Xylocopa (Ctenoxylocopa) sulcatipes Maa, 1970

Straka, Jakub, Batelka, Jan & Pauly, Alain, 2017, Bees of the Socotra Archipelago (Hymenoptera: Anthophila), their biogeography and association with parasites, Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae (Acta. Ent. Mus. Natl. Pragae) 57, pp. 183-219 : 190

Xylocopa (Ctenoxylocopa) sulcatipes Maa, 1970

( Figs 23, 24 )

Xylocopa hottentota Smith, 1854 : KOHL (1906): 5; KOHL (1907): 173. Xylocopa sp. : WRANIK (2003): 454.

Material examined. Not available.

Remarks. The specimen presented by KOHL (1906, 1907) has not been found in NHMW. WRANIK (2003: 454) presents a photograph of Xylocopa sp. from Socotra, Hadiboh, which can be associated with X. sulcatipes , rather than with X. hottentota , which belongs to the considerably different subgenus Xylomelissa Hurd & Moure, 1963 . In the Middle East, specimens of X. hottentota were commonly confused with X. sulcatipes in the past century ( HANNAN et al. 2012). We examined very old specimens labelled as X. hottentota from Aden ( Yemen) deposited in BMNH ( Figs 23, 24 ). These specimens belong to X. sulcatipes , which corresponds with the proposed past practice of confusing the names of both species. Without examination of specimens, we cannot identify the species with certainty, but X. sulcatipes is the most probable Socotran species.

Distribution. Distributed in the Arabian Peninsula, Israel, and Egypt ( ASCHER & PICKERING 2017). Recorded from Abd-el-Kuri island ( KOHL 1906, 1907) and Hadiboh ( WRANIK 2003).

Figures

Figs 23–28. 23–24 – Xylocopa sulcatipes Maa, 1970. 23 – female, dorsal view; 24 – male, dorsal view. 25–28 – Xylocopa pubescens Spinola, 1838. 25 – female, dorsal view; 26 – female, lateral view; 27 – male, dorsal view; 28 – male, lateral view.