Townsendiella pulchra Crawford, 1916

Orr, Michael C. & Griswold, Terry L., 2015, A review of the cleptoparasitic bee genus Townsendiella (Apidae, Nomadinae, Townsendiellini), with the description of a new species from Pinnacles National Park, ZooKeys 546, pp. 87-104 : 94-96

Taxon classification Animalia Hymenoptera Apidae

Townsendiella pulchra Crawford, 1916 Figs 1b, 4b, and 5b

Holotype.

female, pinned; Las Cruces, New Mexico; 5.12 [12 May]; deposited in USNM (Type#20831).

Diagnosis.

This species may be distinguished from Townsendiella californica and Townsendiella rufiventris by the combination of the following characteristics: long marginal cell, the maximum length of which is about equal to or longer than the distance from the marginal cell tip to the apex of the wing; metanotum lacking medial projection, only very gradually curved throughout its width; and the female lacking a lunule on T5. Townsendiella pulchra is more similar to Townsendiella ensifera than to the other species, and may be separated from it as presented in the latter’s species account.

Distribution.

Present from west-central Nevada to central New Mexico, and ranging southward to the Mexican border, Townsendiella pulchra has arguably the largest range in the genus. With both the most northerly and easterly collection sites, Townsendiella pulchra inhabits a number of different ecoregions, given here in order from most to least collection localities: Mojave Desert, Sonoran Desert, Chihuahuan Desert, Great Basin shrub steppe, and Colorado Plateau shrublands.

Phenology.

Townsendiella pulchra has been collected primarily during April and May, although a small number of records exist from late March and June. Surprisingly, there are two records of this species from August near Portal, Arizona. It may be that this species is active during the fall in the Chihuahuan Desert, in time with monsoonal rains. Additional collections are necessary to investigate this possibility, though the collection of the Las Cruces type specimen in May demonstrates it does not fly exclusively in fall in the Chihuahuan Desert.

Bee hosts.

This species is known to invade and oviposit within nests of Hesperapis (Amblyapis) larreae , mistakenly placed in Hesperapis (Panurgomia) in previous host associations ( Michener 1936, Michener 2000, Rozen and McGinley 1991). The description of this behavior includes extensive notes on the interactions between these two species ( Rozen and McGinley 1991).

Floral hosts.

Asteraceae : Baileya pleniradiata Harv. & A. Gray, Baileya sp. Harv. & A. Gray ex Torr., Chaenactis sp. DC.; Boraginaceae : Tiquilia hispidissima (Torr. & A. Gray) A.T. Richardson; Fabaceae : Psorothamnus arborescens (Torr. ex A. Gray) Barneby, Psorothamnus fremontii (Torr. ex A. Gray) Barneby, Psorothamnus schottii (Torr.) Barneby, Psorothamnus sp. Rydb.; Zygophyllaceae : Larrea tridentata (DC.) Coville.

Discussion.

This species is the best known of the Townsendiella , given the extensive life history work conducted on it and its host ( Rozen and McGinley 1991). It will be interesting to see if all Townsendiella share similar life histories, once such information becomes available for the remaining species.