Epicharis (Epicharitides) Moure, 1945

Villamizar, Germán & Vivallo, Felipe, 2024, Taxonomic revision of the oil-collecting bee subgenus Epicharis (Epicharitides) Moure, 1945 (Hymenoptera: Apidae), with the description of two new species, European Journal of Taxonomy 928 (1), pp. 1-61 : 4-5

Subgenus Epicharis (Epicharitides) Moure, 1945

Epicharitides Moure, 1945a: 311 , 313, 314 (original description, key).

Epicharitides – Moure 1945b: 399, 400 (key).

Epicharis (Epicharitides) – Snelling 1984: 51 (key). — Michener et al. 1994: 154, 180 (cited, list). — Fernández 1995: 403 (list); 2001: 109 (list, distribution); 2002: 130 (list, distribution). — Ochoa & O’Connor 2000: 714, 735 (cited). — Silveira et al. 2002: 99–102 (key, distribution). — Smith-Pardo 2003: 337 (preliminar account in Colombia). — Michener 2007: 74, 759−761 (cited, key, comparative note with E. ( Epicharoides ) Radoszkowski, 1884, distribution). — Moure et al. 2007: 138 (catalogue, distribution). — Zambão 2011: 34–65 (bionomy). — Werneck et al. 2012: 520 (cited). — Martins & Melo 2015: 23, 25–27 (molecular phylogenetic analysis).

Diagnosis

The species of the subgenus E. ( Epicharitides ) can be recognized by the following combination of characters: small body size (15– 13 mm), being the smallest bees in Epicharis . Integument black to ferruginous. Maculae generally on face or metasoma. Apex of apical labial palpi straight. Clypeus subtriangular, concave in lateral view, with a pair of strong converging above carinae (except in E. minima ) and with distinct coarse hairs on lateral sides. Labrum quadrangular with lower edge convex and two translucent spots on lateral basal margins. Occipital carina conspicuous. Occipital flagelliform hairs relatively short. Wings light brown, translucent. Jugal lobe of hind wing approximately ⅓ long in relation to vanal lobe. Mesoscutellum rounded or bilobed. Hind tibial spurs with similar length. Females can be distinguished by the pubescence of the mesosoma predominantly black or whitish (except orange to testaceous in E. rufescens ), scape longer or equal to F1, mandible with two preapical teeth, primary basitibial plate rounded, scopa yellow, hind basitarsus semicircular, and preapical area of F5 nearly smooth and glabrous. Males have more developed maculation than females, pubescence of mesosoma mostly yellowish or whitish, mandible with one preapical tooth, spur of mid tibia leaf-shaped (except in E. luteocincta ), pygidial plate narrow towards apex and gonocoxite without parapennial lobes.

Sometimes, both sexes of E. ( Epicharitides ) are confused with species of the subgenus E. ( Epicharoides ) Radoszkowski, 1884 due to their similar size, the developed maculae, and the dorsal surface of the mesoscutellum slightly concave; but the species of the former subgenus are the only that have a transversal carina on the preoccipital area within the genus.

The monotypic subgenus E. ( Cyphepicharis ) Moure, 1945 also has the anterior surface of the third maxillary palpomere flat and well-defined clypeal carinae, similar to the observed in species of E. ( Epicharitides ). However, both lineages can be easily distinguished by the almost absence of maculae over the body and the pubescence predominantly black in E. ( Cyphepicharis ), which constrast with the rich patterns of maculae and the coloration of the pubescence found in the species of E. ( Epicharitides ).