Parammobatodes rozeni Schwarz

ROZEN, JEROME G. & ÖZBEK, HIKMET, 2003, Oocytes, Eggs, and Ovarioles of Some Long-Tongued Bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea), American Museum Novitates 3393, pp. 1-36 : 18

Parammobatodes rozeni Schwarz

The description of this new species is appended to this paper.

MATURE OOCYTE (figs. 36–40): Length 0.73–0.75 mm; maximum diameter behind operculum 0.20–0.23 mm (N = 5); egg index 0.41 (dwarf). Operculum flat, its surface with very small tubercles, appearing merely uneven through stereomicroscope; behind operculum, dorsal surface nearly straight to slightly concave in lateral view, with numerous transverse folds (fig. 37); ventral surface more curved; micropyle a single pore close to anterior edge of operculum (figs. 38, 39), penetrating obliquely to open as single pore on inner surface (fig. 40). Chorion of operculum translucent, ebony with amber tints in ethanol or dry (fig. 36); that of flange and rest of oocyte untinted, clear (fig. 36); under SEM, chorion of operculum with faint but distinct polygonal pattern externally (figs. 38, 39); internally this pattern absent (fig. 40).

MATERIAL STUDIED: One female, Israel: S Negev, 15 km N Shizzafon Jct. V­9–1997 (J.G. and B.L. Rozen) .

REMARKS: A noteworthy feature of the ovaries of this specimen was that five flat ebony opercula (fig. 36), with totally deplet­ ed chorions attached in most cases, were lodged near the calyx of the left ovary and six near the calyx of the right ovary. Some were found singly, others closely stacked against one another by twos and threes. We interpret these oocytes to be reabsorbed, a feature we also noticed in only one specimen of Oreopasites vanduzeei , of all specimens dissected in this study. These oocytes indicate that reabsorption occurs after the oocyte is fully mature, with the chorion completely pigmented in all cases. Their presence suggests that the female may have been unable to find host nests with cells in the right state for oviposition. The dark, ebony color of the operculum itself is a unique feature, not found in any other species whose oocytes have been examined by the authors. It is far darker than the amber hue of the mature oocyte of Ammobates carinatus and is restrict­ ed to the operculum and not to the flange, which is colorless. Earlier mature oocytes have less coloring of their opercula than do later oocytes. Because of the dark color of the opercula, mature oocytes were easily detected through the follicular tissue of the ovariole even without dissection.