Lundiana 4(2):117-120, 2003 © 2003 Instituto de Ciências Biológicas - UFMG ISSN 1676-6180 Exaerete lepeletieri (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Apini: Euglossina): a new cleptoparasitic bee from Amazonia

Marcio Luiz de Oliveira1 & André Nemésio2,3 1 Coordenação de Pesquisas em Entomologia. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia. Av. André Araújo, 2936, Bairro Petrópolis. Caixa Postal 478. Manaus, AM. 69.011-970. Brasil. E-mail: [email protected]. 2 Laboratório de Sistemática e Ecologia de Abelhas, Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais. Caixa Postal 486, Belo Horizonte, MG. 30.123-970. Brazil. E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]

Abstract Exaerete lepeletieri sp. n. (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Apini: Euglossina) is described from Amazonia. Its relationships with the other members of the genus are discussed, including a brief phylogenetic analysis.

Keywords: euglossine, new species, Amazonia.

Introduction Exaerete lepeletieri sp. n.

The genus Exaerete Hoffmannsegg (Hymenoptera: Apidae: HOLOTYPE: male, with the following data: “Brasil, Apini: Euglossina) is one of the two genera of orchid bees Acre, Rio Branco, 08/XII/1995, M.L. Oliveira, no. 0228” [the which comprise only cleptoparasitic species (Moure, 1964). latter on an additional label, handwritten in indelible ink] They are parasitic on nests of species in the genera Eulaema (INPA). PARATYPES: BRASIL, ACRE, RIO BRANCO, PZ Lepeletier and Eufriesea Cockerell, also in the subtribe [Parque Zoobotânico], 01/III/1994, M.L. Oliveira, 1 male Euglossina, although the hosts for some species are unknown [label handwritten in indelible ink], det. Camargo, 1995 [as (Kimsey, 1979). Five species are currently recognized in this “Exaerete smaragdina (Guérin, 1845), inf. Moure”] (INPA); genus – although Michener (1990, 2000) has mentioned six and idem, 22/VIII/1994, 08/XII/1995, idem, 2 males (INPA); idem, Silveira et al. (2002) ignored Ex. azteca, considering only four Res. [erva] Humaitá, 30/X/1994, 31/X/1994, idem, 2 males species. (INPA); idem, 09/09/1996, LUZ, M.M. leg. 1 male (UFMG); Moure (1964) has long recognized two “natural” groups in idem, 21/4/1993, 29/4/1993, 14/05/1993, 17/06/1993, 17/06/ Exaerete: the first including E. frontalis (Guérin-Méneville) 1993, E.S. Bezerra, 5 males, numbers, 20, 51, 55, 90 e 207 and E. smaragdina (Guérin-Méneville) and the second (UFMG); idem, 24/08/1995, 23/3/1995, 27/7/1995, 01/III/ including E. dentata (Linnaeus) and E. azteca Moure. Kimsey 1993, 20/09/1994, E.F. Morato leg., 9 males, numbers 36, 56, (1979) agreed with this arrangement and considered E. 216, 220, 287, 289, 375, and two ones not numbered (UFMG); trochanterica (Friese) to present characters of both species idem, Ent. [rada] Antimari, cineol, 23/9/1994, idem, 2 males groups being, thus, an intermediate between them – Moure (UFMG); idem, Parque Zoobotânico, 1 male, number 71F, ar- (1964) had not examined the latter species. madilha, cineol, 02/09/1997 (UFMG). This basic arrangement was supported by Engel’s (1999) phylogenetic study, which placed E. frontalis and E. Additional specimens examined and geographic distribution smaragdina on one branch, and the three remaining species on another one. The relations among the species in the latter group BRASIL. Roraima: Contá [Serra do], Confiança III, V remained unresolved. [vicinal] 17, 10°45’N 60°30’W, 21-Abr-99, Silva, S.J.R da, 1 In this paper a new species of Exaerete from Brazilian male, salicylate [sic] (MIRR-08294 ). Amazonas: Anavilhanas, Amazonia is described which closely resembles both E. 15/XI/1989, M.L. Oliveira, 1 male (INPA). Acre: Sena smaragdina and E. frontalis. Madureira, 17/3/1994, 23/3/1994, idem, 2 males, det. Camargo, 1995 [as “Exaerete smaragdina (Guérin, 1845 inf. Moure”] (UFMG); Plácido de Castro, 20/09/1994, idem, 1 male

Received 29.10.2003 3 To whom correspondence should be addressed. Accepted 03.12.2003 4 Museu Integrado de Roraima, Brazil. Distributed 30.12.2003

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(UFMG). Rondônia: Nova União, 10°50’55.3”S - ← 62°40’02.8”W (linha 40), S10°59.874’ W62°40.231’, 07/03/ 97, 01-Setembro-1997, Brown, Boina & Vieira, 3 males, RO- 14061, RO-14062 e 6072 (INPA); Mirante da Serra, linha 62, 11°03’55.6S - 62°39’55.7”, 15-maio-1997, idem, 1 male, RO- 9149 (INPA).

Color and vestiture: Uniformly green, with dark blue hues on thorax and legs and a bluish clypeus. Wings moderately dark brown, as in other Exaerete species. Pubescence very sparse, denser than that of E. frontalis, black and white on thorax and abdomen, predominantly black on thorax and predominantly white on abdomen; almost completely white near antennal sockets, on scape, and on ventral side of metasoma. Scape mostly metallic green.

Head: Width 6.2 mm; superior interorbital distance 2.2 Figure 1 – Lateral view of the head of Exaerete frontalis, showing the mm; scape 2.1 mm; eye length 4.3 mm; frons with a small frontal tubercle (indicated by arrow). medial knob (Figs. 1-3).

Body: Body length ca. 22 mm; anterior wing ca. 21 mm; ← tongue in repose reaching S-III; labial palpus two-segmented; scutellum 4.5 mm wide and 2.1 mm long, with a median low longitudinal tubercle between small lateral tubercles; scutellar posterior margin straight (Fig. 4) ; hypoepimeron with knob; abdominal width 7.8 mm.

Legs: Foretibia and forebasitarsus fringed with long, dense, fulvous and black hairs; mesotibia inflated; hindtibia with hairy glandular scar reaching apex and splitting it in two teeth; hindtibia slightly depressed basally (Fig. 5).

Abdomen: Tergum VII with longitudinal impunctate stripe; sternum VII trilobed - median lobe depressed relative to lateral ones, with setae covering apical margin of lobed section, setae on median lobe longer and darker (Fig. 6); apex of sternum-VIII lobed medially; gonostylus subtriangular laterally and completely clothed in dense setae, as in E. frontalis (see Figure 2 – Lateral view of the head of Exaerete lepeletieri sp. n., Kimsey, 1979:744); gonocoxal lobe obtusely angulate laterally, showing the small frontal tubercle (indicated by arrow). very similar to that of E. smaragdina (see Kimsey, 1979:744).

Etymology: The specific epithet is in honor of Amédée Lepeletier de Saint-Fargeau.

Attractive baits: Holotype collected in a cineole trap; paratypes collected attracted to cineole or methyl salicylate baits.

Female: Unknown.

Diagnosis: This species is very similar to both E. frontalis and E. smaragdina, from which it can be readily distinguished for combining specific characters of both species such as frons with a small medial knob (in E. frontalis it is very pronounced; in E. smaragdina it is absent) and median longitudinal tubercle present in the scutellum (as in E. smaragdina, but subtly less pronounced; absent in E. frontalis). The male hindfemur is slightly depressed basally (it is strongly depressed in E. Figure 3 – Lateral view of the head of Exaerete smaragdina, showing frontalis and not depressed in E. smaragdina). It also presents a no frontal tubercle. longitudinal impunctate stripe in the tergum VII, and a straight

118 A new cleptoparasitic bee from Amazonia

Figure 4 – Dorsal view of the scutellum of Exaerete lepeletieri sp. n. Figure 5 – Hind femur of Exaerete lepeletieri sp. n.

might expect if hybridism was involved. Unfortunately, however, Bonilla-Gomez (1999) did not collect most of the bees attracted to the baits, since she identified the bees in the field, releasing them afterwards. So, only the few voucher specimens (some 20 Exaerete) were seen. One of the paratypes E. lepeletieri sp. n. was sent to Dr. Gabriel A. R. Melo, at the Universidade Federal do Paraná, and he could compare it to other Exaerete species in that collection. According to him (pers. comm. to AN), some E. lepeletieri sp. n. individuals from western Amazonia were found identified as E. smaragdina. This resemblance between E. lepeletieri sp. n. and E. smaragdina reinforces the need of taxonomic studies among Euglossina, especially on Amazonian species, since Roubik (in press) also found sibling species of Euglossa (subgenera Glossura and Glossuropoda) to occur in Amazonia, Figure 6 – Dorsal view of the sternum VII of Exaerete lepeletieri and Oliveira (2000) has noted the same for the genus Eulaema. sp. n. In order to establish the phylogenetic affinities of E. lepeletieri sp. n., we used the same matrix and characters provided by Engel (1999). The data were submitted to Hennig86 (Fabris, 1988) for analysis using the ie* command. Three trees resulted of length 22, CI 0.77, and RI 0.88. The scutellar posterior margin, characters which are not present topology resulting from this analysis is identical to that neither in E. frontalis nor in E. smaragdina. obtained by Engel (1999:10), with the addition of E. lepeletieri sp. n. to the clade composed by E. smaragdina and E. frontalis. Discussion With the characters used the exact relations among these three species remained unresolved. The hypothesis that this species could be a hybrid between A full revision of the genus was not possible, since several E. frontalis x E. smaragdina was initially considered by one of hototypes of Exaerete species are lost. The type of E. frontalis us (AN), given the intermediate characters and the fact that E. (female) is lost, according to Moure (1967) and Kimsey & lepeletieri sp. n. is rarer than the other two species. Both E. Dressler (1986). The holotype of Exaerete lucida Erichson, a frontalis and E. smaragdina also occur in the Atlantic Forest male, considered by Moure (1967) and Kimsey & Dressler and Bonilla-Gómez (1999) collected them in good numbers in (1986) as a junior synonym of E. frontalis, is also lost. There is northern Espírito Santo state, southeastern Brazil. Part of no reference to the author of this synonymy. The same happens Bonilla-Gómez’s material is deposited at Coleção Entomológica to Exaerete aurata Erichson (holotype female, lost, junior of the Departamento de Zoologia of the Universidade Federal synonym of E. smaragdina). Exaerete cyanescens Cockerell, de Minas Gerais and these bees were examined. No individuals holotype female, is also considered a junior synonym of E. similar to E. lepeletieri sp. n. were found among them as one smaragdina (Moure, 1967, Kimsey & Dressler, 1986).

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Acknowledgements with descriptions of male genitalia and biology (Hymenoptera: Euglossini, Apidae). Journal of the Kansas We are indebted to Dr. David W. Roubik for sharing his Entomological Society, 52: 735-746. unpublished manuscript and for reading and commenting on Kimsey, L. S. & Dressler, R. L. 1986. Synonymic species list of earlier versions of this manuscript. Dr. Fernando A. Silveira Euglossini. The Pan-Pacific Entomologist, 62: 229-236. helped with phylogenetic analysis. Dr. Gabriel A. R. Melo Michener, C. D. 1990. Classification of the Apidae made valuable comments on the paratype sent to him. Elder (Hymenoptera). University of Kansas Scientific Bulletin, Ferreira Morato made more than 3,000 orchid bees collected in 54: 75-164. Acre state available to us. Henrique Corrêa Giacomini kindly prepared the illustrations and Jaime Bertoluci prepared the final Michener, C. D. 2000. The bees of the world. Baltimore, Johns art. José Albertino Rafael, Francisco Limeira de Oliveira and Hopkins University Press. xiv + 913 p. Marcio Cutrim helped us with the photographs. Moure, J. S. 1964. A key to the parasitic euglossine bees and a new species of Exaerete from Mexico (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). Revista de Biologia Tropical, 12: 15-18. Moure, J. S. 1967. A check-list of the known euglossine bees References (Hymenoptera, Apidae). Atas do Simpósio sobre a Biota Amazônica, 5(Zool.):395-415. Bonilla-Gómez, M. A. 1999. Caracterização da Estrutura Es- paço-temporal da Comunidade de Abelhas Euglossinas Oliveira, M. L. 2000. O gênero Eulaema Lepeletier, 1841 (Hymenoptera, Apidae) na Hiléia Bahiana. Tese de douto- (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Euglossini): filogenia, rado, Campinas. Universidade Estadual de Campinas. xii + biogeografia e relações com as Orchidaceae. Tese de Dou- 153p. torado, Ribeirão Preto. Universidade de São Paulo. 159 p. Engel, M. S. 1999. The first fossil Euglossa and phylogeny of Roubik, D. W. In press. Sibling species among Glossura and the orchid bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae; Euglossini). Glossuropoda in the Amazon region (Hymenoptera; Apidae: American Museum Novitates, 3272: 1-14. Euglossini). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society. Farris, J. S. 1988. Hennig86, Version 1.5. Program and Silveira, F. A.; Melo, G. A. R. & Almeida, E. A. B. 2002. Abe- documentation. Port Jefferson Station, NY. lhas Brasileiras. Sistemática e Identificação. Edição do autor. Belo Horizonte. 253p. Kimsey, L. S. 1979. An illustrated key to the genus Exaerete

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