Halictus morio (Fabricius)

Weissmann, Julie A., Picanco, Ana, Borges, Paulo A. V. & Schaefer, Hanno, 2017, Bees of the Azores: an annotated checklist (Apidae, Hymenoptera), ZooKeys 642, pp. 63-95 : 78

Halictus morio (Fabricius)

Halictus morio (Fabricius), ( Lasioglossum morio )

Description.

Small black bee (total length 7-8 mm, wing length 4 mm), in the sun often shining metallic green; with narrow bands of whitish hair on the abdomen (Fig. 8 c–d).

Distinguishing features.

With Halictus smeathmanellus , one of the two small and greenish representatives of the genus in the Azores, but smaller in size than the former species; thorax and abdomen metallic green; males with entirely black tarsi.

General distribution.

North Africa; Eurasia, from Portugal to Kazakhstan and north to Finland.

Distribution in the Azores.

All islands except Faial (where probably overlooked).

First record.

1930 (first mentioned by Benoist et al. 1936).

Nesting.

On bare or sparsely vegetated surfaces on south-facing slopes or flat areas (here, the entrance often with small conical tumuli), often in large aggregations.

Social behaviour.

Primitively eusocial.

Foraging.

Polylectic, observed on Asteraceae ( Helminthotheca echioides , Sonchus asper ) and Oxalidaceae ( Oxalis corniculata ).

Phenology.

April-September.

Material.

São Miguel (Furnas), August-September 1930, leg. L. Chopard, det. Blüthgen ( Benoist et al. 1936, not seen). São Miguel (2 km SE Feteiras), 11.08.1984, 3 females 1 male; São Miguel (Feteiras), 11.08.1984, 3 females, 2 males; São Miguel (Santana), 07.08.1984, 1 male; São Miguel (Ponta Delgada), 12.08.1984, 1 male, São Miguel (Vila Franca), 07.08.1984, 1 male, all leg. La Roche, det. Ebmer (Ebmer, pers. comm.). São Miguel (Lagoa das Furnas), 23.04.1984, 1 male, leg. Suko, det. Ebmer, coll. Mus. Bremen (Ebmer, pers. comm.). São Miguel (Ponta Delgada), July 1992, leg. Wirtz, det. Warncke ( Wirtz 1994, not seen). Santa Maria (Vila do Porto), July 1972, 1 female, det. Ebmer, coll. Senckenberg Frankfurt (Ebmer, pers. comm.). Graciosa (Serra Branca), 4 females; Graciosa (Serra dos Fontes), 3 females; Terceira, 08.08.2014, 1 female, all leg. H. Schaefer, coll. TUM (specimens B26-B32, B50).

The COI sequences of specimens H. Schaefer B27 and B50 (TUM), acc. no. KX824760-61, differ in 1-2 positions from the closest Halictus morio sequences in GenBank, which are of German origin (see Fig. 2).