Colletes obscurus Friese, 1925

Kuhlmann, Michael, 2007, Revision of the bees of the Colletes fasciatus-group in southern Africa (Hymenoptera: Colletidae), African Invertebrates 48 (2), pp. 121-166 : 156-158

Colletes obscurus Friese, 1925

Fig. 43

Colletes obscurus: Friese 1925: 528 . Type locality: South Africa, Zeerust .

Diagnosis:Among the species with a reduced scopa, it is very similar to C. cyanonitidus but has a less intense bluish shine on T1 and T2, lacks the numerous transverse carinae on the vertical part of the propodeal triangle and has more scattered and shallower punctation on T1.

Description:

Female.

Length 10–11 mm.

Vestiture: Face short, greyish white with long, dark brown hairs onvertex; mesonotum with short, yellowish brown hairs intermixed with numerous longer blackish hairs; mesosomal sides and legs with yellowish white, the former longer and the latter shorter than mesonotal vestiture, scutellum and metanotum with short, medially plumose (cf. Fig. 5 ), brownish orange hairs, scutellum with intermixed short yellowish white and longer blackish hairs; T1 very sparsely clothed with moderately long, erect, white hairs, shorter posteriorly; disc of T2 sparsely covered with very short, depressed, whitish hairs; discs of T3–T5 with successively longer, erect, blackish hairs; moderately broad white posterior tergal fringes on T1–T4, that on T1 slightly narrowed medially, that on T5 very narrow; T2 without basal tomentum; S2–S4 with very short, indistinct, white fringes laterally; discs of sterna very sparsely clothed with very short hairs.

Integument: Mainly black, antenna reddish brown ventrally, legs and tarsi partly with a reddish shine and terga posteriorly narrowly translucent, reddish brown; T1–T3 with bluish shine; malar area narrow, length about 1/2 width of mandibular base; clypeus slightly depressed medially, with very dense (0.2 pd), small punctures, punctures slightly elongate; integument between punctures smooth and shiny; facial fovea broad, maximum width about 1.5× antennal diameter; disc of mesonotum without or with very scattered (2–4 pd), medium-sized punctation, surrounded by dense (0.5–1 pd) punctation, integument between punctures smooth and shiny; upper sloping part of propodeal triangle with short, longitudinal carinae, vertical part distinctly shagreened, dull with numerous well-developed more or less transverse carinae; disc of T1 with fine, dense (0.5–1 pd) punctation, punctures becoming finer and denser towards posterior tergal depression; disc of T2 with very fine, and very dense (<0.5 pd) punctation; integument between punctures smooth and shiny.

Male. Unknown.

Type material examined: Colletes obscurus , ^lectotype: ‘Transvaal, Zeerust, 1897, Jensen, Colletes obscurus 1921 Friese det., Type, Coll. Friese’ (ZMHB).

Additional material examined: 2^. SOUTH AFRICA: Eastern Cape: 1^Grahamstown , 14.ix.1968, J.G.H. Londt ( CMK) . ZAMBIA: 1^Mbala (Abercorn), 14.xii.1953, H.D. Brown ( AMGS) .

Distribution: The only reliable record is from Grahamstown ( Fig. 43 ). The records from Abercorn (= Mbala, northern Zambia) and Zeerust (North West Province, South Africa) are probably errors caused by confusion of localities or by mislabelling and are not included in the distribution map.

Flower visiting: Unknown.

Phenology: First record 14 th September, last record 14 th December.

Figures

Fig. 43. Distribution of C. nieuwoudtvillei, C. obscurus, C. schultzei, C. stellatus, C. testaceipes, C. wathmoughi and C. zygophyllum.

Fig. 5. Colletes cyanonitidus sp. n., propodeum of female, dorsal view.