Amegilla pyramidalis (KIRBY) M.S, 2007

M. S, 2007, A new species of Amegilla from northeastern Egypt (Hymenoptera: Apidae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 39 (2), pp. 821-828 : 824

Amegilla pyramidalis (KIRBY) nov.comb.

Podalirius pyramidalis KIRBY 1900: 24 .

C o m m e n t s: This species was synonymized with A. albigena (LEPELETIER DE SAINT FARGEAU) by KOHL (1907: p. 173), a decision followed by BROOKS (1988). Amegilla albigena was established by LEPELETIER DE SAINT FARGEAU (1841) for specimens of both sexes from the surroundings of Lyon and Oran, sent by his son, and from Sicily, received from Alexandre Lefébure. BROOKS (1988) designated as lectotype a female in the Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle a female labeled in an unknown hand only as " A. albigena " and without actual locality data but presumed to have come from Lyon. This designation is unfortunate given that definitive syntypes from southern France of A. albigena are present in the Hope Entomological Collection, Oxford (vide BAKER 1994). Regardless, the species is polytypic and can be readily confused with various other taxa. Quite contrary to the historical synonymy of A. pyramidalis , the genitalia and concealed sterna are similar to those of A. mucorea , although the antennae, form of the seventh metasomal sternum, and coloration differ somewhat, and outside of superficial coloration there is no affinity of the former to A. albigena . The status of A. pyramidalis in relation to A. mucorea is deserving of further investigation but is herein considered specifically distinct pending a more thorough revision of Amegilla . Amegilla pyramidalis is known only from Socotra ( Republic of Yemen, Adan Governorate).