Amegilla (Zonamegilla) pulchra (Smith)

Leijs, Remko, Batley, Michael & Hogendoorn, Katja, 2017, The genus Amegilla (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Anthophorini) in Australia: A revision of the subgenera Notomegilla and Zonamegilla, ZooKeys 653, pp. 79-140 : 123-126

Amegilla (Zonamegilla) pulchra (Smith) Figs 12, 34, 47

Anthophora pulchra Smith, 1854, p. 335.

Amegilla pulchra (Smith) Michener, 1965, p. 217.

Amegilla (Zonamegilla) pulchra (Smith) Brooks, 1988, p. 511.

Anthophora holmesi Rayment, 1947, p. 56, n. syn.

Amegilla holmesi (Rayment) Michener, 1965, p. 216.

Amegilla (Zonamegilla) holmesi (Rayment) Brooks, 1988, p. 511.

Anthophora parapulchra Rayment, 1947, p.61, n. syn.

Amegilla parapulchra (Rayment) Michener, 1965, p. 217.

Amegilla (Zonamegilla) parapulchra (Rayment) Brooks, 1988, p. 511.

Anthophora salteri Cockerell, 1905, p. 398, n. syn.

Amegilla salteri (Cockerell) Michener, 1965, p. 217.

Amegilla (Zonamegilla) salteri (Cockerell) Brooks, 1988, p. 511.

Anthophora pulchra townleyella Rayment, 1947, p. 67. n. syn.

Amegilla townleyella (Rayment) Michener, 1965, p. 217.

Anthophora shafferyella Rayment, 1947, p. 70. n. syn.

Amegilla shafferyella (Rayment) Michener, 1965, p. 217.

Amegilla (Zonamegilla) shafferyella (Rayment) Brooks, 1988, p. 511.

Anthophora perpulchra wallaciella Rayment, 1947, p. 65. n. syn.

Amegilla wallaciella (Rayment) Michener, 1965, p. 217.

Material examined.

171 females and 182 males.

Type data.

Lectotype of pulchra , male, " pulchra type Sm.", " Anthophora pulchra type" BMNH 17B.666b, here designated.

Another, female, specimen in the British Museum bore the following labels: Moreton Bay; pulchra type ♀ Sm; Anthophora pulchra type; Amegilla niveocincta SM D.B. Baker 2008: BMNH 17B.666a. As the specimen was unlike any Australian species, we have no reason to doubt Baker’s identification and the corollary that there has been a labelling error.

Syntype of townleyella , female, Lismore, NSW, 8 Feb 1940, "Type, Anthophora salteri townleyella ", ANIC 32-034170.

Lectotype of parapulchra , female, Hunters Hill, Sydney, Dec. 1939, "No 28", "Type, Anthophora parapulchra ", ANIC 32-034562, here designated.

Syntypes of holmesi : female, Como, NSW, 4 Apr. 1940, "Type, Anthophora holmesi ", ANIC 32-034573; male, Sydney, NSW, 20 Mar. 1940, "Allotype, Anthophora perpulchra holmesi ", ANIC 32-034574; female, Woollahra, NSW, 26 Mar. 1940, ANIC 32-033648; male, Hunters Hill HS, NSW, 20 Mar. 1940, ANIC 32-033651.

Holotype of salteri (by monotypy): male, N.S.Wales, BMNH 17B.665.

Holotype of shaffereyella (by monotypy): male, Mossman, Queensland, Feb. 1940, Anthophora salteri shafferyella , ANIC 32-033534.

Lectotype of perpulchra wallaciella : female, Hunters Hill, NSW, 20 Mar. 1940, "type, Anthophora perpulchra wallaciella ", ANIC 32-034571, here designated.

Decisions for synonymy.

Examination of the above types indicated that holmesi , parapulchra , salteri and townleyella were conspecific with pulchra . The holotype of shafferyella had a dense hair patch on S5 an orange tint in the tergal hair bands like adelaidae , as suggested by Rayment (1947) but the shape of S7 was unmistakably that of pulchra , not adelaidae . When examined carefully, the type of salteri was found to be indistinguishable from pulchra . In particular, it was found that the emargination of S5 was normal, though the hair pattern made it appear superficially as reported by Cockerell (1905).

Diagnosis.

For diagnosis and description we used specimens from the Sydney area because they vary less compared to those from the Brisbane area (see also under variation and remarks)

Amegilla pulchra is a species with ivory face marks and paraocular areas with some long dark hairs. Tergites with pale blue or white hair bands that are not broadened laterally below the lateral arm of the gradulus (Figs 18, 19). Female T5 with a broad oval patch of white hair, usually not extended laterally, and a medial line of denser white hair that does not extend greatly into the prepygidial fimbria; female hind tibia with dark streak at least 0.5 × times as long as the tibia. Male S6 with tuft dark hair apicomedially; S7 with narrow rounded head and small windows.

Description.

Female: East Kurrajong, 33.500S 150.767E, NSW, 8 Jan 2003, R Spooner Hart, DNA voucher RB083 (RL494), SAMA 32-002612.

Length 14 mm; forewing length 9 mm.

Structure. Head: clypeus protuberant, in profile 0.4 × width of eye; galea in repose reaching half-way between coxa of fore and mid legs; length of f1 2.8 × length of f2, 0.8 × length of scape (excluding basal bulb) and 1.6 × length of f10; length of f3-9 0.9 × width; IOD 1.2 × OOD; OS 0.6 × OOD. Coloration. Ivory marks on labrum, mandibles, scape, clypeus, paraocular and supraclypeal areas; inverted T-shape on clypeus. Pubescence. Head: labrum white, remaining areas predominantly pale, darker towards vertex with scattered black robust hairs on clypeus, paraocular areas, between antennae, near ocelli and on vertex; gena white, ginger towards vertex. Thorax: scutum ginger intermixed with many black hairs, therefore overall darker than other species; pleura ginger with scattered black hair under wing base, white ventrally; thoracic sterna white; propodeum laterally ginger with scattered black hair. Legs: forefemur posteriorly with long white hair, outer surface of foretibia and -tarsus greyish white, inner surface of tarsus dark; mid legs black, except white hair on apex of femur and on outer surface of tibia and basitarsus, contiguous short white hairs on posterior proximal part of femur; hind legs black except white hair on apex of femur and outer surface of tibia, very small white patch on basal part of basitarsus; basitibial streak black, 0.8 × length of femur. Metasoma: apical hair bands on T1-T4 white with very weak light blue iridescence; T5 laterally with moderately long white hair (Fig. 34), fimbria dark, medial patch ovoid with weak medial stripe; S3, S4 dark, posterolateral patches of white hairs; S5 dark, laterally with small white patches. Punctation. Head: clypeus with close, medium, deep punctures, 0.1-0.8 puncture widths apart; labrum somewhat shiny, with close to open, small punctures of intermediate depth, 0.5-2.0 puncture widths apart. Thorax: scutum somewhat shiny, with close punctures, 0.2-1.0 puncture widths apart. Metasoma: T1-T5 with open punctures, 0.8-1.5 puncture widths apart.

Male: Northbridge, 33.800S 151.217E, NSW, 27 Feb 2003, M. Bell, DNA voucher RB078 (RL487), SAMA 32-002611.

Length 12 mm; forewing length 8 mm.

Structure. Head: shortest distance between eyes 0.5 × length of eye; clypeus protuberant, in profile 0.5 × width of eye; galea in repose reaching just past forecoxa; length of f1 2 × length of f2, 0.6 × length of scape (excluding basal bulb) and 1.1 × length of f 11; length of f3-10 1.2 × width; IOD 1.4 × OOD; OS 0.7 × OOD. Wings: length of marginal cell 0.8 × distance from apex of marginal cell to wing tip; length of vein M of hind wing 2.8 × length second abscissa of M+Cu; length of jugal lobe about 0.4 × length of vannal lobe. Metasoma: apicomedial emargination of S5 narrow and deep; S7 windows medium size, median hair brush 3 × width, lateral wings of hair brush narrow but well developed with 110° angle between them (Fig. 47). Pubescence. Head: labrum white, clypeus and paraocular marks predominantly black, remaining pubescence grey, scattered black hairs between antennae, near ocelli and on vertex; gena white. Thorax: scutum pale brown intermixed with black hair; pleura pale brown with scattered black hair under wing base, white ventrally; propodeum laterally pale brown with scattered black hair. Legs: forefemur posteriorly with long white hair, outer surface of tibia and tarsus greyish, inner surface of tarsus dark; mid legs dark, except white hair on the apex of femur, a small patch near the apex of the femur and on outer surface of tibia and basitarsus; hind legs dark, except white hair on apex of femur and outer surface of tibia, small white patch on outer base of basitarsus. Metasoma: apical hair bands on T1-T5 white, lacking iridescence; parts that are not covered by hair bands dark brown; T6, T7 black when viewed from behind, brown when viewed from side; S2-S5 medial 50% dark, laterally white. Punctation. Head: clypeus with punctures 1.0-2.0 puncture widths apart; labrum with medium, shallow punctures 0.7-1.5 puncture widths apart. Thorax: scutum somewhat shiny, with close, medium, shallow punctures 0.4-0.9 puncture widths apart. Metasoma: T1-T5 somewhat shiny, with open, fine, shallow punctures, 1.0-2.0 puncture widths apart.

Variation.

Most specimens of pulchra in collections have relatively narrow white bands with small amounts of green-blue iridescence and ivory face markings. However, examination of a series of fresh specimens collected from the Brisbane area on two consecutive days showed iridescent bands that varied in colour from green-blue to orange or white. Some specimens also had yellowish face marks and specimens varied with respect to the shape of the white patch on female T5, some approaching those found in murrayensis . There was however no correlation with sequenced mitochondrial DNA, because the majority of those specimens shared the same mitochondrial haplotypes (Suppl. material 1: Fig. S2).

Remarks.

In all phylogenetic analyses murrayensis and pulchra appeared as sister species (Fig. 2, Suppl. material 1: S1, S2). As mentioned in the Results and Discussion section and under the remarks for murrayensis there are some unresolved problems with the genetics of the two species, probably due to the presence of a mitochondrial copy in the nuclear genome, which makes molecular identification of these two species not straightforward. DNA barcoding of pulchra specimens using the standard barcoding primers ( Hebert et al. 2004) resulted in two distinct clades, separating morphologically similar specimens with identical collection details (Suppl. material 1: Fig. S2). Future results of DNA barcoding of pulchra specimens should therefore be interpreted with caution. Additionally, morphological variation of the above mentioned specimens collected in the Brisbane area and museum specimens from that area and others incidentally showed murrayensis characters such as pale yellow face markings and hair patch that reaches the lateral margins of the female T5. This may be a consequence of intraspecific variability, but it is also possible that these character states result from hybridization with murrayensis . Hybridization regularly occurs between closely related species that historically had allopatric distributions, but that in more recent time became in secondary contact ( Kawakami and Butlin 2012) as could be the case with pulchra and murrayensis when their distribution patterns are considered (Fig. 2I, J). Unfortunately, testing above hypotheses about nuclear paralogues and introgression is beyond the scope of this paper.

Phenology.

Distribution.

Mainly east of the Great Dividing Range in New South Wales and Queensland (Fig. 12). This species has also been found on Fiji. Specimens from the Pacific islands had mitochondrial haplotypes identical to those from the Brisbane area and were probably introduced there ( Groom et al. 2014).