. Colletes himalayensis is most similar to C. floralis , from which it can be distinguished by the paraocular area with a distinct longitudinal band of black hairs in both sexes (paraocular area without black hairs in both sexes of C. floralis ). Females of the two species can be further differentiated by the malar area as long as width of mandible in C. himalayensis (malar area 1.25× as long as width of mandible in females of C. floralis ), and males by the hind basitarsus 4.0× as long as broad in C.

himalayensis (hind basitarsus 5.0× as long as broad in males of C. floralis ).

New records —none.

Remarks. Colletes himalayensis has been rarely collected since its description in 2002. As far as we know, a single additional record of the species has been published since then — a female caught in Shekkar during a collection expedition to Mount Everest (see Niu et al. 2014b: 476) — in spite of considerable sampling effort around the species’ type locality.

Figures

FIGURE 8. Confirmed geographic records of the Colletes species found in Xizang based on the examined material. (A) C. hedini; (B) C. himalayensis; (C) C. inspersus; (D) C. packeri.

FIGURE 9. Colletes himalayensis Kuhlmann, 2002. Female: (A) habitus, lateral view; (C) face, frontal view. Male: (B) habitus, lateral view; (D) face, frontal view; (E) genital capsule, lateral view; (F) S7, ventral view. Scale bars: (A–D) 2 mm; (E, F) 1 mm.