Heriades variolosus variolosus (Cresson, 1872)

Megachile variolosa Cresson, 1872: 270 [♀].

     Lectotype ♀, designated by Cresson (1916: 133). USA, Texas, by Belfrage [ANSP no. 2243].

Heriades odontophora Schletterer, 1889: 679 [♀]. Synonymy by Michener (1938: 519).

     Holotype ♀. USA [Nordamerika], New Jersey [?Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France - MNHN].

Heriades asteris Cockerell, 1897: 135 [♂]. Synonymy by Michener (1938: 519).

     Syntypes ♂. USA, New Mexico, Las Cruces, August [no year provided], by T.D.A. Cockerell [Ckll. 4626], on Aster spinosus [USNM no. 20227], and 3 September [no year provided], by T.D.A. Cockerell [Ckll. 4748], on Solidago canadensis [].

Trypetes barbatus Robertson, 1903: 171 [♂, not ♀]. Synonymy by Michener (1938: 519).

Trypetes productus Robertson, 1905: 236 [♂]. Synonymy by Michener (1938: 519).

     Lectotype ♂, designated by W.E. LaBarge, in Webb (1980:118). USA, Illinois, Carlinville, 3 June 1891, by C.A. Robertson [INHS, Robertson no. 11172].

Taxonomic Notes: Robertson (1905: 236) indicated that the male of his T. barbatus was not associated correctly with the female (the lectotype), and described it as a new species, Trypetes productus Robertson; this was synonymized under H. variolosa variolosa by Michener (1938: 519); the female holotype of T. barbatus was placed into synonymy with Heriades carinata Cresson by Michener (1938: 524). Michener (1938: 521) also considered Heriades purpurascens Cockerell, 1931 (from Mexico) as a subspecies of H. variolosa, feeling that it was inadvisable to fully synonymize it without sufficient material to examine.

DNA Barcode Index Number (BIN): BOLD:AAD6874

Biology: The nesting biology was studied by Fischer (1955) who found a single, likely incomplete nest in a hollow sumach (Rhus glabra L. ) twig, approximately 3 mm internal diameter, with the cells arranged in a linear fashion. Each cell was ca. 8.5 mm in length, with 1 mm cell partitions. Cell partitions consisted of soil and fine sand around the periphery, stuck to yellow-brown resin in the central disc.

Distribution in Canada: Michener 1938 [AB, ON]; Buckell 1950 [BC]; Hurd and Michener 1955 [BC, AB, SK, more?]; Mitchell 1962 [BC]; Richards et al. 2011 [ON]; Sheffield et al. 2014 [AB, SK, MB]; Rowe 2017 [BC, AB, SK, MB, ON]; Sheffield and Heron 2019 [BC]; BOLD [BC, AB].