Centris (Hemisiella) Moure, 1945

Vivallo, Felipe & Vélez, Danny, 2016, A synopsis of the subgenus Centris (Hemisiella) Moure, 1945 (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Centridini) in Colombia, with description of a new species, Zootaxa 4162 (1), pp. 107-133 : 108-109

The subgenus Centris (Hemisiella) Moure, 1945

The subgenus Centris (Hemisiella) Moure, 1945 is a lineage that comprises 18 species widely distributed in the New World, ranging from southern United States ( Pemberton & Liu, 2008) to Argentina, including some Caribbean islands ( Moure et al., 2007). As it occurs with other lineages of Centris , the highest species diversity of this subgenus is in tropical areas of South America, where up to 13 of the known species can be found ( Moure et al., 2007).

The species of C. (Hemisiella) are morphologically homogeneous and can be recognized by their pattern of facial coloration in both sexes. Although some authors have considered C. (Hemisiella) as a junior synonym of C. (Heterocentris) Cockerell, 1899 ( Griswold et al., 2006; Michener, 2007; Gonzalez et al., 2012), the species of this subgenus form a distinct monophyletic group which is closely related to the subgenera C. (Heterocentris) and C. (Trachina) Klug, 1807, with which it shares several morphological synapomorphies in the male (Vivallo & Melo in preparation). Thus, we recognized C. (Hemisiella) as a valid subgenus.

The males of C. (Hemisiella) are characterized by a spine-shaped projection on the hind trochanter, and a broad yellow transverse spot on the clypeus (covering the clypeus entirely in C. nigriventris Burmeister, 1876 ). Females have an elliptical primary basitibial plate with the secondary plate covered with dense, short pubescence, and a dark brown to black clypeus with two very large, oblique yellow patches (which may be joined medially in C.

transversa Pérez, 1905 , as well as in some specimens of C. merrillae and C. vittata Lepeletier, 1841 ). Species of C. (Hemisiella) nest in pre-existing cavities in wood as in the subgenera C. (Heterocentris) and C. (Xanthemisia) Moure,1945 ( Silveira et al., 2002). However, some species, such as C. transversa ( Batra & Schuster, 1977) , and probably others, may also nest in the ground (Vivallo, unpublished data).

According to Smith-Pardo (2003) the species of C. (Hemisiella) present in Colombia are C. dichrootricha , C. transversa and C. vittata . Moure et al. (2007) added C. facialis Mocsáry, 1899 and C. nitida Smith, 1874 , while Gonzalez et al. (2012) added C. trigonoides , thereby totaling six species. The study of the material housed in the main Colombian entomological collections (listed above) resulted in the identification of the following seven species of Centris (Hemisiella) such as C. nebulosa new species: C. dichrootricha , C. facialis , C. merrillae , C. tarsata , C. trigonoides and C. vittata .