Apis aquitaniensis de Rilly, 1930

ENGEL, MICHAEL S., 2006, A Giant Honey Bee from the Middle Miocene of Japan (Hymenoptera: Apidae), American Museum Novitates 3504 (1), pp. 1-12 : 11

† Apis aquitaniensis de Rilly

‘‘Abeille Aquitanienne’’ de Rilly, 1924: 309.

Apis aquitaniensis de Rilly, 1949: 125 .

COMMENTS: Rilly first mentioned this fossil in a brief article in an apicultural serial (Rilly, 1924) but simply referred to the species with a vernacular. The first proposal of a Latinized epithet for the same fossil appeared a quarter of a century later (Rilly, 1949). Rilly’s figures and ‘‘descriptive’’ comments are poor and do not permit authoritative identification. His material is reported to have been deposited in the Museum de Marseille (Roussy, 1937). Repeated letters to directors and curators of this institution, however, have failed to invoke any response. From the little available evidence it is likely that this is a synonym of A. henshawi . Until the holotype can be located and examined, it is retained as a separate species but of uncertain taxonomic status .