Papuatrigona atricornis (Smith) Engel, 2019

Engel, Michael S., 2019, Notes on Papuasian and Malesian stingless bees, with the descriptions of new taxa (Hymenoptera: Apidae), Journal of Melittology 2019 (88), pp. 1-25 : 22

Papuatrigona atricornis (Smith) , new combination

( Figs. 42–44 )

Trigona atricornis Smith, 1865: 94 . Holotype ⚲, Oxford : New Guinea (visum).

Trigona genalis Friese, 1908 [ 1909]: 354. Lectotype ⚲, Berlin: Manikion (visum). New synonymy.

Trigona (Tetragona) atricornis Smith ; Michener, 1965: 231.

Trigona (Heterotrigona) atricornis Smith ; Michener, 1990: 127.

Trigona (Papuatrigona) genalis Friese ; Michener & Sakagami, 1990: 154.

Papuatrigona genalis (Friese) ; Rasmussen, 2008: 24.

Platytrigona “ atricornis ” (Smith); Rasmussen, 2008: 26 [misidentification].

Heterotrigona (Sahulotrigona) “ atricornis ” (Smith); Engel & Rasmussen, 2017: 11 [misidentification].

COMMENTS: Quite unexpectedly, a recent examination of the holotype of T. atricornis ( Fig. 42 ) preserved in the Oxford University Museum of Natural History reveals its identity as Papuatrigona . Of particular note, aside from the overall coloration ( Figs. 42, 43 ), are the long malar space ( Fig. 44 ); the exceptionally narrow posterior glabrate zone and low, sloping clivulus on the inner surface of the metatibia ( Fig. 42 ); the largely simple setae along the posterior border of the metatibia ( Fig. 42 ); and the lack of a basal sericeous area on the inner basal surface of the metabasitarsus ( Fig. 42 ). These features are all indicative of Papuatrigona among the Indomalayan fauna, and the holotype is indistinguishable from that of T. genalis . Accordingly, the name “ atricornis ” is hereby transferred to Papuatrigona where it replaces that of P. genalis for the type species. The “ T. atricornis ” of authors is actually H. taraxis , described above (vide supra), and this confusion appears to have originated with the accounts of Friese (1898, 1909, 1915) who seems to have misidentified T. atricornis and thereby failed to recognize that this species and his T. genalis were one and the same.

Figures

Figures 42–44. Worker holotype of Papuatrigona atricornis (Smith), new combination (photographs provided by and reproduced with permission of James Hogan, Oxford University Museum of Natural History). 42. Lateral habitus. 43. Dorsal habitus. 44. Facial view.