Centris (Melanocentris) xylocopoides Fox, 1899

Vivallo, Felipe, 2019, Lectotype designations, taxonomic notes and new synonymy in some species of the bee genus Centris Fabricius, 1804 described by William Henry Fox (Hymenoptera: Apidae), Zootaxa 4624 (4), pp. 478-490 : 482-483

Centris (Melanocentris) xylocopoides Fox, 1899 nom. rev.

( Figures 7‒10 )

Centris xylocopoides Fox, 1899 . 70.

Type data: Fox (1899) described this species using two females collected in November 1892 in Trinidad Island, Trinidad and Tobago. Both females are currently housed at ANSP, one of them has two labels, one is red and has the words “Type 101192” and the other is yellowish and has the word “type” on the original Fox’s determination label. The second female has a light green label with the words “Para-type 101192”. Despite this “type” and “paratype” labels, Fox (1899) did not indicate explicitly in the original description which female is the holotype being both, therefore, syntypes. The specimen labeled with the word “type” is in better condition, and it is here designated as the lectotype. The chosen specimen has the following data label ( Fig. 10 ): Trinidad Nov. 92 [handwritten]\ [dark red label] Type No [printed] 101192 [handwritten]\ Centris xylocopoides Fox Types [handwritten]\ [light blue label] Lectotype Centris xylocopoides Fox, 1899 des. F. Vivallo, 2017 [printed]. Paralectotype female with the following data label: Trinidad Nov. 92 [handwritten]\ [light green label] Para-type [printed] 101192 [handwritten]\ [light pink label] Centris xylocopoides Fox [handwritten]\ [light blue label] Paralectotype Centris xylocopoides Fox, 1899 des. F. Vivallo, 2017 [printed].

Type locality: Trinidad and Tobago: Trinidad Island .

Comment: Moure (1995) proposed Centris xylocopoides as junior synonym of C. braccata Packard, 1869 , a very large and robust bee described from Peru. The study of the type specimens of both species showed they are superficially similar in the patterns of coloration of the integument and pubescence. Despite this apparent similarity, both are actually different species, so the synonymy proposed by him and subsequently accepted by Moure et al. (2007), is incorrect. The name C. xylocopoides is here withdrawn from the synonymy of C. braccata and consequently revalidated.

Figures

FIGURES 7–10. Centris xylocopoides Fox, 1899 (lectotype female). Fig. 7: Head, frontal view. Fig. 8: Habitus, lateral view. Fig. 9: Habitus, dorsal view. Fig. 10: Labels.