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Anthidium porterae Cockerell, 1900

Properties

Scientific Name: Anthidium porterae Cockerell, 1900

Common Name: Porter s Carder Bee

Taxonomy

Anthidium porterae Cockerell, 1900: 411 [♂, ♀].

     Lectotype , designated by Gonzalez and Griswold (2013: 343). USA, New Mexico, Las Vegas, 11 August 1899, by W. Porter, on Petalostemon candidus [AMNH].

Anthidium porterae var. amabile Cockerell, 1904: 7 [♂]. Synonymy by Swenk (1914: 13), by Michener (1951: 1142).

     Holotype . USA, New Mexico, Pecos [USNM no. 9655].

Anthidium porterae personulatum Cockerell, 1907: 135 [♀, ♂]. Synonymy by Michener (1951: 1142).

     Lectotype , designated by Gonzalez and Griswold (2013: 343). USA, Colorado, Boulder, 8 August 1906, by W.P. Cockerell, on Psoralea tenuiflora [AMNH].

 

Taxonomic Notes: Gonzalez and Griswold (2013: 344-345) indicated that the specimen chosen for the lectotype designation of A. porterae Cockerell was the only male in the type series available for examination; the single female, and presumably the second male specimen from the Mesilla Valley, Aug. 23, at flowers of Cevallia sinuata (Ckll.) (Cockerell 1900: 411) are apparently missing.

Cockerell (1907: 135) described both sexes of A. porterae personulatum Cockerell from the same location and time, though did not indicate how many specimens of each there were; Gonzalez and Griswold (2013: 344) indicated that each male and female in the AMNH had a “type” label, but they also do not indicate how many specimens in total, but did indicate that the male (so presumably there is only one) was chosen as the lectotype.

Gonzalez and Griswold (2013: 343) credit the synonymy of A. porterae var. amabile Cockerell with A. porterae Cockerell to Michener (1951: 1141, this should be 1142), though Swenk (1914) also made this synonymy (though not of A. porterae personulatum Cockerell), so is given credit. Cockerell (1904: 7, 1907: 135) indicated that var. amabile Cockerell referred to males with a very red abdomen.

Isensee (1927: plate XXXII, fig. 6) illustrated the male genitalia.

DNA Barcode Index Number (BIN): BOLD:AAF1542

Biology: Villalobos and Shelly (1991) indicated that males are territorial at host plants preferred by females, without courtship. Males attempted mating with females on flowers of host plants, with mating lasting about 32 seconds  (Villalobos and Shelly 1991).

Distribution in Canada: Cockerell 1912 [AB]; Criddle et al. 1924 [AB]; Sheffield et al. 2014 [AB].

All reports of this species from Canada are based on Cockerell’s (1912: 293) record of this species from Calgary, Alberta, by Miss Ricardo, is in the BMNH. Presumably, the record by Michener (1951: 1142) from BC is in error. Gonzalez and Griswold (2013: 344) did not record this species from Canada.

References

Cockerell TDA (1904) Some bees from San Miguel County, New Mexico. Entomologist 37: 5-9.

Cockerell TDA (1900) Observations on bees collected at Las Vegas, New Mexico, and in the adjacent Mountains. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Series 7 5(29): 401-416.https://doi.org/10.1080/00222930008678307

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

Criddle N, Curran CH, Viereck HL, Buckell ER (1924) The entomological record, 1923. Annual Report of the Entomological Society of Ontario 54: 87-102.

Michener CD (1951) Family Megachilidae. 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. Pp. 1136-1186.

Cockerell TDA (1907) New anthidiine bees from Colorado. The Canadian Entomologist 39(4): 135-136. https://doi.org/10.4039/Ent39135-4

Gonzalez VH, Griswold TL (2013) Wool carder bees of the genus Anthidium in the Western Hemisphere (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae): diversity, host plant associations, phylogeny, and biogeography. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 168: 221-425. https://doi.org/10.1111/zoj.12017

Swenk MH (1914) Studies of North American bees. II. Family Stelididae. University Studies of the University of Nebraska 14(1): 1-36.

Hicks CH (1926) Nesting habits and parasites of certain bees of Boulder County, Colorado. University of Colorado Bulletin 15: 217-252.

Cockerell TDA (1912) Two bees new to Canada. The Canadian Entomologist 44(10): 293.https://doi.org/10.4039/Ent44293-1

Isensee R (1927) A study of the male genitalia of certain anthidiine bees. Annals of the Carnegie Museum 17(3-4): 371-384.

Villalobos EM, Shelly TE (1991) Correlates of male mating success in two species of Anthidium bees (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 29(1): 47–53. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4600582

Sociality: Solitary

Crop Preference: Not Available
Non Crop Preference: Not Available

Distribution: Alberta
Ecozone: Prairie

Distribution Map