Lasioglossum (Hemihalictus) sp.

Material examined

JAPAN – Kyushu • 2 ♀; Fukuoka Pref., Soeda-machi, Kyushu Univ., Hikosan Exp. St.; 33°28′48.746″ N,

130°54′55.452″ E; 13 Jun. 2013; R. Murao leg.; ELKU • 2 ♂♂; Kumamoto Pref., Aso-shi, Aso-machi, Matoishi wilderness; 37°27′15″ N, 128°1′10″ E; 5 Aug. 2013; R. Murao leg.; ELKU .

Comments

This unknown species has been identified as Lasioglossum (Hemihalictus) sexstrigatus (Schenck, 1869) in Japan. According to DNA analysis in the present study, the pair-wise sequence divergence between Japanese and European specimens was quite clear (7.3–7.9% between L. sexstrigatus and L. sp. in Table 1). Morphologically, females of this species are slightly different from L. (H.) sexstrigatus as the mesoscutum has a weak tessellation over the entire surface (in contrast, in L. (H.) sexstrigatus, the mesoscutum is nearly smooth on the posterior half).

In the present study, I could not conclude that this unknown species is either undescribed or a known species, but this will be examined in further studies.