Anthophora peritomae Cockerell, 1905

Anthophora curta var. peritomae Cockerell, 1905: 272 [♂‚]

     Holotype ♂‚. USA, Colorado, Alamosa, 6 August 1903, by S.A. Johnson, on Cleome [i.e., Peritoma = Cleomella] [CAS no. 15469]

Anthophora peritomae var. interspersa Cockerell, 1907: 397 [♂‚] [*Orr et al. (2018) suggest this is a new name applied to type type material listed above, but see Species Notes below].

     Holotype ♂‚. USA, Colorado, Alamosa, 6 August 1903, by S.A. Johnson, on Cleome [i.e., Peritoma] []

Anthophora peritomae var. tinctula Cockerell, 1907: 397 [♀] [synonymy by Michener 1951: 1239].

     Holotype ♀. USA, New Mexico, Rociada, 8 August [no year provided], by W.P. Cockerell, on Grindelia nuda [CAS no. 15470]

Species Notes

Cockerell (1905) indicated that two males were collected by Mr. S.A. Johnson from Alamosa, Colorado on August 6, 1903 on Cleome. The two specimens differed, one being more robust, and has black hairs on the vertex and mesothorax, as in the female; the other is more slender, the abdomen especially being less robust, and the head and thorax without black hairs (Cockerell 1905). Cockerell (1905) indicated that the name A. curta var. peritomae should be applied to the pale haired specimen only. Cockerell (1907) later described A. peritomae var. interspersa, referring back to the two specimens from the 1905 paper (Cockerell 1905); however, for A. peritomae var. interspersa he referred to the material that was thought to be A. curta i.e., the dark haired male from Cockerell (1905), not A. curta var. peritomae. As such, the holotype male of Anthophora var. interspersa cannot be the same specimen as A. curta var. peritomae, as indicated by Orr et al. (2018), and must be the dark haired (i.e., second) specimen that Cockerell (1905) referred to.

The DNA Barcode Index Number (BIN) for this species is BOLD:AAN9431

Biology

Anthophora peritomae nests vertically in both tightly-packed sand and sandstone (Torchio 1971; Orr et al. 2016). Its parasite is Zacosmia maculata Cresson.

Extent of Occurrence (EOO) in Canada (http://geocat.kew.org/): 140,448 km²

Index of Area of Occupancy (IAO) in Canada (http://geocat.kew.org/): 176 km²

References

Cockerell TDA (1905) New bees from Colorado. Entomological News 16: 270–272.

Cockerell TDA (1907) Notes on some bees collected by Mr. H. L. Viereck in New Mexico in 1902. Entomological News 18: 395–398.

Michener CD (1951) Superfamily Apoidea. In: Muesebeck, C.F.W. & Krombein, K.V. (Eds.), Hymenoptera of America North of Mexico-Synoptic Catalog. U.S.D.A. Monograph no. 2, Washington, D.C., pp. 1043–1255.

Orr MC, Griswold T, Pitts JP, Parker FD (2016) A new bee species that excavates sandstone nests. Current Biology 26(17): R792–R793. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2016.08.001

Orr MC, Pitts JP, Griswold T (2018) Revision of the bee group Anthophora (Micranthophora) (Hymenoptera: Apidae), with notes on potential conservation concerns and a molecular phylogeny of the genus. Zootaxa 4511(1): 1-193. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4511.1.1

Torchio PF (1971) The biology of Anthophora (Micranthophora) peritomae Cockerell (Hymenoptera: Apoidea, Anthophoridae). Contributions in Science, Los Angeles County Museum 206: 1-13.