Agapostemon obliquus (Provancher, 1888)
Properties
Scientific Name: Agapostemon obliquus (Provancher, 1888)
Common Name: Oblique Striped Sweat Bee
Taxonomy
Augochlora obliqua Provancher, 1888: 318 [♀].
Lectotype ♀, designated by Sheffield and Perron (2014: 130). CANADA, British Columbia, Vancouver [ULQC no. 1477].
Agapostemon Cockerelli Crawford, 1901: 161 [♀]. Synonymy by Janjic and Packer (2003: 104).
Holotype ♀. USA, New Mexico, Mesilla Park, 30 April 1900, by T.D.A. Cockerell, on Fallugia paradoxa acuminata [USNM no. 18957].
Taxonomic notes: Sandhouse (1937: 79), Michener (1951: 1126), Hurd (1979: 1949) did not treat Provancher’s species in their treatments of augochlorine bees, seemingly not aware it was actually a species of Agapostemon Guérin-Méneville, 1844. Moure and Hurd (1987: 205) were the first to correctly place Augochlora obliqua Provancher, 1888 within Agapostemon, though as a possible synonym of A. texanus Cresson, 1872. Janjic and Packer (2003: 104) correctly recognized it as the valid name for A. cockerelli Crawford, 1901.
The ♂ was first described as A. cockerelli by Cockerell (1927: 155) from material collected in Arizona. Roberts (1972: 471) also indicated that the male paratypes of A. martini Cockerell, 1927 were also A. cockerelli, and fully described both sexes.
DNA Barcode Index Number (BIN): BOLD:AAB0974
This BIN is shared with Agapostemon femoratus Crawford, 1901 and Agapostemon sericeus (Forster, 1771).
Distribution in Canada: Provancher 1888 [BC, though he did consider it "extra limina"]; Sandhouse 1936 [BC, AB]; Michener 1951 [BC]; Sheffield et al. 2014 [AB, likely misidentification, see below]; Sheffield and Heron 2019 [BC].
Though Provancher (1888: 318) indicated that the type locality was Vancouver, it seems unlikley due to the known distribution of this species (i.e., Roberts 1972, 1973, as A. cockerelli). Several of the species described by Provancher were not labelled with collection information, and he received material from California (Los Angeles area) which could have been incorrectly associated with the specimens in this case. More work is required to verify its presence in Canada, including specimens recorded from Alberta. Sandhouse (1936: 80) listed A. cockerelli Crawford from BC and AB, though it is likely that these records represent some of the other species that she incorrectly synonymized under A. cockerelli which do occur in the BC. However, the AB specimen in question was collected more recently (1992) by C.D. Michener.
References
Provancher L (1888) Additions et Corrections au Volume II de la Faune Entomologique du Canada Traitant des Hyménoptères. Quebec, Darveau.
Crawford JC (1901) North American bees of the genus Agapostemon Guerin. Publications of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences 7: 156-165.
Hurd PD (1979) Superfamily Apoidea. In: Krombein KV, Hurd Jr PD, Smith DR, Burks BD (Eds) Catalog of Hymenoptera in America North of Mexico. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, 2735 pp.
Janjic J, Packer L (2003) Phylogeny of the bee genus Agapostemon (Hymenoptera: Halictidae). Systematic Entomology 28(1): 101-124.https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-3113.2003.00204.x
Michener CD (1951) Superfamily Apoidea. In: Muesebeck CF, Krombein KV, Townes HK (Eds) Hymenoptera of America north of Mexico Synoptic Catalog. 2. United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Monograph, Washington, 1420 pp.
Roberts RB (1973a) Bees of Northwestern America: Agapostemon (Hymenoptera: Halictidae). Technical Bulletin of the Agricultural Experiment Station, Oregon State University 125: 1-23.http://hdl.handle.net/1957/8697
Sandhouse GA (1936) The bees of the genus Agapostemon (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) occurring in the United States. Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences 26: 70-83.
Sheffield CS, Frier SD, Dumesh D (2014) The bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea, Apiformes) of the Prairies Ecozone, with comparisons to other grasslands of Canada. In: Giberson DJ, Cárcamo HA (Eds) Arthropods of Canadian Grasslands (Volume 4): Biodiversity and Systematics Part 2. 4. Biological Survey of Canada, Ottawa, 479 pp. [ISBN 978-0-9689321-7-9].https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.3752/9780968932179.ch11
Cockerell TDA (1927) Bees of the genera Agapostemon and Augochlora in the collection of the California Academy of Sciences. The Pan-Pacific Entomologist 3(4): 153-162.https://biostor.org/reference/224519
Roberts RB (1972) Revision of the bee genus Agapostemon. University of Kansas Science Bulletin 49: 437-590.https://biostor.org/reference/145357
Sheffield CS, Heron JM (2019) The bees of British Columbia (Hymenoptera: Apoidea, Apiformes). Journal of the Entomological Society of British Columbia 115: 44-85.https://journal.entsocbc.ca/index.php/journal/article/view/1001/1097
Moure JS, Hurd PD (1987) An annotated catalog of the halictid bees of the Western Hemisphere (Hymenoptera: Halictidae). Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C. vii + 405 pp.
Sandhouse GA (1937) The bees of the genera Augochlora, Augochlropsis and Augochlorella (Hymenoptera; Apoidea) occurring in the United States. Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences 27: 65-79.
Sociality: Solitary
Nesting: Ground
Pollen Specialization: Polylectic
Wintering Stage: Adult
Crop Preference: Not Available
Non Crop Preference: Not Available
Distribution: Alberta, British Columbia
Ecozone: Pacific Maritime, Prairie