Nomada bella bella Cresson, 1863
Properties
Scientific Name: Nomada bella bella Cresson, 1863
Common Name: Nomada bella
Taxonomy
Nomada bella Cresson, 1863: 287 [♂].
Lectotype ♂, designated by Cresson (1916: 113). USA, Massachusetts, by E. Norton [ANSP no. 2577].
Nomada albofasciata Smith, 1879: 100 [♂]. Synonymy by Mitchell (1962: 346).
Holotype ♂. CANADA [BMNH].
Nomada (Gnathias) bella callura Cockerell, 1911: 657 [♂].
Holotype ♂. USA, Colorado, West Cliff, by T.D.A. Cockerell (W.H. Ashmead Collection) [USNM no. 13437].
Taxonomic Notes: The ♀ of N. bella Cresson was described by Robertson (1897: 340), though was likely not associated properly as the male has bidentate mandibles which would place the species in subgenus Gnathias (sensu Mitchell 1962); the female described by Robertson (1897) has simple mandibles. The ♀ was seemingly known to Swenk (1915: 18) and Cockerell (1921: 8), though the former considered the ♀ equivalent to N. maculata Cresson (Swenk 1913: 91, 1915: 18) (also a Gnathias sensu Mitchell 1962); Cockerell (1921: 8) commented that the females recognized by Swenk (1913: 92) from Colorado were later identifed as N. schwarzi (Swenk 1915: 18). Mitchell (1962: 346) did not accept Robertson’s description of the ♀, nor Swenk’s (1913: 91) synonymy of N. maculata Cresson under N. bella bella, instead considering it a valid species (Mitchell 1962: 350). Mitchell (1962: 346) offered no description of the female of N. bella bella: it is seemingly known but remains undescribed (see Giles and Ascher 2006: 217); a female specimen photographed at the Packer Collection identified as N. bella is from Chase, BC, 4 June 1920, by W.B. Anderson.
Cockerell (1911: 657) described the subspecies Nomada bella callura Cockerell which is considered valid (Mitchell 1962: 347; ) but has not been recorded from Canada.
Swenk (1913: 96) thought that N. albofasciata Smith was likely a form of N. lepida Cresson, though it was later placed into synonymy with N. bella bella Cresson (Mitchell 1962: 346).
Biology: J.S. Ascher (cited in Giles and Ascher 2006: 217) indicated that the probably host of N. bella Cresson is Andrena imatatrix Cresson, a rather common, widespread species across southern Canada and much of the United States.
Distribution in Canada: Smith 1879 [Canada, as N. albofasciata Smith, type location]; Provancher 1888 [QC]; Cockerell 1903 [BC, and Canada as N. albofasciatus Smith]; 1912 [Canada, as N. albofasciata Smith], 1922 [SK, as N. albofasciata Smith]; Criddle 1926 [BC, and as N. albofasciata Smith]; Mitchell 1962 [QC]; Hurd 1979 [QC]; Sheffield et al. 2009 [NS], 2014 [AB]; Sheffield and Heron 2019 [BC]; BOLD [NS]
References
Provancher L (1888) Additions et Corrections au Volume II de la Faune Entomologique du Canada Traitant des Hyménoptères. Quebec, Darveau.
Cockerell TDA (1922) Bees in the collection of the United States National Museum.—4. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 60: 1-20.
Hurd PD (1979) Superfamily Apoidea. In: Krombein KV, Hurd Jr PD, Smith DR, Burks BD (Eds) Catalog of Hymenoptera in America North of Mexico. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, 2735 pp.
Mitchell TB (1962) Bees of the Eastern United States. Volume 2. North Carolina Agricultural Experimental Station Technical Bulletin 152, Raleigh, 557 pp.
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
Sheffield CS, Hebert PD, Kevan PG, Packer L (2009) DNA barcoding a regional bee (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) fauna and its potential for ecological studies. Molecular Ecology Resources 9: 196-207.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1755-0998.2009.02645.x
Smith F (1879) Descriptions of New Species of Hymenoptera in the Collection of the British Museum. Taylor and Francis, London, 240 pp.
Sheffield CS, Heron JM (2019) The bees of British Columbia (Hymenoptera: Apoidea, Apiformes). Journal of the Entomological Society of British Columbia 115: 44-85.https://journal.entsocbc.ca/index.php/journal/article/view/1001/1097
Criddle N (1926) The entomological record, 1925. Annual Report of the Entomological Society of Ontario 56: 94-107.
Cresson ET (1916) The Cresson types of Hymenoptera. Memoirs of the American Entomological Society 1: 1-141.
Cresson ET (1863) On the North American species of the genus Nomada. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Philadelphia 2: 280-312.
Giles V, Ascher JS (2006) A survey of the bees of the Black Rock Forest Preserve, New York (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). Journal of Hyemnoptera Research 15: 208-231.https://biostor.org/reference/368
Cockerell TDA (1911) Bees in the collection of the United States National Museum. 1. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 39(1806): 635-658.
Sociality: Parasitic
Nesting: Ground
Pollen Specialization: Not Applicable
Crop Preference: Not Available
Non Crop Preference: Not Available
Distribution: Alberta, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec
Ecozone: Atlantic Maritime, Boreal Shield, Mixwood Plains, Prairie