Centris xanthomelaena Moure & Castro, 2001

Vivallo, Felipe, 2023, Taxonomic notes on the primary types of some species of Centris bees described by some entomologists from the Americas (Hymenoptera: Apidae), Iheringia, Série Zoologia (e 2023003) 113, pp. 1-18 : 11

Centris xanthomelaena Moure & Castro, 2001

Centris (Paracentris) xanthomelaena MOURE & CASTRO, 2001: 330 .

Type data. This species was described based on three females collected by the Brazilian ecologist Marina Siqueira de Castro in northeastern Brazil. The specimens were collected on flowers of Chamaecrista amiciela (H.S. Irwin & Barneby) H.S. Irwin & Barneby ( Fabaceae ). The holotype and one paratype are housed at LABE / EBDA. Another paratype is at DZUP.

Type locality. Brazil: Bahia State: Milagres .

Before the formal description, specimens of this species were cited by VOGEL & MACHADO (1991) under the same name. Those specimens were identified by Moure as a new species who informally named them as “ C. xanthomelaena ”.

Philip Timberlake. Philip Hunter Timberlake (1883‒1981) was one of the most prolific American entomologists of the 20 th century. He was employed by the United States Department of Agriculture Bureau of Entomology for conducting research in biological control of pest insects ( HURD et al., 1982). Between 1914 and 1924 he was associate entomologist at the Hawaiian Sugar Planters Experiment Station in Honolulu, where his research dealt primarily with biological control using parasites and predators ( HURD et al., 1982). After he leaved Hawaii, he moved to California where he was appointed associate entomologist in the Department of Biological Control at the Citrus Experiment Station of the University of California, Riverside. He stayed there until his retirement in 1950 ( HURD et al., 1982). Timberlake had an extensive knowledge of the taxonomy of parasitic Hymenoptera as well as of native bees. During his stay in Riverside, he made numerous collecting trips especially in southern areas of the state, including the deserts. Encouraged by the renowned naturalist Theodore Dru Alison Cockerell, Timberlake continued his collecting activities and increasing his collection of bees. Cockerell deposited a very sizeable collection of North American bee types in the California Academy of Sciences which were used by Timberlake in his taxonomic studies ( HURD et al., 1982).

During his period of activity, Timberlake described and named about 800 species of bees, including other species in other insect groups. His insect collection contained about 500,000 specimens of which about 150,000 were Hymenoptera ( HURD et al., 1982) . His large bee collection served as the foundation for the collection now housed in the University of California’s Entomology Research Museum, containing some 4 million total specimens. Timberlake passed away in Riverside, California, in 1981, aged 97 ( HURD et al., 1982).

Timberlake’s Centris bees. Despite his large knowledge on North American bees, Timberlake published a single paper including species of Centris ( TIMBERLAKE, 1940) . In that article, he cited the species that occur in California, providing some notes on their distribution and floral hosts. In the same article, he described two new species which are currently considered valid. The primary types of both are currently housed at CAS .