Perdita (Cockerellia) pallidipennis Graenicher, 1910

Portman, Zachary M., Gardner, Joel, Lane, Ian G., Gerjets, Nicole, Petersen, Jessica D., Ascher, John S., Arduser, Mike, Evans, Elaine C., Boyd, Crystal, Thomson, Robin & Cariveau, Daniel P., 2023, A checklist of the bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) of Minnesota, Zootaxa 5304 (1), pp. 1-95 : 24

Perdita (Cockerellia) pallidipennis Graenicher, 1910 stat. nov.

Perdita pallidipennis Graenicher, 1910: 101

♁ ♀. Lectotype, designated herein. ♁ USA, Wisconsin, Burnett County, Yellow River , 28–31 Jul 1909, No. 31731 (MPM ENT6390 ). Images ( Figure 4 ) examined by ZP and JSA.

= Perdita bequaerti Viereck, 1917: 241 (syn. nov.).

Holotype. ♀ USA, New Jersey, Ramsey , 4 Sep 1916, J. Bequaert leg., at flowers of Helianthus giganteus [AMNH]. Examined by JSA, though a long time ago.

Counties: Anoka, Carver, Houston, Isanti, Ramsey, Washington.

Comments: The examination of the syntypes of P. pallidipennis Graenicher reveals it is conspecific with and thus a senior synonym of P. bequaerti Viereck , confirming a hypothesis originally proposed by Wolf and Ascher (2008). We have selected the male specimen as the lectotype. Perdita pallidipennis was considered a subspecies of P. lacteipennis Swenk and Cockerell by Timberlake (1953, 1954) and then was changed to a subspecies of P. albipennis by Timberlake (1960). With the changes here, there remain two subspecies of P. pallidipennis : P. p. pallidipennis and P. p. indianensis. Perdita p. indianensis was originally proposed by Cockerell (1922) as a subspecies of P. pallidipennis . The keys and descriptions of Mitchell (1960) do not accurately separate P. albipennis and P. pallidipennis as the Cockerellia treated by Mitchell (“ P. albipennis pallidipennis ”, “ P. bequaerti bequaerti ” and “ P. bequaerti indianensis ”) all appear to refer to variation within P. pallidipennis . Perdita pallidipennis keys out correctly in Timberlake (1954) [to either P. bequaerti or P. lacteipennis pallidipennis , depending on the color of the wing veins]. Perdita pallidipennis is a primarily eastern species that reaches the northeastern extent of its range in Massachusetts and New York ( Roch et al. 2021). More taxonomic work is needed to clarify the variation within this species over its complete range and determine whether the subspecies represent distinct taxa or intraspecific color variation. The subgenus Cockerellia is in need of a broader revision.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Perdita pallidipennis lectotype male. A) Face view. B) Lateral view. Images courtesy of Julia Colby (Milwaukee Public Museum).