Megachile rufoscopacea Friese.

Eardley, Connal, 2012, A taxonomic revision of the southern African species of the subgenus Creightonella Cockerell (Apoidea: Megachilidae: Megachile Latreille), Zootaxa 3159, pp. 1-35 : 24-25

Megachile rufoscopacea Friese.

Figs 15–16

Megachile laminata rufoscopacea Friese, 1903: 247 –248, two female syntypes (ZMHB) Tanzania.

Megachile rufoscopacea Friese : Cockerell 1933b: 376.

Creightoniella [!] rufoscopacea (Friese) : Pasteels 1965: 16, 52–53.

Creightonella rufoscopacea (Friese) : Schulten 1977: 47.

Megachile rufoscopacea mesomelaena Cockerell, 1933c: 133 , female holotype (MRAC) Democratic Republic of the Congo; Pasteels 1965: 53, syn.

Discussion. This species was described by Friese (1903), as a subspecies of laminata , from Tanzania. Cockerell (1933b) considered it to be a valid species. The type material has been studied and it is distinct. Cockerell (1933c) described rufoscopacea mesomelaena , which was synonymized with rufoscopacea by Pasteels (1965). This synonymy is agreed, after the study of the holotype.

Baker labelled one syntype of M. aculeata as being synonymous with rufoscopacea . These are two distinct species.

Diagnosis. Female. Vestiture, head, mesosoma and metasoma with white and black patches and areas with white and black hairs intermixed; vertex and subapical bands of T2–T3 always black ( Fig. 15a–b ), scopa orange mediolongitudinally. Lengths: face 3.5–4.3 mm, scutum 2.9–3.5 mm, forewing 12.0– 13.5 mm, body 15.0– 17.5 mm. Structure. Clypeus twice as wide as long, gently raised, densely punctuate, ventral edge straight ( Fig. 15a ); clypeocellus: clypeus 1:0.8; scopal hairs blunt, some thickened distally.

Male unkown.

Distribution ( Fig. 16 ) Megachile rufoscopacea appears to be East African with its southern limit in Zimbabwe.

Material examined. Type material. One female syntypes of Megachile laminata rufoscopacea : ‘Br. O. Afr Ikutha 1898, Meg. laminata v. rufoscopacea female Fr. 1900 Friese det.’, in ZMHB. Female holotype of Megachile rufoscopacea mesomelaena : ‘H.t. TYPE mesomelaena; MUSEE DU CONGO Katanga: Likulu 1–3.v.1937 G.F. de Witte; Creightonella rufoscopacea Friese det. J, Pasteels 1959; Megachile rufoscopacea mesomelaena Ckll TYPE’, in MRAC. Male syntype Megachile aculeata : ‘ TYPE; MUSEE DU CONGO Dr. Sheffield Neave KIP- AILA –KISINGA IX.07; Megachile aculeata DET. Vachal 1910 Type; Megachile aculeata male Vach; Creightonella aculeata Vachal J. Pasteels det. 1961; Creightonella rufoscopacea (Fr.) Det. D.B. Baker 1978 ’ (four specimens, one has the hand written det label and is here considered to be a syntype), in MRAC.

Additional material. Zimbabwe. Sebakwe [19.02S 30.13E], ii.1902 (3 female, SAMC); Harare [17.50S 31.03E], A. Watsham (2 females, SANC).

Figures

FIGURE 16. Known distribution of Megachile rufoscopacea (black dot) and Megachile serrula (yellow triangle).

FIGURE 15 a – b. Megachile rufoscopacea, female. a. Face. b. Habitus.