Euglossa (Glossurella) asarophora Moure & Sakagami

Rasmussen, Claus & Skov, Charlotte, 2006, Description of a new species of Euglossa (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Euglossini) with notes on comparative biology, Zootaxa 1210, pp. 53-67 : 61-62

Euglossa (Glossurella) asarophora Moure & Sakagami , in Moure 1969

Moure and Sakagami (in Moure 1969) gave a thorough description of both sexes of this species. We examined the holotype male from Chiriquí ( PANAMA, “V. de Chiriquí, / 25–4000 ft. / Champion” (white label), “ HOLOTYPE / Euglossa ɗ / asarophora / J. S. Moure 1966” (red label, black border)), in the collection of the Museu de Entomologia Pe. Jesus Santiago Moure, Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil (DZUP), although it apparently belongs to the Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom (cf. Moure 1969, Urban 2003). Additionally, we examined 111 males and seven females from FLAS and INHS, representing localities in Costa Rica (Cartago, Heredia, Limón, Puntarenas), Panama (Bocas del Toro, Chiriquí, Colón, Coclé, Darién, Panamá, San Blas, Veraguas), Colombia (Chocó, Valle del Cauca), and Ecuador (Esmeraldas). Measurements given in the original description of E. asarophora have been included in table 1, along with the complete measurements from a single additional male ( Costa Rica, Heredia, La Selva) and female ( Panama, Panamá, Cerro Jefe).

Head width of E. asarophora males 5.46 mm (n=111, range 4.66–5.87 mm) and females 5.57 mm (n=7, 5.42–5.72). The entire mid tibial velvet patch is illustrated in fig. 6, basal part of this area as in E. rufipes , although single tuft is approximately 2.6x as long as wide. The genitalia and hidden sterna are illustrated in figs. 10–12. We found some variation in the external characters studied from specimens across the species range, however, no differences were found on the genitalia. Head width of three unusually small males ranged from 4.66 to 4.87 mm, whilst the fourth smallest specimen of the 111 examined males measured 5.16 mm. We have observed similar “dwarf” specimens in other species of Euglossini and presume this is related to inadequate larval provisioning, but this should be tested. Clypeal disc usually slightly concave with a notable ridge (as in fig. 4), but in a few specimens of E. asarophora the ridge approached the rounded condition from fig. 3, although the clypeus remained concave. The metallic blue­violet coloration of the posterior tibia was almost transparent in a few males, with the non­metallic reddish integument visible under certain lights. The condition never approached E. rufipes in intensity. Some specimens from Puntarenas ( Costa Rica) had a strong bluish violet coloration almost without any green hue. Based on morphology, E. asarophora is a single species, but molecular data could reveal if there are genetic differences in these variable specimens.