Augochlora (Augochlora) daphnis Smith, 1853

Lepeco, Anderson & Gonçalves, Rodrigo Barbosa, 2020, A revision of the bee genus Augochlora Smith (Hymenoptera; Apoidea) in Southern South America, Zootaxa 4897 (1), pp. 1-97 : 29-31

Augochlora (Augochlora) daphnis Smith, 1853

( Figures 1B ; 13 A–D; 14A–D; 51A)

Augochlora daphnis Smith, 1853: 77 , holotype ³ (BMNH) from Uruguay, Montevideo. Examined through photographs.

Odontochlora amphitrite Schrottky, 1909: 142 , syntypes ♀ ³ (whereabouts unknown) from Argentina, Buenos Aires. New synonym.

Odontochlora styx Schrottky 1909: 143 , syntypes ♀ (whereabouts unknown) from Paraguay, Alto Paraná, Puerto Bertoni. New synonym.

Odontochlora thebe Schrottky 1909: 143 , holotype ³ (whereabouts unknown) from Argentina, Buenos Aires. New synonym.

Odontochlora lethe Schrottky 1909: 144 , syntypes ³ (whereabouts unknown) from Paraguay, Alto Paraná, Puerto Bertoni. New synonym.

Odontochlora dolichocephala Moure, 1941: 43 , holotype ♀ (DZUP) from Brazil, São Paulo, Rio Claro. Examined. New synonym.

Diagnosis. Among the species bearing well-marked medial furrow on scutellum and an angulation separating the anterior and posterior surfaces on hind coxa ventrally, females of A. daphnis are the only in the studied area with swollen distal part of adductor ridge and black or entirely blue morphs. From A. braziliensis , females can be separated by the larger and contiguous punctures on lower paraocular area, well developed spiniform projection on S1 and abundant dark setae on the legs; males are diagnosed by the presence of larger punctures on S1 and S2 and preepisternum contiguously punctate. Additional characteristics are legs usually darker, near to black, and metasomal terga with apical black bands.

Comments. Comparing the original species descriptions, the redescription of O. amphitrite by Dalmazzo & Roig-Alsina (2011), the images of Augochlora daphnis type and the examined material we concluded that there were no consistent characters supporting the hypothesis that O. amphitrite and A. daphnis correspond to distinct species. The same interpretation was given by the personal annotations taken by Father J. S. Moure when examining the type of A. daphnis during his visit to BMNH. We examined photographs of the holotype and more than 115 male specimens to conclude that the yellowish tegula cited by Dalmazzo & Roig-Alsina (2011) along with other characteristics only represents intraspecific variation. Furthermore, no other similar species has been recorded in Uruguay, A. daphnis type locality. Thus, even A. amphitrite being a very common name in literature, we conclude that it is mandatory to synonymize this name under A. daphnis . Father J. S. Moure’s O. dolichocephala type corresponds to a bluish specimen with a slightly narrowed head but falling in A. daphnis morphological variation space. Odontochlora styx , O. lethe and O. thebe were already considered as junior synonyms with O. amphitrite by previous authors ( Dalmazzo & Roig-Alsina 2011; Lepeco & Gonçalves 2018).

For species redescription and more comments on type material see Dalmazzo & Roig-Alsina (2011). Nest structure and life-history were studied by Sakagami & Moure (1967) and Dalmazzo & Roig-Alsina (2012, 2018a), diet preferences by Dalmazzo & Vossler (2015a; 2015b), and morphological variation by Lepeco & Gonçalves (2018). A gynandromorph specimen was described by Alvarez et al. (2014). Color and structural variation in this species were already noted by Dalmazzo & Roig-Alsina (2011) and by Lepeco & Gonçalves (2018), certainly being the reason why C. Schrottky described the species four times in the same paper. This may be the unluckiest species of the genus, since the type series of four species names were probably lost in a Paraguayan civil war ( Rasmussen et al. 2009) and the holotype of A. daphnis had its head replaced by a glued Augochloropsis head (Dalmazzo & Roig-Asina 2011).

Distribution. This is a very common species in southern South America, occurring in the Brazilian states of Minas Gerais, Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, and S„o Paulo. In Argentina the species is recorded in the provinces of Buenos Aires, Chaco, Córdoba, Entre Ríos, Jujuy, Misiones, San Luís, and Santa Fé. Augochlora daphnis is also recorded in Paraguay and Uruguay.

Figures

FIGURE 1. A–C) Female mandible, anterior view. A) Augochlora aurinasis (Vachal); B) Augochlora daphnis Smith; C) Augochlora genalis sp. nov. Scale bar: 0.2 mm. D–G) Female mid trochanter, anterior view. D) Augochlora nausicaa (Schrottky); E) Augochlora francisca (Schrottky); F) Augochlora phoemonoe (Schrottky); G) Augochlora mulleri Cockerell. H–L) Female metasoma, anterior portion (T1 and S1), lateral view. H) Augochlora thusnelda (Schrottky); I) Augochlora nausicaa (Schrottky); J) Augochlora braziliensis (Vachal); K) Augochlora francisca Schrottky; L) Augochlora phoemonoe (Schrottky). D–L not in scale.

FIGURE 13. Female of Augochlora daphnis Smith. A) habitus, B) frontal view of head, C) dorsal view of mesosoma, D) dorsal view of metasoma. Scale bar: 1.0 mm, all at same scale.