Augochlora pura pura (Say, 1837)

Halictus purus Say, 1837: 395 [♀, ♂].

     Types ♀, ♂. USA [presumed destroyed].

Augochlora festiva Smith, 1853: 80 [♀]. Synonymy by Michener (1951: 1125).

     Holotype ♀. USA, Florida, St. John’s Bluff, by E. Doubleday, Esq. [BMNH].

Anglchlora pura Couper, 1881: 19. Lapsus of Augochlora pura (Say, 1837).

Augochlora Robertsoni Cockerell, 1897: 69 [♀]. Synonymy by Robertson (1897: 323).

     Holotype ♀. USA, Illinois, S. Illinois, by C. Robertson [?].

Augochlora Banksiella (pura subsp. ?) Cockerell, 1907: 533 [♀, ♂]. Synonymy by Crawford (1913: 243).

     Syntypes ♀, ♂. USA, Virginia, 4 May to 20 July [no year provided], by N. Banks; 21 June [no year provided], by N. Banks, on Ceanothus; Virginia, Great Falls, 20 April, by N. Banks; Maryland, Odenton, by N. Banks. [CAS no. 15191].

Halictus astios Vachal, 1911: 44 [♀]. Synonymy by J. S. Moure, in Mitchell (1960: 456).

     Lectotype ♀, desginated by J.S. Moure, in Moure and Hurd (1987: 267). USA, North Carolina, Elizabeth City, 22 January 1905, by Sherman [Musée de Paris].

Halictus astios var. (?) fuscatipes Vachal, 1911: 45 [♀]. Synonymy by J. S. Moure, in Mitchell (1960: 456).

     Lectotype ♀, desginated by J.S. Moure, in Moure and Hurd (1987: 267). USA, North Carolina, Eliz[abeth]. City [Musée de Paris].

Halictus asaphes Vachal, 1911: 49 [♀]. Synonymy by J. S. Moure, in Mitchell (1960: 456).

     Holotype ♀. USA, New York [Musée de Paris].

Augochlora palmarum Cockerell, 1922: 15 [♀, ♂]. Synonymy by Sandhouse (1937: 77).

     Holotype ♀. USA, Florida, Palm Beach, by C.F. Baker [USNM no. 24892].

Taxonomic notes: Say’s (Say 1837: 395-396) original description of Halictus purus Say, 1837, type species of the genus Augochlora Smith, 1853, is not entirely sufficient to distiguish Augochlora pura (Say, 1837) from Augochlorella aurata (Smith, 1853) as the first recurrent vein can be interstitial with the second intercubital vein in both genera. Say (1837: 396) also indicated that in the male, the “tibiae and tarsi yellowish-white” while Mitchell (1960: 457) suggested ferruginous; most specimens seen from Canada and the eastern USA have the tarsi, including the basitarsus, brown to only slightly paler than the tibia. However, there is no doubt that at least some of Say’s type material was indeed this species, as he provided the first details of its unique nesting biology within decomposing wood which is not a characteristic of Augochlorella. However, Sandhouse (1937: 66) clearly diagnosed Augochlora and Augochlorella, so designation of a neotype for Halictus purus is likely not warranted to stabilize the taxonomy.

Smith (1879: 45) later described what he thought was the male of A. festiva Smith, 1853 from Santarem (Brazil), indicating that the metasoma was pale ferruginous with a green apex, with the apical margins of the of the posterior segments blackish; this was later determined to be incorrectly associated with the female from Florida, and renamed Augochlora festivaga Dalla Torre, 1896 by Dalla Torre (1896: 95) (see Schrottky 1903: 399).

Though Michener (1951: 1125) and Hurd (1979: 1949) indicated that Augochlora Banksiella Cockerell, 1907 was described from the ♀ only, Cockerell (1907: 533) did mention the ♂ as having the tarsi ferruginous; the ♂ is therefore included as part of the syntypes above. Sandhouse (1937: ) indicated that she examined the type of Augochlora Banksiella Cockerell, 1907 in the USNM, though it is at CAS (Moure and Hurd 1987: 267); the synonymy of Crawford (1913: 243) was not based on examination of material from the type location.

Vachal (1911: 44) suspected the synonymy of his Halictus astios Vachal, 1911 with Augochlora festiva Smith, 1853. J.S. Moure (in Moure and Hurd 1987: 267) designated lectotypes for Halictus astios and Halictus astios var. fuscatipes Vachal, 1911 from material in the Musée de Paris in 1958 (see Mitchell 1960: 456), but the designations were not actually published until done so by Moure and Hurd (1987: 267).

Halictus asaphes Vachal, 1911 had previously been treated as a synonymy of Augochlorella striata (Provancher, 1888) = Augochlorella aurata (Smith, 1853) by Sandhouse (1937: 70) though there was no indication that she examined Vachal’s type. J.S. Moure, in Mitchell (1960: 456) examined the type material in the Musée de Paris and placed it into synonymy with A. pura pura (Say, 1837), and also apparently examined the type materials and confirmed the synonymies of Halictus astios Vachal, 1911 and Halictus astios var. (?) fuscatipes Vachal, 1911 under A. pura, supporting the earier synonyms of Crawford (1913: 243) and Sandhouse (1937: 77), respectively: as Crawford (1913) and Sandhouse (1937) made no mention of type materials examined (the latter indicating the locations were unknown), J.S. Moure (in Mitchell 1960) is credited with the synonyms.

Though Sandhouse (1937: 77) treated Augochlora mosieri Cockerell, 1922 as a synonym of A. pura (Say, 1837), Mitchell (1960: 458) and Krombein (1967: 469) considered it a valid subspecies endemic to Florida characterized by a deep blue to purple colour (and see Cockerell 1922: 15), and pleural punctation. As such, it is not included as a synonym above.

DNA Barcode Index Number (BIN): BOLD:AAD6445

Biology: The nesting behaviour of this species was first described by Say (1837), and studied in detail by Stockhammer (1966) and Barrows (1973). Females excavate nests in decomposing wood (Say 1837; Stockhammer 1966; Barrows 1973). The chemical composition of the waxy brood cell lining was studied by May (1974). Pahlke et al. (2020) reported that the loss of social behaviour in this species has resulted in a reduced investment in neural composition (i.e., mushroom body volume).

Distribution in Canada: Smith 1853 [NS]; Couper 1881 [QC]; Provancher 1882 [Canada?]; Evans 1896 [ON]; Walker 1913 [ON]; Criddle et al. 1924 [ON, QC]; Sandhouse 1937 [ON, QC]; Pengelly 1953 [ON]; Knerer and Atwood 1962 [ON]; Finnamore and Neary 1978 [NS]; Sugar et al. 1999 [ON]; Packer et al. 2007 [ON, Maritimes]; Discover Life [NB, PE].