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Calliopsis chlorops Cockerell, 1899

Properties

Scientific Name: Calliopsis chlorops Cockerell, 1899

Common Name: Calliopsis chlorops

Taxonomy

Calliopsis chlorops Cockerell, 1899, in Cockerell and Porter (1899): 413 [♂].

     Holotype ♂. USA, New Mexico, Las Vegas, 9 August [no year provided], by W. Porter, on Grindelia squarrosa [CAS no. 15398].

 

Taxonomic Notes: In addition to the holotype, mouthparts of a paratype are slide mounted at the USNM [Slide no. 2390]. The ♀ of this species was described in part by Cockerell (1908), though he was not certain of the relationship between it and two other species, C. coloradensis and C. coloratipes. Both sexes were fully described by Shinn (1967), though he too only had a single female specimen from Morley, Colorado. Shinn (1967: 834) recognized four species groups of Calliopsima Shinn, 1967, placing C. chlorops in the crypta group; the other Calliopsima in Canada, C. coloradensis, was tentatively placed in the coloratipes group..

DNA Barcode Index Number (BIN)BOLD:AAK2214

This BIN is seemingly shared with C. coloradensis Cresson, though only a single specimen has yielded a DNA barcode sequence. As other C. chlorops specimens have not yielded DNA (n=12), this DNA barcode might be based on a misidentification.

Diagnosis: In Canada, Calliopsis chlorops is most similar to C. coloradensis Cresson and C. andreniformis Smith, all three species lacking the pale metasomal maculations present in Nomadopsis Ashmead (i.e., represented in Canada by C. australior Cockerell,C. barri Rozen, and C. scitula scitula Cresson). The female of C. chloropis can be distinguished from both C. andreniformis and C. coloradensis by the large pale maculations on the labrum and basal 1/3 to ½ of the mandible, which are both usually dark in the other two species; a small proportion of C. coloradensis examined from Canada have maculations on both these areas, though they are typically much smaller than observed in C. chlorops.

The male of C. chlorops and C. coloradensis lack the dense, velvety hair patches on the scutellum and metanotum which is present in C. andrenidormis, and both species have the tegula maculated, while C. andreniformis does not. The male of C. chlorops can be distinguished from C. coloradensis by the colouration of the fore tibia, which is largely brown on the posterior surface in C. chlorops, but more extensively yellow in C. coloradensis.

Biology: Little is known about the biology of this species. Shinn (1967: 862) listed a number of floral records, though these likely represent male specimens as Shinn indicated that the description of the female was based on a single specimen.

Distribution in Canada: Sheffield et al. 2014 [AB].

References

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

Shinn AF (1967) A revision of the bee genus Calliopsis and the biology and ecology of C. andreniformis (Hymenoptera, Andrenidae). University of Kansas Science Bulletin 46(21): 753-936.

Cockerell TDA, Porter W (1899) Contributions from the New Mexico Biological Station.—VII. Observations on bees, with descriptions of new genera and species. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Series 7 4(24): 403-421. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222939908678225

Sociality: Solitary
Nesting: Ground
Pollen Specialization: Narrow Oligolecty
Wintering Stage: Mature Larva

Crop Preference: Not Available
Non Crop Preference: Not Available

Distribution: Alberta
Ecozone: Prairie

Distribution Map