Corresponding author: Abdulaziz S. Alqarni (
Academic editor: Michael Ohl
Some bees and pollen wasps have independently evolved simple, stiff, erect, apically-curved, curly or hooked facial setae as adaptations to collect pollen from nototribic flowers. A distinctive new species of
The presence of erect or proclinate, stiff, apically curly or hooked setae on certain areas of the face of some bees and pollen wasps (
Little is known about the foraging behavior of these bees on nototribic flowers but scant observations suggest some behavioral adaptations in how they harvest the pollen from the flower and remove it from the body, especially for those that exhibit modifications on both the facial setae and the integument (e.g.,
In this paper, we describe a distinctive new species of
Material considered herein is deposited in the King Saud University Museum of Arthropods, Plant Protection Department, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSMA) and Division of Entomology (Snow Entomological Collections), University of Kansas Natural History Museum, Lawrence, Kansas, USA (SEMC). Morphological terminology follows that of
♀, Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, Al Amariah, [Mazra’ah] Majra Al-Gasim [farm], 23-v-2011 [23 May 2011], M.A. Hannan // at flowers of
1♂, 1♀, with the same data as the holotype (SEMC); 2♂♂, same data as holotype except 31-v-2011 [31 May 2011], I. Naser // at
The female of this species can be recognized easily by the following combination of characters: body light reddish brown contrasting with dense, minutely-branched white setae on the body (
The reddish body coloration contrasting with the white dense pubescence of
Body color light reddish brown except dark brown to black as follows: mandible distally, clypeal margin, epistomal sulcus, vertex, antenna (darker on outer surfaces of scape and pedicel), and mesoscutum and mesocutellum with faint spots on discs (
Integument smooth and shiny between punctures except strongly imbricate on basal area of propodeum and weakly imbricate on metasomal sterna and terga. Face finely and closely punctate, nearly contiguous except on distal margin of clypeus medially smooth and shiny, punctures smaller on supraclypeal area; gena with shallower punctures than on face. Mesoscutum and mesoscutellum with punctures coarser and larger than on head (
Pubescence white, unless indicated otherwise. Following areas with dense (integument obscured or barely visible among setae), minutely-branched, appressed or semierect setae: mandible basally, lower and middle paraocular areas, gena, pronotum, pronotal lobe, anterior half of tegula, humeral sclerite, margins of mesoscutum, mesoscutellum, metanotum, propodeum, remaining areas of mesosoma laterally, coxae, trochanters, posterior surfaces of pro- and mesofemora, anterior surface of metatibia, outer surfaces of tibiae, outer surfaces of pro- and mesobasitarsi, first metasomal tergum entirely, depressed marginal areas of second to fourth terga (apical fasciae), fifth tergum entirely, distal margin of first sternum, sides of second to fourth sterna, and entire distal margin of fifth sternum; setae longer on head and mesosoma than on metasoma (
Body color slightly lighter than female but with frons, vertex, gena dorsally, mesoscutum, and mesoscutellum black (
Pubescence in general longer and denser than female, particularly on discs of mesoscutum, mesoscutellum, and metasomal terga; clypeus, supraclypeal area, paraocular area, and frons densely covered by setae (integument obscured); procoxa with dense patch of short ferruginous setae above spine, coxa otherwise sparsely covered with branched setae. Fifth metasomal sternum with spatulate setae midbasally on postgradular area, setae otherwise minutely branched, except apicolaterally with long, simple setae; sixth sternum with dense spatulate setae basolaterally on postgradular area forming distinctive patch, otherwise setae apically flattened and curved; sternum eight without setae on or near lateral margin but ventrally with dense, minutely-branched setae on disc (
Photomicrographs of female holotype (KSMA) of
Photomicrographs of male paratype (SEMC) of
The specific epithet refers to the greater Riyadh area in Saudi Arabia, and from where the species was collected.
The species was captured visiting flowers of
Photographs of
Records of the occurrence of several megachiline species in Saudi Arabia remain to be confirmed and a key to species is therefore not presented at this time. The following key, which is modified from
1 | Females | 2 |
– | Males | 6 |
2(1) | Scopa absent; metasoma tapering from near base to narrow, apex often acutely pointed; cleptoparasite |
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– | Scopa present on metasomal sterna two through five or six; metasoma not distinctly tapering throughout its length; free living | 3 |
3(2) | Sixth metasomal sternum with a fringe of branched setae on or near apical margin; mandible with cutting edge in at least one interspace, sometimes hidden behind margin of interspace | 4 |
– | Sixth metasomal sternum without apical fringe of branched setae; mandible without cutting edges between teeth | 5 |
4(3) | Mandible five- or six-toothed, teeth (except first) similar and with similarly-shaped, incomplete cutting edges in second and third (and sometimes fourth) interspaces; apices of mandibular teeth roughly equidistant from nearest neighbors; preapical transverse mandibular groove distinct and filled with short, fine, pale setae |
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– | Mandible four- to five-toothed, teeth above first of different shapes and cutting edges often of different shapes; apices of mandibular teeth commonly separated from nearest neighbors by different distances; preapical transverse mandibular groove, if present, not filled with short, pale setae |
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5(3) | Distal margin of clypeus irregularly rounded (rarely weakly emarginate medially), usually strongly crenulate, produced well over base of labrum, not thickened; mandible usually slender with apical margin strongly oblique; head little developed posteriorly, ocelloccipital distance thus not greater than interocellar distance |
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– | Distal margin of clypeus truncate, not crenulate, often not much produced over base of labrum, but if rounded and somewhat crenulate, then margin thickened and impunctate; head usually much developed posteriorly, ocelloccipital distance thus greater than interocellar distance |
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6(1) | Sixth metasomal tergum with multispinose preapical carina, with two pairs of long, preapical spines, each spine of upper pair sometimes divided into two, or crenulate, rounded, or fused to other spine of pair; cleptoparasite |
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– | Sixth metasomal tergum with preapical carina not as above, often crenulate, medially emarginate, or sometimes reduced to two spines; free living | 7 |
7(6) | Fifth and sometimes sixth metasomal sterna exposed and generally similar to preceding sterna (sometimes fifth sternum largely hidden but sixth sternum exposed); lateral extremity of carina of sixth tergum directed basad, away from apical margin of tergum |
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– | Fifth and sixth metasomal sterna retracted, variously modified, less sclerotized, less punctate, and less setose than first to fourth sterna; lateral extremity of carina of sixth tergum absent or directed toward lateral extremity of apical margin of tergum | 8 |
8(7) | Eighth metasomal sternum without marginal setae but discal setae sometimes extending beyond margin laterally; metasoma usually less strongly convex and usually less than twice as long as wide |
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– | Eighth metasomal sternum |
9 |
9(8) | Toothed margin of mandible (three- to four-toothed) strongly oblique, nearly as long as distance from upper tooth to mandibular base; seventh metasomal tergum with narrow, median, apically-truncate projection extending well beyond teeth of sixth tergal carina; apex of gonostylus asetose or with very short, poorly-branched to simple setae |
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– | Toothed margin of mandible (three-toothed) less oblique, much shorter than distance from upper tooth to mandibular base; seventh metasomal tergum a low sclerite largely hidden behind sixth tergum, sometimes produced to small median spine; apex of gonostylus often with long, densely-branched setae on medial margin |
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The bee fauna of Saudi Arabia is rich but relatively little known biologically and taxonomically. Already several new species and new records are accumulating from the material collected by the authors (e.g.,
Including the species described herein, we found nine species of
Species of
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+ | + | + | Zambia [N.E. Rhodesia] | |
+ | – | – | Morocco, United Arab Emirates | |
+ | + | – | Greece | |
+ | – | – | Tanganyika, Democratic Republic of Congo [Belgian Congo], Zambia [N. Rhodesia], Malawi | |
+ | + | + | Zambia [N.E. Rhodesia] | |
+ | + | + | Tanganyika, Zambia [N. Rhodesia] | |
+ | + | + | Saudi Arabia | |
+ | + | + | S. India | |
+ | +* | – | Turkey |
1 Note that
2 Note that this species is possibly a junior synonym of
This work was supported by King Saud University, Deanship of Scientific Research, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences Research Center. The construction of photomicrographic plates was supported by the Engel Illustration Fund of the University of Kansas College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. We are grateful to two anonymous reviewers and M. Ohl for their constructive commentary. This is a contribution of the Division of Entomology, University of Kansas Natural History Museum.