Sphecodes nipponicus Yasumatsu & Hirashima, 1951

Astafurova, Yulia V., Proshchalykin, Maxim Yu., Niu, Ze-Qing, Orr, Michael C. & Zhu, Chao-Dong, 2020, New and little-known bees of the genus Sphecodes Latreille, 1804 (Hymenoptera, Apoidea, Halictidae) from Southern and South-Western China, Journal of Hymenoptera Research 79, pp. 145-162 : 145

Sphecodes nipponicus Yasumatsu & Hirashima, 1951

Sphecodes nipponicus Yasumatsu & Hirashima, 1951: 122-124, ♂ (holotype: ♂, Ishidozawa, Provinz Shinano, Honshu, Japan, 16.IX.1934, S. Miyamoto leg., ELKU).

Sphecodes iwatensis Tsuneki, 1983: 25, ♀ (holotype: ♀, Takinoue, Iwate Pref., Honshu, Japan, MNHAH). Synonymized by Mitai and Tadauchi 2013: 52.

Sphecodes kisukei Tsuneki, 1983: 24, ♀ (holotype: ♀, Koike, Fukui Pref., Honshu, Japan, MNHAH). Synonymized by Mitai and Tadauchi 2013: 52.

Sphecodes itidyo Tsuneki, 1983: 23, ♀ (holotype: ♀, Taniyama, Fukui Pref., Honshu, Japan, MNHAH). Synonymized by Mitai and Tadauchi 2013: 52.

Sphecodes rikuchu Tsuneki, 1983: 25, ♀ (holotype: ♀, Takinoue, foot of Mt. Hachimantai, Iwate Pref., Honshu, Japan, MNHAH). Synonymized by Mitai and Tadauchi 2013: 52.

Material examined.

Yunnan: Weixi Xian, Pantiange ( 39.9109N, 116.4133E), 2500 m, 27.VII.1981, ( 2 ♀), leg. Su-Bai Liao [IZCAS]. Sichuan: Chengdu ( 31.9109N, 116.4133E), 500 m, 29.V.1964, ( 2 ♂), leg. Yan-Ru Wu [IZCAS].

Published records.

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Variation.

Unlike the typical Japanese form with an entirely black metasoma ( Mitai and Tadauchi 2013: 54, fig. 23), the studied male specimens from Sichuan have T1-T3 partially red-brownish.

Remark.

The species is closest to the Palaearctic Sphecodes scabricollis Wesmael, 1835, but female differs by denser and distinctly punctate T1 (versus shallow sparse punctures) and the male differs by shorter antennae with F2 1.5 times as long as wide (versus 1.7), and a dark, usually entirely black metasoma (versus red T1-T3).

Distribution.

*China (Sichuan, Yunnan); Japan (Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, Okinawa-Honto).