Sphecodes grahami Cockerell, 1922

Astafurova, Yulia V., Proshchalykin, Maxim Yu., Niu, Ze-Qing, Orr, Michael C. & Zhu, Chao-Dong, 2020, New and little-known bees of the genus Sphecodes Latreille, 1804 (Hymenoptera, Apoidea, Halictidae) from Southern and South-Western China, Journal of Hymenoptera Research 79, pp. 145-162 : 145

Sphecodes grahami Cockerell, 1922

Sphecodes grahami Cockerell, 1922: 12 (holotype: ♀, China, Sichuan: Suifu [Yibin], Graham coll., USNM; http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/339325f63-5855-4435-bce2-5efaaed0b335).

Material examined.

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Published records.

Cockerell 1922: 12 (Sichuan); 1931: 12 (Shanghai); Astafurova et al. 2018: 30 (Shanxi, Shaanxi).

Remark.

According to Wu (1965) and Wu et al. (1988) this species was recorded from different provinces of China (Jilin, Hebei, Anhui, Jiangsu, Shandong, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Sichuan, Yunnan, Xizang, Guandong). However, re-identification of specimens from the IZCAS Collection determined by Prof. Wu as S. grahami as well as the analysis of the descriptive notes given in these works revealed misidentifications. In fact, the specimens from Yunnan (1 ♀, Lijiang) and Sichuan (1 ♂, Barkam; 1 ♀, Xiangcheng) belong to S. pieli . These two species are very similar structurally and sculpturally, but S. grahami differs by lack of a longitudinal carina on vertex (also indicated in Cockerell 1922: 12). In contrast, the longitudinal carina on vertex in S. pieli is clearly developed, corresponding to descriptive notes by Wu (1965) and Wu et al. (1988), where pointed on "small process on vertex". Among determined by Wu specimens we have not found any specimens from Xizang, with records from this province ( Wu et al. 1988) instead referring to S. montanus , another species similar to S. grahami with a vertex carina. So, males of S. grahami recorded by Wu, 1965 and Wu et al. 1988 refer to other species, and the male of S. grahami remains unknown. The female of this species is difficult to distinguish from the vicarious West-Palaearctic S. ephippius ( Linné, 1767) and it is also similar to S. pellucidus var. gibridus Blüthgen, 1924. Clarification of the status of this species and possible synonymy is a task for future study.

Distribution.

China (Shanxi, Shaanxi, Shanghai, Sichuan). The records by Ascher and Pickering 2020 from Jilin, Hebei, Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangsu, Yunnan, Xizang, Guandong based on misidentification that was published by Wu (1965) and Wu et al. (1988).