17. Apis testacea Smith, 1857

Fig. 20

Apis testacea Smith, 1857: 49–50, ♀.

Type material examined

Lectotype

MALAYSIA • ♀; Sar [Sarawak]; [29 Oct. 1854 – 10 Feb. 1856]; OUMNH, ENT-HYME2778-01.

Paralectotype

MALAYSIA • 1 ♀; Sar [Sarawak]; [29 Oct. 1854 – 10 Feb. 1856]; OUMNH, ENT-HYME2778-02 .

Type locality

Borneo [not specified, but de facto Sarawak].

Notes

This species was not dealt with by Baker (1993). There are two identical females in the OUMNH collection, both of which are labelled as coming from Sarawak. One of them is selected as the lectotype, by present designation. Maa (1953: 566) gave A. testacea as a synonym of A. dorsata Fabricius, 1793 using the incorrect publication year of 1858.

Current status

Apis dorsata Fabricius, 1793 (Maa 1953).

Distribution

Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, China, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia (Peninsula, Borneo), Indonesia (Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan) (Ascher & Pickering 2024). This distribution is slightly unclear due to the inconsistent recognition of Apis laboriosa Smith, 1871 and Apis binghami Cockerell, 1906 (see text under Section 28. Apis zonata) as valid species in the literature (Kitnya et al. 2020, 2024).