Triepeolus alvarengai Moure, 1955

Onuferko, Thomas M., Rightmyer, Molly G., Melo, Gabriel A. R. & Roig-Alsina, Arturo, 2024, A revision of the South American species of the cleptoparasitic bee genus Triepeolus Robertson, 1901 (Hymenoptera: Apidae), European Journal of Taxonomy 931, pp. 1-50 : 7-10

Triepeolus alvarengai Moure, 1955

Figs 1A , 2 , 3A

Triepeolus alvarengai Moure, 1955: 126 (♀).

Diagnosis

The following morphological features in combination tell T. alvarengai apart from all other South American Triepeolus : the (medially narrowed or interrupted) T1 basal band is arched, continuous with (and indistinguishable from) the lateral longitudinal bands, and mesally concave on each side, such that the discal patch is semicircular ( Figs 2B , 3A ); the mesoscutum has well-defined paramedian bands ( Figs 2B , 3A ); and T2–T4 have complete apical transverse bands of yellow tomentum ( Figs 2B , 3A ). Specimens in which T1 has only a basal band or pair of anterolateral patches of pale tomentum (as in Fig. 2B ) (as opposed to both basal and apical transverse bands, as in Fig. 3A ) may be confused with T. nemoralis , but in T. nemoralis the mesoscutum has a large anteromedial ovate patch of yellow tomentum, which may be sparser medially such that the patch is suggestive of ill-defined paramedian bands. Males of T. alvarengai without an apical transverse band on T1 also closely resemble those of T. flavipennis , but in T. flavipennis the pair of anterolateral patches of pale tomentum on T1 are mesally convex, such that the discal patch forms a trapezoid or triangle with concave anterolateral sides. Females of T. alvarengai and T. flavipennis are more readily distinguished by the pseudopygidial area, which in the former is triangular, with the apical margin of T5 concave, and in the latter is distinctly circular, with the apical margin of T5 broadly convex.

Etymology

The specific epithet (declined in the genitive case) honors L.C. Alvarenga, who collected the holotype ( Moure 1955).

Material examined

Primary type material

BRAZIL • ♀, holotype; Minas Gerais, Varginha ; Feb. 1954; L.C. Alvarenga leg.; DZUP .

Secondary type material

BRAZIL • 1 ♀, paratype; Pará, Juruti (“ Lago Grande de Villa Franca ”); P. Lecointe leg.; MZUSP (still at DZUP, but to be returned) .

Non-type material

BRAZIL • 1 ♂; Amapá, Macapá ; “ 10.11.1900 ”; Ducke leg.; ZMB ed1bbe/M.G.R. Database No. 11694 • 1 ♀, 1 ♂; same collection data as for preceding; 10 Nov. 1900; Ducke leg.; DZUP • 1 ♀; Ceará, Barbalha ; May 1969; M. Alvarenga leg.; AMNH • 1 ♀; Espírito Santo, Aracruz ; 22–30 Dec. 1981; C. Elias leg.; DZUP • 1 ♀; Espírito Santo, Linhares ; May 1978; C. Elias leg.; DZUP • 9 ♀♀, 2 ♂♂; Maranhão, Imperatriz ; 20 Feb. 1962; F.M. Oliveira leg.; DZUP • 1 ♀, 2 ♂♂; Maranhão, São Bento ; 27 Feb. 1984; Mazucato leg.; USP-RP • 1 ♂; Minas Gerais, Couto Magalhães ; Jul. 1959; M. Alvarenga leg.; DZUP • 1 ♂; Minas Gerais, Passos; Jun. 1961; C. Elias leg.; DZUP • 1 ♀; Pará, Belém ; 30 Mar. 1965; S. Laroca leg.; MACN • 1 ♀; Pernambuco, Recife; 23 Nov. 1955; Michener and Moure leg.; DZUP .

Redescription

MEASUREMENTS OF HOLOTYPE. Body length 9.7 mm; ITW 1.8 mm; head length 2.2 mm; head width 3.1 mm; fore wing length 7.6 mm.

Both sexes

INTEGUMENT COLORATION. Dark brown to black except as follows. Mandible with middle portion reddish brown. Antenna (except for orange along outer and apical margins of F1 and orange spot basally on F2) dark brown in holotype; scape orange in part and pedicel and F1 extensively orange in some non-type specimens. Tegula dark brown in holotype; orange in some non-type specimens. Fore wing membrane subhyaline, apically dusky. Hind wing membrane dusky subhyaline to hyaline. Legs dark brown in holotype; trochanters to tarsi extensively orange in some non-type specimens. Pygidial plate reddish brown.

PUBESCENCE. Face with tomentum densest around antennal socket. Tomentum slightly sparser on clypeus; upper paraocular and frontal areas and vertexal area mostly exposed. Pronotal collar with tomentum uniformly bright yellow. Mesoscutum with well-defined paramedian band of bright yellow tomentum, well separated from anterior margin; pale tomentum otherwise mostly restricted to lateral and posterior margins. Mesopleuron with off-white to pale-yellow, appressed, branched setae; densely setose just below scrobal groove (upper half otherwise sparsely setose); ventrolateral half nearly bare, except along margins. Metanotum with tomentum uninterrupted, pale yellow laterally and partially dark brown/gray and partially pale yellow medially (uniformly pale yellow in some non-type specimens). Propodeal triangle mostly glabrous, with (pale) setae restricted to small lateral patches. T1 with basal transverse band of bright yellow tomentum separated medially into pair of anterolateral patches, continuous with (and indistinguishable from) lateral longitudinal band, forming arch around semicircular discal patch; anterolateral patch with short, medially directed posterolateral extension in holotype; with medially interrupted apical transverse band in some non-type specimens. T2–T4 with complete apical transverse bands of bright yellow-orange tomentum without well-defined anterolateral extensions, although T2–T4 with faint lateral longitudinal bands of diffuse off-white setae. S2–S3 with apical transverse bands of white tomentum.

SURFACE SCULPTURE. Labrum and clypeus with punctures equally dense and nearly contiguous (most i <1d). Vertexal area somewhat sparsely punctate (some i>2d), especially around ocelli. Mesoscutum, mesoscutellum, and axilla with punctures more or less equally dense (most i≤ 1d); interspaces well defined, shining. Mesopleuron with punctures in upper half not much denser (most i <1d) than in ventrolateral half (most i≤ 1d); interspaces shining; punctures similar in size throughout. Discs of metasomal terga with punctures very fine, dense (i ≈1d), and evenly distributed; interspaces shining somewhat.

STRUCTURE. Labrum with pair of small subapical denticles. Pronotal collar short (medial length ~½ MOD). Mesoscutellum moderately bigibbous. Axilla extending beyond midlength of mesoscutellum but not as far back as its posterior margin; tip distinctly pointed and hooked (i.e., concave along medial margin), but mesally unattached to mesoscutellum for less than ⅖ medial length of axilla; lateral margin somewhat sinuate.

Female

T5 with concave apical margin and large patch of pale-yellow tomentum on each side lateral to pseudopygidial area. Pseudopygidial area with underlying integument dark brown in holotype (extensively orange in some non-type specimens), forming rounded triangle with concave sides, with brown spinelike setae laterally. Pygidial plate apically truncate. S4 with apical transverse band of white tomentum. S5 straight in lateral view, with apical fimbria of coppery bristle-like setae; S5 otherwise covered in off-white tomentum.

Male

T5–T6 with complete apical transverse bands of bright yellow tomentum. Pygidial plate relatively flat and apically rounded. S4–S5 each with apical/subapical fringe of dense, long (> 1 MOD), curved, coppery setae, contrasting with apical transverse bands of white tomentum of preceding sterna.

Distribution

Eastern and northern Brazil ( Fig. 1A ).

Ecology

Host records

Unknown.

Floral records

Unknown.

Remarks

Triepeolus alvarengai exhibits unusual but continuous variation in the patterns of pale pubescence on T1, which may have only a medially interrupted basal band with a short, medially directed posterolateral extension on each side or both basal and apical transverse bands, with the latter varying in the extent to which it is separated medially. The description of the male of T. alvarengai is published here for the first time.

Figures

Fig. 1. Occurrence records (yellow circles) of species of Triepeolus Robertson, 1901 represented in South America. A. T. alvarengai Moure, 1955. B. T. atoconganus Moure, 1955. C. T. buchwaldi (Friese, 1908). D. T. cecilyae Packer, 2016. E. T. flavipennis (Friese, 1916). F. T. nemoralis (Holmberg, 1886). G. T. osiriformis (Schrottky, 1910). H. T. rufotegularis (Ashmead, 1900). I. T. tuberculifer Onuferko, Rightmyer & Roig-Alsina sp. nov.

Fig. 2. Triepeolus alvarengai Moure, 1955. A–B, D. Holotype, ♀ (DZUP). A. Habitus, lateral view. B. Habitus, dorsal view. C. Male (ZMB ed1bbe/M.G.R. Database No. 11694), habitus, lateral view (image is copyright of the Museum für Naturkunde and reproduced here with permission). D. Pseudopygidial area, dorsal view.

Fig. 3. Triepeolus spp., habitus, dorsal view. A. T. alvarengai Moure, 1955 female specimen (MACN) in which T1 has both basal and apical transverse bands. B. T. nemoralis (Holmberg, 1886) male specimen (DZUP) in which much of T1 is covered in pale-yellow tomentum.