Schwarziana bocainensis, Melo, 2015

Melo, Gabriel A. R., 2015, New species of the stingless bee genus Schwarziana (Hymenoptera, Apidae), Revista Brasileira de Entomologia 59 (4), pp. 290-293 : 290-291

Schwarziana bocainensis sp. nov.

Diagnosis and comments

In a first glance, S. bocainensis sp. nov. seems just a variant form of the widespread S.quadripunctata . It differs from S.quadripunctata mostly in the details of the pubescence, with a longer erect pilosity on the mesoscutum and a glabrous metapostnotum. The metasoma of the new species is also distinctly shaped, being more compact and with a cordiform shape in dorsal view ( Figs. 1– 4 ).

S. bocainensis sp. nov. is currently known only from the upper lands of the Serra da Bocaina, São Paulo, in southeastern Brazil. The only six specimens known were collected in consecutive years at the second half of the 1960s. Two short collecting trips carried out by the author and colleagues in April 2010 and in October 2011 at this region were unsuccessful in retrieving new material. The area above 1500–1600 m of altitude in the Serra da Bocaina is covered mostly by natural grasslands, with mixed Araucaria forests occupying the bottom of the valleys and along streams. In the 2010 trip, 11 nests of Schwarziana were found, all of them belonging to S. quadripunctata .

Description

Holotype worker. Approximate body length: 6.5 mm; maximum head width: 2.65 mm; length of forewing: 6.8 mm; maximum width of T2 : 2.67 mm. Color: head and mesosoma predominantly dark brown to black, with the following yellow maculae: a broad triangle occupying the lower parocular area; a broad inverted T on the clypeus; a very faint spot on the supraclypeal area; a spot on the lower gena, adjacent to the mandible basis; a narrow band on each side of the pronotal collar; a pair of small spots on the posterior margin of scutellum. Apical half of mandible and pronotal lobe, dark reddish brown. Tarsi reddish brown; hind tibia reddish to dark brown. Wing veins and pterostigma brown; wing membrane light brown infumated. Metasoma almost entirely dark brown to black; lateral portion of T1 and a contiguous broad area on dorsal part of the sclerite, reddish brown. Pubescence: predominantly brown on entire body. Clypeus with abundant pubescence, erect setae relatively long, longest ones about 0.1 mm in length; frons and vertex with abundant long erect pilosity, longest setae on vertex about 0.38–0.40 mm in length; erect setae on scape short, slightly shorter than half of scape width. Erect pilosity on mesoscutum abundant and relatively long, longest setae about as long as those on vertex; those on scutellum with about 0.48–0.52 mm in length. Lateral pilosity of mesepisternum relatively long and dense, but leaving the integument clearly visible, longest setae about as long as those on mesoscutum, slightly longer than maximum width of fore tibia. Metapostnotum entirely glabrous. Terga with very short pubescence; conspicuous erect pubescence restricted to vertical anterior portion and anterior margin of dorsal portion of T1 ; short pubescence restricted mostly to marginal zone of T2 – T5 ; erect setae on lateral portion of T2 with about 0.08 mm in length; those on T3 – T5 becoming gradually longer; longest erect setae on T6 with about 0.2 mm in length. Integumental surface: lower parocular area finely reticulate and dull; remainder of face, mesoscutum, scutellum and mesepisternum finely rugulose and dull. Metapostnotum with conspicuous reticulation and somewhat dull. Structure (measurements in mm): head about 1.2× wider than long (2.65:2.20); inner orbits slightly converging below (upper to lower interorbital distance, 1.63:1.45); clypeus 1.9× wider than long (1.30:0.73); F2 about as long as wide (0.19:0.18), F3 about 1.2× longer than wide (0.22:0.18); minimum distance between clypeus and eye about as long as width of F2 (0.18:0.18); malar space shorter than F2 width (0.10:0.18); eye about 2.6× longer than its maximum width (1.75:0.68), in lateral view about 1.1× wider than gena (0.53:0.48). Intertegular distance equal to mesoscutum length (1.80:1.80); scutellum about 2.3× wider than long (1.23:0.53). Corbicular depression occupying over three-fifths of hind tibia, anterior border of apex of tibia distinctly and abruptly elevated in relation to remainder of surface; anterior margin of hind tibia basically following a straight line in outer view.

Variation

The spot on the supraclypeal area is slightly more evident in one of the paratypes and the pair of spots on the scutellum is lacking in the paratypes.

Figures

Figs. 1–4. Schwarziana bocainensis sp. nov., holotype, worker. (1) Head, frontal view. (2) Detail of lower frons and clypeus. (3) Habitus, lateral view. (4) Detail of scutellum, dorsal view.