Centris (Trachina) vidua Mocsáry, 1899

Bossert, Silas, Monzón-Sierra, José, Zack, Richard S., García, Ana Cristina & Murray, Elizabeth A., 2023, Melittological notes from Guatemala (Hymenoptera: Anthophila), 1. New country records for Centris Fabricius (Apidae) and Zikanapis Moure (Colletidae), Insecta Mundi 2023 (22), pp. 1-8 : 4

Centris (Trachina) vidua Mocsáry, 1899

( Fig. 5–8 )

Material examined. GUATEMALA, Alta Verapaz, San Pedro Carchá, San Vicente Chicatal, Parque ecológico Hun Nal Ye, 335 m alt., 15.673994 −90.319398, 27.X.2010, leg. J. Monzón-Sierra, deposited UVGC [voucher code JMS-11280], 1♂. GUATEMALA, Petén Dept., Balneario “El Bosque” along Río Machaquilá, ca. 9 km E of Machaquilá, 390 m alt., 6.XII.2021, N16.39023° W89.51188°, leg. R. S. Zack & J. Monzón-Sierra, at UV trap, deposited WSUC [voucher code WSUC 00011188], 1♂. GUATEMALA, Petén Dept., Sayaxché, Fca. La Dicha, 1–3.III.2002, leg. Ma. Isa de León, deposited UVGC [voucher code JMS-11355], 1♀.

Distribution. The type locality of Centris vidua is in Honduras (San Pedro Sula, Cortés Dept.) ( Friese 1900; Rasmussen and Vivallo 2014). A GBIF query ( GBIF 2022b) for the species returned 19 georeferenced entries, 8 from Belize (4 localities), 8 from Mexico (2 localities, 1 in Campeche, 1 in Sonora), 2 from Panama (1 locality), and 1 from Costa Rica. Friese (1900) lists additional records from Orizaba, Mexico (Veracruz) and Peru. Hence, the species was reported in every neighboring country of Guatemala except El Salvador. Our newly provided records close this distributional gap.

Comment. Described as an ‘uncommon bee’ ( Snelling 1984), little is known about the biology of the species. Interestingly, the recently collected male specimen [WSUC00011188] was captured at a light trap, which includes UV light, between 4 and 5 am in the morning, together with two species of Ptiloglossa ( Colletidae ), a genus long known for crepuscular or matinal activity patterns (e.g., Schrottky 1907; Linsley 1962; Roberts 1971; Rozen 1984). The color pattern of Centris vidua resembles that of male Crawfordapis ( Colletidae ) that possess a similar light colored pronotal band on an otherwise dark scutum. Flight activity of Crawfordapis has been reported to be primarily diurnal ( Otis et al. 1982; Roubik and Michener 1984), however, their flight activity may start in the very early morning, overlapping with truly crepuscular bees ( Wuellner and Jang 1996). While we have not collected Crawfordapis together with Centris vidua , we have frequently collected Crawfordapis at UV light traps in Guatemala at times when it was still very dark, between 4 am and 5 am. To the best of our knowledge, no Centris is known to be crepuscular, but we suspect that Centris vidua may forage in a similar activity pattern as Crawfordapis , being diurnal while also being active in the very early morning.

Figures

Figures 5–8. Centris vidua. 5) Male habitus in lateral view. 6) Male habitus in dorsal view. 7) Male habitus in frontal view.8) Known distribution of Centris vidua in Guatemala. Scale bars next to photographs indicate 2 mm length.