Hypotrigona ruspolii (Magretti, 1898)

Pauly, Alain & Hora, Zewdu Ararso, 1787, Apini and Meliponini from Ethiopia (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Apidae: Apinae), Belgian Journal of Entomology 16, pp. 1-35 : 13-17

Hypotrigona ruspolii (Magretti, 1898)

(Figs 9-12, 13b, 14)

Trigona ruspolii MAGRETTI, 1898a: 27–28 . Type locality: “Una bella serie di individui raccolti la maggior parte lungo il Daua e l’Uebi, qualcuno a Dolo” (MCSN). Worker lectotype: Ethiopia, Daua, leg. E. Ruspoli (MCSNG), designated here (examined). Two worker paratypes, "Daua", 1892, leg. E. Ruspoli (MNHUB), examined by Eardley 2005.

TYPE LOCALITY. “Daua” is the Dawa river in SE Ethiopia ; Dolo (4°11’N 42°03’E) is a village at the junction of the Web, the Ganale and the Daua; “El Uebi” is also a river in SE Ethiopia .

DISTRIBUTION. Angola, Cameroon, Congo, East Africa, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Nigeria,

Sao Thomé, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Zimbabwe ( EARDLEY, 2005).

OLD MATERIAL. ETHIOPIA. Daua , leg. E. Ruspoli, 1892-93, 6D paratypes ( MCSNG). – Ueb, leg. E. Ruspoli, 1892-93, 3D paratypes, 2♂ paratype; var a, 3D paratype, var b, 1D paratype, var c, 1D paratype ( MCSNG). – Gambella, II.1948, 1D, leg. K.M. Guichard ( BMNH) ( EARDLEY, 2005) (not examined) .

NEW MATERIAL.

ETHIOPIA. SOUTHERN. Weyito , 5°20’N 37°03’E, 22.IX.2012, on sweat, 9D, leg. A. Pauly ( RBINS, HBRC) .

a - dorsal habitus b - scutum

c - head d - hind tibia

Fig. 9. Hypotrigona ruspolii , worker lectotype (a,b) and paratype (c,d) from Daua ( MCSNG).

a - var a b - var b

d - white scutellum (var c)

Fig. 10. Hypotrigona ruspolii , varieties from El Uebi following MAGRETTI, 1898. Specimens with white scutellum are probably not chitinized and collected from nests.

a - dorsal habitus b - scutum and scutellum

Fig. 11. Hypotrigona ruspolii , specimen from Weyito.

c - head d - metasoma with white margins Fig. 11 (continued). Hypotrigona ruspolii , specimen from Weyito.

a - dorsal habitus b - lateral habitus

c - head and mesosoma d - genitalia

Fig. 12. Hypotrigona ruspolii , male paratype from El Uebi.

a- Hypotrigona gribodoi b - Hypotrigona ruspolii Fig. 13. Distribution maps of Hypotrigona in Ethiopia.