Centris poecila var. segregata Crawford, 1906

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 : 7

Centris poecila var. segregata Crawford, 1906

Centris poecila var. segregatus CRAWFORD, 1906:159 (Junior synonym of C. varia (Erichson, 1848)) .

Type data. This variety was described based on four females collected in San José, on May 15 th and 25 th, and on June 1 st. The holotype has the following data label: San José Costa Rica [handwritten]\ June 1-03 [handwritten]\ OnArguitilla [?] [handwritten]\ J. C. Crawford collector [printed]\ [red label] Type No [printed] 10079 [handwritten] U.S.N.M. [printed]\ [white label with black rimmed margin] Centris poecila var segregatus Crawford ♀ Type [handwritten]\ [yellow label] NMNH ENT 00534215 barcode [printed] ( NMNH).

Paratype with the following data label: San José Costa Rica [handwritten]\ May 25-03 [handwritten]\ J. C. Crawford collector [printed]\ [red label] Cotype No [printed] 10079 [handwritten] U.S.N.M. [printed]\ [white label with black rimmed margin] Centris poecila var segregatus Crafd ♀ Cotype [handwritten] ( NMNH) .

A third specimen that apparently belongs to the type series was also found at NMNH. This female bears a red label with the word “cotype”. However, it was collected on 13 th and not on 15 th as explicitly cited by Crawford. Considering this fact, there are two possibilities: it could be recognized as a non-member of the type series or, as a true member but with its collecting date erroneously cited in the article. The specimen has the following data label: Costa Rica Cent. Am. [printed]\ San José V-13-03 [handwritten]\ 7 vund dead [?] [handwritten]\ J C Crawford collector [printed]\ [red label] Cotype No [printed] 10079 [handwritten] U.S.N.M. [printed]\ [white label with black rimmed margin] Centris poecila var segregatus Crafd ♀ Cotype [handwritten]\ [white label with black margin] Centris [printed] inermis Friese ♀ dark phase [handwritten] det Snelling [printed] ’82 [handwritten] ( NMNH).

The current condition and depository of the missing paratype is currently unknown.

Type locality. Costa Rica: San José Province: San José.

Jesus Santiago Moure. Jesus Santiago Moure (1912‒2010) was a Brazilian religious trained in philosophy, natural sciences, physics, and mathematics ( URBAN & MELO, 2010). Always an admirer of nature, he was interested in insects during his youth, beginning his studies in beetles and later in bees, being the latter group where he spent much of his professional career ( SILVA, 1992). Moure was one of the most important melittologists of the 20 th century, publishing more than 220 articles mainly focused on bees from the Neotropical region. He described 484 species and 218 genera, most of which are currently considered valid ( URBAN & MELO, 2010). Moure passed away in Batatais, Brazil, aged 97.

Moure’s Centris bees. Moure contributed actively on the taxonomy of Centris bees. He described 25 species, 21 of them currently considered valid, and he is the main author of the subgeneric arrangement of the genus (see MOURE, 1945, 1950). Moure resolved several taxonomic problems about the identity of some species, mainly those described by European entomologists, like Giovanni Gribodo ( MOURE, 1960a), Johan Christian Fabricius ( MOURE, 1960b) and Maximilian Perty ( MOURE, 1960c). He had a special attraction to Centris bees, mainly by the beauty of its species, and several times he expressed it saying that it was one of his favorite groups of bees, along with stingless and orchid bees.

Moure’s colleagues. Carlos Alberto Campos Seabra (1916‒2001) was a Brazilian doctor, entomology enthusiast and friend of Moure for several years. Seabra had a private collection of more than two million insects, mainly Coleoptera and Hymenoptera , his favorite group. He transferred his collection to the MNRJ with the assistance of his colleague and friend the Uruguayan coleopterist specialist in longhorn beetles Miguel Ángel Monné (1938‒). In Centris Moure and Seabra described together six species.

Favízia Freitas de Oliveira is a Brazilian melittologist specialist in stingless bees, and Blandina Felipe Viana is a Brazilian ecologist specialist in pollination. With them, Moure described a new species of Centris .

Marina Siqueira de Castro is a Brazilian biologist, specialist in ecology applied to environmental management. With her, Moure described a single new species of Centris .