Trichocolletes luteorufus Batley & Houston, 2013

Leijs, Remko & Hogendoorn, Katja, 2016, New species of Goniocolletes and Trichocolletes (Hymenoptera, Colletidae) from southern Australia, ZooKeys 598, pp. 99-111 : 107-108

Taxon classification Animalia Hymenoptera Colletidae

Trichocolletes luteorufus Batley & Houston, 2013 Fig. 7 A–F

Material examined.

1 ♂ (RL1833), 2 ♀ (RL1834a-b), Credo Station, near Ularring Rock, WA, Australia, 31 Aug 2011, 29.92833S, 120.55209E, R. Leijs, on Senna glutinosa ssp. chatelainiana.

Diagnosis.

Trichocolletes luteorufus is the only species where the male has distinctly broadened hind tibia bearing a well developed plume of dense long orange hair (Fig. 7A).

Description.

♂ (RL1833), body length 15 mm, head width 3.8 mm.

Relative head measurements. HW 50, HL 34, UID 33, UFW 33, LID 30, DMA 32, HVO 4, WOC 13, MOD 3, OOD 8, IAD 8, ASD 3, AOD 8, ML 18, BMW 5, MSL 2, SL 12, SW 3, FL 61.

Structure. Face wider than long, sligthly converging below; malar space circa 0.4 × basal mandibular width; labrum 1/2 as long as wide, convex, roughened by carinae; clypeus protuberant; vertex almost horizontal; gena little wider than 0.5 eye width viewed laterally; flagellum 1.22 × headwidth; flagellomeres 4-10 1.67 × as long as wide, flagellomere 11 2.1 × as long as wide; legs long: hind tarsus 2 × as long as hind tibia; hind tibia distinctly broadened medianly (Fig. 7A); hind basitarsus 5 × as long as wide; posterior carina of basitibial plate reaches apex; genital capsule (Fig. 7F), inner apex of gonostylus dorsally with broad rectangular lobe reaching penis valve. Penis valve hooked apically; gonostylus laterally with concave vertical plate, inner margin ventrally deeply emarginated (Fig. 7F); S7 (Fig. 7E) lateral lobe, emarginated, at basis near ligulate process carrying 4 long stiff setae; posterior projection very long.

Coloration. Integument black, apart from scape, antenna ventrally and all legs from posterior part of femur onwards orange; marginal zone of tergites translucent pale orange; sternites brown; labrum and basal 2/3 of mandible transparent white, mandible apex brown.

Sculpture. Vertex and scutum with fine transverse lineo-reticulation and open to sparse punctation.

Pubescence. Eyes with tiny dispersed hairs. Face, especially clypeus, with very dense, long, orange hair, finely-branched on clypeus and inner eye margins; hair on vertex more open, fine and white. Ventral part of gena with dense long ventrally directed branched pale orange hair, outer eye margins with short white hair. Scutum with medium length pale orange hairs, remaining part of thorax with off-white hairs. Fore basitarsus with plume of orange hair; hind tibia with distinctive plume of dense long orange hair (Fig. 7A); inner area of hind tibia and basitarsi with long dispersed bended orange hairs. T1-3 openly covered with long, erect, white hair, decreasing in length; S3-5 with long bended white to orange hairs that together almost forms a corbicula like structure.

Remarks.

Previously the male of Trichocolletes luteorufus was unknown ( Batley and Houston 2012). The sexes were linked based on the fact that both males and females were collected on the same flowering bush of Senna glutinosa subsp. chatelainiana, where males were chasing females of this species.

Distribution.

Known from two localities, near Mt Magnet and Credo Station, North of Coolgardie, WA.