Lasioglossum ereptor Gibbs, 2009

Pauly, B Alain, Lasway, Julius Vincent, Mijai, Ismail, Mshana, Idd & Njovu, Henry Kenneth, 2019, Collecting bees on Mount Meru in Tanzania and the discovery of a new cleptoparasitic species of Lasioglossum (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Halictidae), Belgian Journal of Entomology 84, pp. 1-18 : 8-9

Lasioglossum ereptor Gibbs, 2009 ( Figs 7 , 8 , 12b,13b, 14b and 15b)

Lasioglossum (Dialictus) ereptor GIBBS 2009: 74 , ♀.

TYPE MATERIAL. TANZANIA, Mount Kilimanjaro, Quadrant 2 Giant Senecio zone, area burnt in 1978, 6.viii. 1993, 1♀ holotype, leg. U. Sheffield ( PCYU) .

MATERIAL EXAMINED. Mount Meru, Miriakamba hut, 3°14'S 36°48'E, 2560m, 8.X.2018, 1♀, 12.X.2018, 1♀, 14.X.2018, 2♀, 15.X.2018, 1♀ (RBINS, CAWM) .

NOTE. The sole previously described specimen, the female holotype, is from Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. The type specimen is in fair condition except for three missing legs. A second specimen from the same locality is preserved in PCYU and is on the Barcode of Life Systems (unpublished data, Jason Gibbs, personnal communication). The specimens from Mount Meru differ by the head and mesosoma having purple metallic reflections ( Fig. 8 ) while the head and mesosoma have blue metallic reflections in the two specimens from Mount Kilimanjaro. They seem also to differ by the less punctuated scutellum. While waiting to barcode specimens from both mountains, and to collect more specimens to study variations of colouration and punctuation of scutellum, we consider that the specimens collected on Mount Meru to belong to a simple variety or subspecies of L. ereptor .

a b c d e f DIAGNOSIS. It differs from the new species described below by purple metallic reflections on head and mesosoma ( Fig. 8 a-d), short mandibles (Fig. 12b), less punctuate scutellum (Fig. 14b) and short flagellomeres (Fig. 15b).

Figures

Fig. 7. Lasioglossum ereptor, female, from Mount Meru (15.X.2018).

Fig. 8. Lasioglossum ereptor, female, from Mount Meru; a, head; b, vertex; c, scutum; d, propodeum; e, first tergum; f, metasoma.