Hoplitis (Tkalcua) sidiifnii, Müller, 2022

Müller, Andreas, 2022, New Moroccan bee species of the tribe Osmiini (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Megachilidae), Zootaxa 5188 (3), pp. 233-263 : 255-256

Hoplitis (Tkalcua) sidiifnii spec. nov.

Holotype. MOROCCO: Guelmim-Oued Noun : Foum Assaka, 35 km SW Sidi Ifni, 29°08ʹ22ʹʹN/10°24ʹ38ʹʹW, 0 m, 19.4.2017, ♀ (leg. A. Müller). Deposited in the Entomological Collection of ETH Zurich.

Paratypes. MOROCCO: Guelmim-Oued Noun : Foum Assaka, 35km SW Sidi Ifni, 29°08ʹ22ʹʹN/10°24ʹ38ʹʹW, 0m, 19.4.2017, 10♀, 13♂ (leg. A. Müller). Deposited in the Entomological Collection of ETH Zurich .

Diagnosis. The 6–6.5 mm long female of H. sidiifnii differs from the other two western Palaearctic Hoplitis species of the subgenus Tkalcua (see Müller & Mauss 2016) by the colour of the mandibles, which are predominantly orange ( Fig. 51 ), and by the median incision at the apical margin of the clypeus, which is more or less triangular in shape and shallow ( Fig. 51 ). In H. zandeni (Teunissen & van Achterberg) , the mandibles are completely black and the clypeal incision is inconspicuous or lacking. In H. paralias (Mavromoustakis) , the mandibles are medially black and basally and preapically orange and the clypeal incision is semicircular in shape and as deep as the width of the antennal flagellum. The 5.5–6.5 mm long male of H. sidiifnii differs from H. zandeni by the partly orange rather than black antennae and mandibles ( Fig. 53 ) and by the yellowish-brown and apically narrowed rather than blackish and apically rounded gonoforceps ( Fig. 52 ). Characters differentiating it from H. paralias are the almost straight apex of the inner hind tibial spur ( Fig. 54 ; strongly bent in H. paralias ), the apically narrowed and ventrally densely haired gonoforceps ( Fig. 52 ; apically slightly tapering and ventrally sparsely haired in H. paralias ) and the apically widened penis valve ( Fig. 52 ; parallel-sided in H. paralias ).

Description. FEMALE ( Fig. 49 ): Body length 6–6.5 mm. Head: Head about 0.9x as long as wide. Distance between lateral ocellus and preoccipital margin 2.0–2.1x as long as ocellar diameter. Maximum width of genal area 0.8–0.9x as long as maximum width of compound eye. Mandible four-toothed and orange except for dark base and black apical teeth. Clypeus strongly convex, polished and densely punctured except for narrow longitudinal median zone, which is impunctate and sometimes slightly impressed ( Fig. 51 ); its apical margin with median incision, which is shallow and of more or less triangular shape ( Fig. 51 ). Punctation of clypeus distinctly coarser than of supraclypeal area. Face covered with white pilosity, which is sparse on clypeus and rather dense on frons, paraocular and supraclypeal area. Gena with appressed white hairs. Proboscis short, when folded only slightly exceeding proboscidial fossa and not reaching coxae of fore legs; second segment of labial palpus about 0.55x as long as compound eye and about 1.6x as long as first segment. Antennal segments 1–3 black, 4–11 more or less yellowish on anterior side and segment 12 predominantly dark; segment 3 about 1.7x as long as segment 4, which is shorter than wide, segments 5–11 about as long as wide and segment 12 about 1.8x as long as wide. Mesosoma: Parapsidal line linear. Punctation of scutum, scutellum and mesepisternum dense with interspaces rarely exceeding diameter of one puncture. Basal area of propodeum polished except for narrow transversal zone at its base, which is distinctly shagreened. Pilosity of mesosoma whitish, of scutellum yellowish in fresh specimens, along margins of scutum short and dense. Tegula orange except for black inner margin. Stigma yellowish-brown with dark brown margins. Tibial spur of fore leg obtuse, without projecting tip. Tibial spurs of hind leg yellowish and apically distinctly curved. Metasoma: Punctation of terga dense with interspaces rarely exceeding diameter of one puncture. Marginal zones of terga 1–5 yellowish, more densely and finer punctured than discs and covered with uninterrupted and dense white hair bands. Tergum 6 covered with sparse appressed white pilosity. Scopa whitish.

MALE ( Fig. 50 ): Body length 5.5–6.5 mm. Head: Head about 0.85x as long as wide. Distance between lateral ocellus and preoccipital margin 1.5–1.6x as long as ocellar diameter. Maximum width of genal area 0.6–0.7x as long as maximum width of compound eye. Mandible two-toothed and orange except for dark base and black apical teeth ( Fig. 53 ). Apical margin of clypeus shortly dentate. Face covered with very dense white pilosity, which surpasses clypeal margin ( Fig. 53 ). Gena with appressed white hairs. Proboscis short, when folded only slightly exceeding proboscidial fossa and not reaching coxae of fore legs; second segment of labial palpus about 0.55x as long as compound eye and 1.6–1.7x as long as first segment. Antennal segments 1–2 black, 3–12 more or less yellowish on anterior side and segment 13 predominantly dark; segment 3 about 0.9x as long as segment 4, which is as long as wide as segment 5, segments 6–12 slightly longer than wide and segment 13 about 1.75x as long as wide. Mesosoma: Parapsidal line linear. Punctation of scutum, scutellum and mesepisternum dense with interspaces rarely exceeding diameter of one to one and a half punctures. Basal area of propodeum polished except for narrow transversal zone at its base, which is distinctly shagreened. Pilosity of mesosoma whitish, along margins of scutum short and dense. Tegula orange except for black inner margin. Stigma yellowish-brown with dark brown margins. Tibial spur of fore leg apically obtuse, without projecting tip. Tibial spurs of hind leg yellowish and almost straight ( Fig. 54 ). Metasoma: Punctation of terga dense with interspaces rarely exceeding diameter of one to one and a half punctures. Marginal zones of terga 1–5 yellowish, more densely and finer punctured than discs and covered with uninterrupted and dense white hair bands. Tergum 6 covered with sparse appressed white pilosity, its apical margin medially straight to very shallowly emarginate and laterally with short tooth ( Fig. 52 ). Tergum 7 completely hidden under tergum 6 ( Fig. 52 ). Apical margins of sterna 1–3 straight and densely ciliated with whitish hairs. Apical margin of sternum 4 shallowly emarginate and with median tuft of whitish hairs. Apical margin of sternum 5 triangularly projecting and sparsely ciliated with yellowish hairs. Sternum 6 with two roundish lateral tubercles separated by deep semicircular impression; its apical margin emarginate and beset with dense yellowish hair band; its base with pair of translucent flaps. Gonoforceps predominantly yellowish-brown, apically narrowed and ventrally densely haired ( Fig. 52 ). Penis valve apically slightly widened ( Fig. 52 ).

Distribution. Known so far only from the type locality at the Atlantic coast south of Sidi Ifni in the GuelmimOued Noun region in southern Morocco.

Pollen hosts. Polylectic ( Tab. 1 ); pollen hosts include Lotus and other Fabaceae ( Fig. 56 ), Heliotropium (Boraginaceae) as well as Frankenia (Frankeniaceae) , which was exploited by pollen-collecting females at the type locality. The brood cell provisions of one cell consisted of pollen of Heliotropium (90%) and Lotus (10%).

Nesting biology. The species nests in empty snail shells as revealed by the discovery of three nests from the preceding year built in shells of Theba subdentata meridionalis (Sacchi) , which had a diameter of 13–14 mm. The nests contained 2–3 brood cells, which were separated from each other by partitions consisting of chewed leaves mixed with numerous sand grains. In one case, a female collected nest building material on leaves of Heliotropium . The nest plug was constructed 1/3 to 1/2 whorls behind the shell opening and was not visible from the outside. The shell surface was not plastered with patches of leaf pulp. These findings indicate that the nest architecture of H. sidiifnii exactly corresponds to that of the closely related H. zandeni from the Canary Islands ( Müller & Mauss 2016).

Male behaviour. Males patrolled flowers of Lotus and Heliotropium in search of females and regularly interrupted their flights by short resting periods on the ground. They slept singly or in pairs within empty snail shells.

Etymology. The species epithet refers to Sidi Ifni, a coastal town in southern Morocco close to the type locality.

Figures

FIGURES 44–54. Hoplitis (Hoplitis) weibeli: 44: Female, 45: Male, 46: Antenna of female, 47: Tegula of female, 48: Sternum 6 of male. Hoplitis (Tkalcua) sidiifnii: 49: Female, 50: Male, 51: Clypeus and mandibles of female, 52: Terga 4–6 and genitalia of male, 53: Head of male, 54: Inner tibial spur of hind leg of male.

FIGURES 55–56. Hoplitis (Hoplitis) weibeli: 55: free-standing nest in depression of rock. Hoplitis (Tkalcua) sidiifnii: 56: female on Lotus spec. (photo R. Prosi).