Perdita bruneri Cockerell, 1897
Properties
Scientific Name: Perdita bruneri Cockerell, 1897
Common Name: Bruner's Fairy Bee
Taxonomy
Perdita bruneri Cockerell 1897: 23 [♂, not ♀].
Lectotype ♂, designated by Crawford (1915: 108). USA, Nebraska, West Point, August 1887, by L. Bruner [USNM no. 5841?].
Perdita Cockerelli Crawford 1906: 282 [♂, ♀]. Synonymy by Crawford (1915: 109).
Syntypes ♂, ♀. USA, Nebraska, West Point, [14 August 1903], by J.C. Crawford, on Grindiella squarosa, in copula [USNM no. 13890].
Taxonomic notes: Perdita cockerelli Crawford was described from multipe pairs taken in copula, but Crawford (1906: 282) never designated a specific type pair. Crawford (1906: 282) indicated that P. cockerelli was originally identified as a “larger than usual” specimen of P. bruneri, though indicated that P. bruneri females always fave a square supraclypeal mark, which is not the case, as the female of P. bruneri was later described as P. swenki Crawford, 1915. Perdita bruneri has the supraclypeal mark reduced to two spots, or entire absent (Crawford 1906: 283; Timberlake 1960: 11), the latter is the case with the female cotype specimen of P. cockerelli. Cockerell (1922: 9) confirmed Crawford’s synonymy.
DNA Barcode Index Number (BIN): BOLD:AAB2707
Interestingly, this BIN is shared with Perdita octomaculata (Say), a species more common in the east, though ranging as far west as Manitoba (Gibbs et al. 2023). Though Sheffield et al. (2014) recorded P. octomaculata from Saskatchewan (based on material in BOLD from Maple Creek (i.e., CCDB-06703 G07; CCDB-06703 G08), these may be P. bruneri.
Distribution in Canada: Crawford 1912 [AB, as P. cockerelli Crawford]; Criddle et al. 1924 [AB, MB]; Sheffield et al. 2014 [AB, MB]; Gibbs et al. 2023 [MB]; Onuferko et al. 2023 [AB, SK].
References
Crawford JC (1915) New North American Hymenoptera. Insecutor Inscitiae Menstruus 3: 107-109.
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
Crawford JC (1912) Notes on some Canadian bees. The Canadian Entomologist 44(12): 359-360.https://doi.org/10.4039/Ent44359-12
Gibbs J, Hanuschuk E, Miller R, Dubois M, Martini M, Robinson S, Nakagawa P, Sheffield CS, Onuferko T (2023) A checklist of the bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) of Manitoba, Canada. The Canadian Entomologist 155: E3.https://doi.org/10.4039/tce.2022.45
Criddle N, Curran CH, Viereck HL, Buckell ER (1924) The entomological record, 1923. Annual Report of the Entomological Society of Ontario 54: 87-102.
Crawford JC (1906) Three new species of bees. The Canadian Entomologist 38(8): 282-284.https://doi.org/10.4039/Ent38282-8
Cockerell TDA (1922) Bees of the genus Perdita from the western United States. American Museum Novitates 33: 1-14.
Onuferko TM, Buck M, Gibbs J, Sokoloff PC (2023) Asymmetric responses by bees and aculeate wasps to dune stabilisation across the southern Canadian prairies Insect Diversity and Conservation 16: https://doi.org/10.1111/icad.12659
Timberlake PH (1960) A revisional study of the bees of the genus Perdita F. Smith, with special reference to the fauna of the Pacific coast (Hymenoptera, Apoidea) Part IV. University of California Publications in Entomology 17(1): 1-156.
Cockerell TDA (1897) Some species of Perdita from Nebraska. Entomological News 8: 23-24.
Sociality: Solitary
Nesting: Ground
Pollen Specialization: Broad Oligolecty
Wintering Stage: Mature Larva
Crop Preference: Not Available
Non Crop Preference: Not Available
Distribution: Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan
Ecozone: Prairie