Seladonia smaragdula

Pauly, Alain, Devalez, Jelle, Sonet, Gontran, Nagy, Zoltán Tamás & Boevé, Jean-Luc, 2015, DNA barcoding and male genital morphology reveal five new cryptic species in the West Palearctic bee Seladonia smaragdula (Vachal, 1895) (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Halictidae), Zootaxa 4034 (2), pp. 257-290 : 264

Seladonia smaragdula complex

Diagnosis. Members of the S. smaragdula complex can be distinguished from all other Seladonia by the following combination of characters: small body size (length 5.0–6.5 mm); body with golden green metallic reflexions; femora dark; tibiae and tarsi yellow brown with dark central maculations; head short (female length/width 0.92– 1.02; male 0.95–1.22); vertex short, rounded; punctation of scutum minute and dense, spaces between punctures equivalent to a puncture width; propodeal area rounded, surrounded by shiny area; terga with apical hair bands, minutely and densely punctate, spaces between punctures equivalent to a puncture width; male gonocoxite with a large and a small projection, the large projection bearing a tuft of setae on its inner side and with a thin apical appendice ( Fig. 7 ).

Two species may be easily confused with those of the S. smaragdula complex: S. cephalica (Morawitz, 1873) and S. gemmea (Dours, 1872) . Seladonia cephalica differs by the first tergum with apical margin more depressed, vertex and gena more developed, propodeum with larger shining area, and the male fourth antennal segment longer (length/width 1.54). The female of S. gemmea differs from those of the S. smaragdula complex by the lack of apical hair bands on the terga, vertex and gena more developed and propodeum with larger shining area. The male differs by the lack of an apical appendice on the large projection of the gonocoxite and the specialized pilosity on the inner side of this projection, which is reduced to a single long setae.

Figures

FIGURE 7. Seladonia smaragdula, male (= form A) (France, Var, Porquerolles Island), ventral view of the projections of the gonocoxites; a, large projection; b, small projection; c, tuft of setae; d, appendice; e, underplate.