Epicharis (Epicharitides) minima ( Friese, 1904 )

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 : 31-35

Epicharis (Epicharitides) minima ( Friese, 1904)

Figs 7 , 11

Centris (Epicharis) minima Friese, 1904: 90 (original description).

Epicharis minima – Pedro 1994: 252 (floral records).

Epicharitides minima – Moure 1945a: 313 (new combination, morphology of adult); 1945b: 399–400 (key).

Epicharis (Epicharitides) minima – Moure & Seabra 1959: 126 (descriptive note). — Mateus 1998: 20, 42, 69, 107, 123–126, 139, 142, 145 (floral records, bionomy). — Pedro & Camargo 1999: 200 (catalogue). — Gaglianone 2001: 24–27, 42–45, 47, 50, 60, 132, 144, 150, 186 (bionomy, floral records, distribution); 2003: 282 (floral records, bionomy). — Silveira et al. 2002: 102 (list, distribution). — Moure et al. 2007: 139 (catalogue, distribution). — Rasmussen & Ascher 2008: 71 (list). — Alves-dos-Santos 2009: 304 (catalogue). — Gaglianone et al. 2011: 659 (list, distribution). — Andena et al. 2012: 1668 (floral record). — Pinto 2013: 52 (bionomy). — Martins et al. 2014: 89–92 (terminal taxon in molecular phylogenetic analysis, biogeographical analysis). — Martins & Melo 2015: 25, 27 (terminal taxon in molecular phylogenetic analysis).

Diagnoses

Females

The smallest bees of the genus (13–14 mm); pubescence of head and mesosoma with black and whitish hairs intermixed giving a grayish aspect; yellow maculae on face restricted to small areas, more developed on labrum and at base of mandible; clypeal carinae and supraclypeal area inconspicuous, nearly absent; malar area reduced; most of metasoma with yellow pubescence; tegula and wing veins dark brown; mesoscutellum bilobed in dorsal view.

Males

Black and whitish hairs intermixed giving a grayish appearance on head and mesosoma, whiter on gena and propodeum; distinct and well-developed yellow maculae on most of face, dorsal surface of hind basitarsus and part of hind tibia; malar area reduced; yellow pubescence on most of metasoma; hind femur slender; pubescence of hind tibia and basitarsus scopa-like; tegula and wing veins dark brown.

Type material

Syntypes female ( HNHM, not studied).

Material examined (n = 15 ♀♀, 3 ♂♂)

BRAZIL – Mato Grosso • 1 ♀; “BRASIL, Mato Grosso. Brasnorte. Faz Herminia ; 11º57’00.9”S. 58º14’48.0”W; 309m; Floresta; Malaise; 30-XI-2017; Ferreira, JVA.\ Epicharis (Epicharitides) sp. Det. T. Mahlmann, 2019\ Epicharis \ G1Borda Ferreira_0132”; INPA. – Minas Gerais • 1 ♀; “ Uberlândia MG BRASIL; 31/10/1988; A.M.C. Carvalho \ Epicharitides minima ( Friese, 1904) Det. Camargo 1981 \ Doação de Solange C. Augusto EEP 21988-64723”; DZMG. – Rondônia • 1 ♀; “BRASIL-Rondônia Vilhena; 1990 X O. Roppa & J. Becker \ COLEÇÃO CAMPOS SEABRA”; MNRJ. – São Paulo • 1 ♀; “ Cajuru -– SP Brasil; 30-XII–1988; M. Molacato; 880368\ E. (Epicharitides) minima Friese, 1904 Det. Moure, 1992 ”; RPSP • 1 ♀; “ Faz. Sta Carlota Cajuru – SP – Brasil; hs XII–1988 \ Camillo Serrano leg 881697\ E. (Epicharitides) minima Friese, 1904 Det. Moure, 1992 ”; RPSP • 1 ♀; “ Faz. Sta Carlota Cajuru – SP – Brasil; hs 16- 18/01.XII. 1988; M. Mazucato leg; F191738\ 038\ E. (Epicharitides) cf. minima Friese, 1904 Det. Camargo, 1989 \ Byrsonima intermedia Ads. Juss. Malpighiaceae 038”; RPSP • 1 ♂; “ Faz. Sta Carlota Cajuru – SP – Brasil; hs 14- 16/03.XII. 1988 M. Mazucato leg F191976\ 062\ E. (Epicharitides) cf. minima Friese, 1904 Det. Camargo, 1989 \ Cerrado; Pl 062; Lippia lasiocalycina Cham-Verbenac ”; RPSP • 1 ♂; “ Faz. Sta Carlota Cajuru – SP – Brasil; hs 10- 12/18. XI. 1988; M. Mazucato leg; F191702\ 0130\ E. (Epicharitides) cf. minima Friese, 1904 Det. Camargo, 1989 \ Cerrado; Pl 134; Qualea parviflora Mart. Vochysiaceae ”; RPSP • 1 ♂; “ Faz. Sta Carlota Cajuru – SP – Brasil; hs 10- 12/18.XI. 1988; M. Mazucato leg; F191547\ 0130\ E. (Epicharitides) cf. minima Friese, 1904 Det. Camargo, 1989 \ Cerrado; Pl 134; Qualea parviflora Mart. Vochysiaceae ”; RPSP • 1 ♀; “ Brasil, Jundiahy; 12-1902\ Epicharis minima ♀ 1900 Friese det.\ Epicharis minima ”; HNHM • 1 ♀; “ Brasil, Jundiahy 12-1902\ Epicharis minima ♀ 1900 Friese det.”; HNHM • 1 ♀; “ Brasil, Jundiahy; 12-1899\ Epicharis minima ♀ 1907 Friese det.”; HNHM • 1 ♀; “ Brasil, Jundiahy; 12 -1899\ Collect. Graeffe \ Epicharis minima ♀ 1907 Friese det.”; NHMW • 1 ♀; “ Brasil, Jundiahy; 12 -1899\ Epicharis minima ♀ 1907 Friese det.\ Typus ”; NHMW • 1 ♀; “ Brasil, Jundiahy; 1898\ Centris minima ♀ 1904 Friese det.\ Typus ”; NHMW • 1 ♀; “ Brasil, Jundiahy; 12. 1902\ Centris minima ♀ 1900 Friese det.\ Typus ”; NHMW .

Morphology

Female ( Fig. 7A–B )

MEASUREMENTS. Approximate body length: 14 (13.8–14.1). Head width: 4.3 (4.2–4.3). Mesosoma width: 4.8 (4.8–4.9). Metasoma width: 4.8 (4.8–5). Forewing length: 9.8 (9.6–9.9).

COLORATION. Integument dark brown to black, darker on head and metasoma, light brown on legs and metasoma. Ventral surface of flagellomeres brown, except at base of F1. Yellow maculation as follows: an irregular spot on lower sides of paraocular area; most of labrum, except apical area; most of mandible, except apex. Tegula, wins and veins dark brown.

PUBESCENCE. Dark brown to black on most of face, vertex, dorsum of mesosoma, upper metepisternum and a few hairs on T5 and T6. Whitish hairs on gena, hypoepimeral lobe, lower metepisternum, fore and middle tibia, metepisternum, metanotum, propodeum and T1. Yellowish hairs on apex of labrum, mandible, ventral area of mesosoma including coxa, lateral sides of T2, basal half of T3–T5 and distal margins of S2–S5. Ferruginous on ventral surface of hind tibia and basitarsus. Lateral sides of clypeus and apical half of labrum with long, coarse, scattered and simple hairs. Long simple hairs on mandible and lower gena (2–5× OD). Vertex and occipital area near the frontal carina with long, dense and plumose hairs (1–4× OD). Sparse, long and plumose hairs on dorsum of mesosoma and metepisternum (3–4 × OD), sparser almost absent on pronotum and denser on hypoepimeral lobe, metepisternum, metanotum and propodeum. Coarse, dense and long hairs on ventral surface of mesosoma. Coxa with long, dense and simple hairs mainly on ventral surface (2–4× OD). T1 with a few long and plumose hairs on anterior surface and lateral sides. Basal lateral sides of T2–T5 with appressed pubescence, covered progressively towards disc. Long, decumbent and simple hairs on distal margins of T4 and T5, almost absent on preapical area. Long and dense hairs on distal halves of S2–S5, scattered on medial area.

SCULPTURE SURFACE. Clypeal disc almost smooth, with inconspicuous punctation.Labrum weakly areolate, with coarse punctures towards apex. Paraocular area and vertex with large impunctate areas mainly near the ocelli. Sparse and inconspicuous punctures near to alveolus (2–5 × puncture width), denser and coarser towards frons. Occipital area and gena with fine and sparse punctation (2–3 × puncture width). Fine and sparse punctation on dorsum of mesosoma (3–6× puncture width), almost absent on pronotum and denser on metepisternum. Metasoma weakly imbricate, distal margins of terga with impunctate areas. Basal halves of S2–S5 with fine and sparse punctation, denser and coarser towards apex.

STRUCTURES. Head broader than long (1.2–1.1: 1). Ratio of upper and lower interocular distances: 0.8– 0.9: 1. Maximum interocular distance shorter than length of compound eye (0.7–0.8: 1). Clypeus broader than long (1.6–1.5: 1) with less length than clypeocellar distance (0.9: 1). Labrum longer than broad (1.2–1.1: 1). Interalveolar distance longer than alveolorbital distance (2.4–2.3: 1). Interalveolar distance shorter than alveolocellar distance (0.6–0.7: 1). Lateral ocelli below the upper supraorbital tangent. Interocellar distance slightly longer than ocellocular distance (1.1: 1). Frontal carina inconspicuous. Length of F1 longer than the length of F2 and F3 together, and slightly shorter than the length of F2–F4 (0.7–0.6: 0.6–0.7: 1). Vertex at the same level of the upper supraorbital tangent. Epistomal suture and clypeal carinae inconspicuous. Supraclypeal area without carina. Mesoscutellum bilobed in dorsal view.

Male ( Fig. 7C–D )

As the female, except as follows:

MEASUREMENTS. Approximate body length: (13.9–14.1). Head width: (4.2–4.1). Mesosoma width: (4.6– 4.8). Metasoma width: (4.6–4.8). Forewing length: (9.6–9.8).

COLORATION. Predominantly dark brown. Yellow maculae as follows: on paraocular area, from below alveolar tangent to lower paraocular area; on ventral surface of scape; a wide stripe on clypeal disc extending from upper margin and on lower corner of lateral sides; at labrum; on most of mandible, except apex; an elliptical spot on basal surface of fore tibia; on dorsobasal surface of hind tibia and hind basitarsus.

PUBESCENCE. Largely whitish on gena, ventral surface of mesosoma, propodeum and legs, except basitarsus and hind tibia. Lateral sides of clypeus and paraocular area with long, sparse and plumose hairs (2–4× OD) denser near alveolus. Longer and denser hairs on occipital area and gena (2–5 × OD). Propodeum and T1 with longer and denser plumose hairs (3–5× OD).

SCULPTURE SURFACE. Weakly areolate on clypeal disc and labrum. Fine and sparse punctation on lateral sides of clypeus (2–4× puncture width). Paraocular area with coarse and sparse punctation (2–5× puncture width), denser towards frons. Large impunctate areas near the ocelli. Dorsum of mesosoma and metepisternum with coarser and denser punctation (1–2 × puncture width).

STRUCTURES. Head broader than long (1.2: 1). Ratio of upper and lower interocular distances: 0.9–0.95: 1. Maximum interocular distance shorter than length of compound eye (0.6–0.7: 1). Clypeus broader than long (1.6–1.5: 1) with length equal to clypeocellar distance (1: 1). Labrum longer than broad (1.2–1.1: 1). Interalveolar distance longer than alveolorbital distance (2.6–2.5: 1). Interalveolar distance shorter than alveolocellar distance (0.7–0.6: 1). Lateral ocelli above the upper supraorbital tangent. Interocellar distance slightly longer than ocellocular distance (1.1: 1). Frontal carina inconspicuous. Length of F1 shorter than F2 (0.6: 1), F2 shorter than F3 (0.8: 1) and F3 slightly shorter than F4 (0.9: 1), (0.5: 0.7: 0.9: 1). Carina of clypeus conspicuous and epistomal suture poorly defined. Malar area reduced. Apical tooth about twice as long as preapical tooth. Middle trochanter cylindrical. Hind femur and tibia slender. Anterior and posterior surfaces of hind basitarsus sub-parallel.

Type locality

BRAZIL: São Paulo: Ribeirão Preto.

Distribution ( Fig. 11 )

BRAZIL: Amapá: Serra do Navio ( Gaglianone 2001). Rondônia: Vilhena ( Gaglianone 2001). Mato Grosso: Brasnorte*, Nova Mutum ( Gaglianone 2001). Minas Gerais: Uberlândia*. São Paulo: Batatais ( Gaglianone 2001; Gaglianone et al. 2011), Ribeirão Preto ( Friese 1904; Moure & Seabra, 1959; Gaglianone 2001; Gaglianone et al. 2011), Cajuru ( Pedro 1994; Gaglianone 2001; Gaglianone et al. 2011), Luiz Antônio ( Mateus 1998; Gaglianone 2001; Gaglianone et al. 2011), Parque Estadual Vassununga ( Andena et al. 2012), Jataí ( Mateus 1998; Gaglianone 2003; Pinto 2013), Jundiaí*. BOLIVIA: Cochabamba: Tarata ( Moure & Seabra 1959).

Comments

According to the information provided by Friese (1904), the original description of this species was based on numerous specimens collected in Ribeirão Preto, Brazil, two of them belonging to the HNHM collection. We studied material from the aforementioned collection, but we did not find any specimen from Ribeirão Preto. Much of the material that Heinrich Friese studied throughout his scientific career can also be found in AMNH, NHMW and ZMB ( Rasmussen & Ascher 2008) but unfortunately the type series was not found in any of those collections.

Herein, we provide for first time the morphological description of the male of E. minima based on specimens from the Brazilian state of São Paulo. As it was mentioned in the diagnosis, this species is characterized by being the smallest bee of the genus. In addition, it can be identified by the near absence of carinae on the face and the presence of yellowish hairs on the distal half of most terga and sterna. Its distribution is mainly known in central west Brazil. Our results extend its distribution range to the Mato Grosso and Rondônia States.

Figures

Fig. 7. Epicharis (Epicharitides) minima (Friese, 1904). A–B. Female (Brazil: Vilhena; MNRJ). A. Head, frontal view. B. Habitus, lateral view. C–D. Male (Brazil: Cajuru; RPSP). C. Head, frontal view. D. Habitus, lateral view. Scale bars: A, C = 1 mm; B, D = 5 mm.

Fig. 11. Distribution records for Epicharis luteocincta Moure & Seabra, 1959, E. minima (Friese, 1904) and E. obscura Friese, 1899. Symbols with a cross represent records from literature.