Pseudoanthidium scapulare Le Divelec
Creators: name: Litman, Jessica R.
name: Fateryga, Alexander V.
name: Griswold, Terry L.
name: Aubert, Matthieu
name: Proshchalykin, Maxim Yu.
name: Divelec, Romain Le
name: Burrows, Skyler
name: Praz, Christophe J.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Megachilidae
Pseudoanthidium
Pseudoanthidium scapulare

description: PSEUDOANTHIDIUM SCAPULARE (LATREILLE, 1809)
(FIGS 2E, 9B, D, F, 10B, 11B, 12B, 13B, 14)
Anthidium scapulare Latreille, 1809: 46–47, 227, pl. 1, Fig. 8, ♀, Type locality: ‘Patria incognita’ [origin unknown]. Lectotype, ♀, designated by Tkalců, 1966: 63: ‘ scapulare ♀ ’, ‘ Lectotype of Anthidium scapulare Latr. ♀ 1965 Tkalců det.’, ‘Type O.U.M.’ (OUMNH).
Anthidium frontale Lepeletier de Saint Fargeau, 1841: 377–378, ♀, synon. nov. Type locality: ‘ Oran; envoyé par mon fils. Ma collection’ [Oran, Algeria; sent by my son. [My collection] Lectotype, ♀, by present designation: ‘anthidium frontale LP. ♀.’, ‘ Pseudoanthidium (Paraanthidiellum) lituratum Panz. J. Pasteels det. 1966’, ‘ Lectotype Anthidium frontale Lep. Le Divelec des. 2020’ [red label] (MNHN), ‘ Pseudoanthidium scapulare (Latreille, 1809) Le Divelec det. 2020’, ‘MNHN, Paris EY24646’ (Fig. 14).
Material examined: 89 females, 83 males (see Supporting Information, Table S1 for specimen data).
Distribution: Algeria, France, Morocco, Portugal, Spain (including Mallorca) and Tunisia (Fig. 6B).
Host-plant associations: A steraceae Algeria Centaurea calcitrapa L., Carduus sp., Onopordum macracanthum Schousb., Atractylis serratuloides (Cass.) DC., Cynara cardunculus L.; Verbenaceae Algeria Verbena officinalis L. (Aguib et al., 2010).
Remarks: Tkalců (1966) and Warncke (1980) considered A. scapulare as a junior synonym of P. nanum (= as lituratum Panzer), yet an examination of photographs of the lectotype of P. scapulare (Latreille, 1809) demonstrate that P. scapulare is distinct from P. nanum. Tkalců (1975) also came to this conclusion, but recognized P. scapulare as a subspecies of P. nanum (as lituratum Panzer), rather than a distinct species. Přidal (2004) eventually removed P. scapulare from synonymy with P. nanum (as P. lituratum), considering it a distinct species. The lectotype of P. scapulare is a badly worn female, but still corresponds to the morphological criteria associated with P. scapulare, namely in the relatively fine punctation on the second tergum and the overall aspect of the integument, which is glittery but not shiny. The male of P. scapulare is also clearly distinct from the males of other members of the complex, namely in the shape of the gonostylus, the shape of the sternal comb and the morphology of S2–S4. Ultra-conserved element analyses further demonstrate that P. scapulare is genetically distinct from other taxa in the complex, in particular from P. nanum. We thus agree with Přidal (2004) and Aguib et al. (2010) and consider P. scapulare as a distinct species from P. nanum.
A specimen of Anthidium frontale Lepeletier de Saint Fargeau, 1841 was discovered in the collections at the MNHN (Fig. 14). The handwriting on the label bearing the species name is discernible as that of Lepeletier de Saint Fargeau. As is typical of the Lepeletier de Saint Fargeau collection, the specimen bears no locality label; in this particular collection, such information is most often found pinned in the entomological drawer containing the specimens. Unfortunately, the individual in question has been dissociated from both its original drawer and some of its original labels; no information concerning its original collection locality is available. Although the specimen is not explicitly labelled as a type, the unusual yellow markings on the face are detailed in the species description of A. frontale, giving us reason to believe that this individual was used as this basis for the original description. Furthermore, the specimen is prepared on a short, thick pin characteristic of the Lepeletier de Saint Fargeau collection. We hereby designate this specimen as the lectotype for A. frontale. A careful examination indicates that it corresponds to the same taxon that we refer to here as P. scapulare and it bears the extensive yellow markings frequently seen in northern African populations of this species. Anthidium frontale was, until now, considered a synonym of Anthidiellum strigatum contractum Latreille, 1809 (Warncke, 1980). We hereby remove A. frontale from synonymy with Anthidiellum strigatum contractum and place it in synonymy with P. scapulare.
Diagnosis female: The female of P. scapulare may be distinguished from other members of this complex by the following combination of characters: overall impression of cuticle glittery but not shiny; punctation on terga, namely on T 1– T 2, narrow and dense with finely shagreened interspaces between punctures; posterior margin of T 1– T 4 glittery but not shiny (Fig. 9B, D, F). In their zone of overlap, differentiating females of P. scapulare from those of P. nanum is challenging (see ‘Diagnosis female’ under P. nanum for comparison).
Diagnosis male: The male of P. scapulare may be distinguished from other members of this complex by the following combination of characters: gonostylus approximately 1.25 times wider at apex than at base (nearly parallel sided in P. nanum and considerably more so in other species) (Fig. 10B); notch strongly U-shaped, deeper than notch is wide at opening and slightly offset at apex of gonostylus, so that interior tip of the notch is visibly wider than the exterior (notch either less deep in other species or V-shaped) (Fig. 10B); lateral comb on S 5 in shape of chevron, with longest teeth approximately equal to or greater in length than maximum width of hind basitarsus (either larger in other species, as in P. palestinicum, mitten-shaped, as in P. tenellum or even smaller in other species, such as P. nanum, P. stigmaticorne and P. cribratum) (Fig. 11B); posterior margin of S4 deeply emarginate at centre (not emarginate in other species); posterior, premarginal brush on S3 with hairs hooked at tips (hairs unhooked in P. tenellum and P. cribratum) (Fig. 12B); shiny, hairless zone on S3 between posterior premarginal brush of hairs and anterior zone of dense, velvety pilosity stretching nearly straight across entire width of sternum, with medial extension extending anteriorly along the midline of sternum (no shiny hairless zone in P. stigmaticorne; raised hairless zone matte in P. tenellum, extending across width of sternum but without medial extension; raised hairless zone in P. cribratum trapezoidal, without medial extension) (Fig. 12B); raised zone on S2 shiny, dark and in shape of chevron; posterior margin of S2 usually gently emarginate medially (not so in other species) (Fig. 13B); hairs on ventral surface of trochanter 3 very short, velvety and dense, tuft of longer hairs present at base of trochanter.
description: Published as part of Litman, Jessica R., Fateryga, Alexander V., Griswold, Terry L., Aubert, Matthieu, Proshchalykin, Maxim Yu., Divelec, Romain Le, Burrows, Skyler & Praz, Christophe J., 2022, Paraphyly and low levels of genetic divergence in morphologically distinct taxa: revision of the Pseudoanthidium scapulare complex of carder bees (Apoidea: Megachilidae: Anthidiini), pp. 1-51 in Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 195 (4) on pages 16-18, DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlab062, http://zenodo.org/record/5817276