Afroheriades Peters, 1970

Griswold, Terry & Gonzalez, Victor H., 2011, New species of the Eastern Hemisphere genera Afroheriades and Noteriades (Hymenoptera, Megachilidae), with keys to species of the former, ZooKeys 159, pp. 65-80 : 67-68

Genus Afroheriades Peters, 1970

Pseudoheriades ( Afroheriades ) Peters, 1970: 157. Type species: Pseudoheriades primus Peters, 1970, by original designation.

Archeriades Peters, 1978: 337. Type species: Eriades larvatus Friese, 1909, by original designation.

Diagnosis.

Afroheriades can be distinguished from all other Osmiini by the combination of posterolateral angle of scutum with marginal ridge non-carinate, with dense patch of long hairs laterally (Fig. 11) and T1 with juncture between anterior and dorsal faces not carinate. Afroheriades is morphologically similar to Pseudoheriades sharing a two-segmented maxillary palpus, female T6 with distinct apical hyaline flange, male T7 quadrately surrounded by T6, and male S3 with gradulus projecting into thin, basal hyaline lamella. In addition to the characters that distinguish it from all other Osmiini, Afroheriades differs from Pseudoheriades in: pronotal lobe and omaulus rounded; and male S3 without midapical spine. In Pseudoheriades the pronotal lobe and omaulus are distinctly lamellate; marginal ridge of posterolateral angle of scutum carinate, without dense patch of long hairs; T1 with distinct carina separating anterior and dorsal surfaces; and male S3 with midapical spine.

Comments.

Two species groups can be recognized in Afroheriades : one includes a rather robust form with the basal area of propodeum well below the level of the scutellum [ Afroheriades primus (Peters)]; the other includes the remaining species, which have a more elongate mesosoma and the base of the propodeum at the same plane as the scutellum. If a phylogenetic analysis shows that these two groups are natural, they could be subgenerically separated as Afroheriades s.str. and Archeriades , as suggested by Michener (2007). For now, we treat them as species groups. Below are the species currently recognized in Afroheriades ; the synonyms presented here are based on the study of the types by the senior author. Afroheriades capensis Griswold, in Michener (2007: 452), is a nomen nudum.

Afroheriades dolichocephalus (Friese)

Osmia dolichocephala Friese, 1925: 505 (Holotype: AMNH; ♀, Cape Province, South Africa)

Archeriades hennigi Peters, 1978: 340 (Holotype: SAM; ♀, Cape Province, South Africa), new junior synonym.

Eriades reicherti Brauns, 1929: 140 (Lectotype: TMP; ♀, Cape Province, South Africa), new junior synonym.

Afroheriades geminus (Peters)

Archeriades geminus Peters, 1978: 339 (Holotype: SAM; ♀, Cape Province, South Africa)

Afroheriades larvatus (Friese)

Eriades larvatus Friese, 1909: 316 (Lectotype: ZMB; ♂, Cape Province, South Africa)

Afroheriades primus (Peters)

Pseudoheriades primus Peters, 1970: 157 (Holotype: SAM; ♂, Cape Province, South Africa)