Pseudapis lisetae Pauly & Monks & Polaszek 2023, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Pauly, Alain
name: Monks, Joseph
name: Polaszek, Andrew
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Halictidae
Pseudapis
Pseudapis lisetae

description: Pseudapis lisetae Pauly & Monks sp. nov.
(Figs 7–11)
Description. Male. Length 6 mm. Colour: body black; mandibles, undersides of antennae, tibiae and sterna brown (Fig. 7); apical lobe of hind tibiae, tarsi (except distal segment of mid legs and all segments of hind tarsi) ivory white; tegulae white with a very reduced dark central patch. Basal part of terga 1-3 brown.
Pubescence slightly ochraceous white (Fig. 8A). Face covered with white pubescence up to the ocelli (Fig. 9A); area of ocelli and vertex partially covered with pubescence, but not completely obscuring punctuation; anterior and posterior edge of the scutum, lateral lamellae of the pronotum and metanotum with short scaly pubescence (Fig. 9B); base and lateral parts of the first tergum (Fig. 9E), base and apical margin of subsequent terga with felted bands (Fig. 9F). Femora all along the lower part with short, scaly bristles (Fig. 8B). Tibiae covered with white pubescence (Fig. 8B).
Punctation and structures. Mesoscutum smooth with medium strength punctation, the distance between punctures equal to their diameters (Fig. 9C). Scutellum without projections (Fig. 9C). Posterior femora slightly swollen. Propodeal area narrow, slightly grooved and keeled posteriorly (Fig. 8D). Posterior tibiae with a slightly developed lobe (Fig. 8B). Distal tarsal segment of the mid legs black, slightly dilated, without long bristles. Terga smooth with strong punctation in the middle, denser and finer on the apical margins (Figs 9E, F). Apical margin of tergum 2 expanded medially (Fig. 9F). Sternum 4 without specific structures, sternum 5 with a medio-apical keel comprising two closely spaced lamellae.
Female. Length 6–6.5 mm. Colour: Body and legs red-brown (Fig. 10). Tegulae white with a dark spot at the base (Fig. 11C).
Pubescence white. Face and vertex covered with pubescence (Fig. 11A). Lateral keels of the pronotum, anterior and posterior edge of the scutum and scutellum, entire metanotum and flanks of the propodeum with dense felted pubescence (Fig. 11B, D), front of the scutum with scale-like pubescence (Fig. 11C). Tergum 1 with the basal half and flanks lined with pubescence (Fig. 11E). Tergum 2 with a broad basal band and an apical band. Subsequent terga almost entirely covered with felted pubescence (Fig. 11F).
Punctation and structure. Mesoscutum smooth, the punctures of average size, the distance between punctures equal to their diameter (Fig. 11C). Propodeal area narrow, slightly grooved and keeled posteriorly (Fig. 11D). Relatively fine and dense punctation of the terga on the base and the apical margin, almost absent in the middle (Figs 11E, F).
Diagnosis. This species belongs to the genus Pseudapis by its large tegulae and the apical bands on the terga (in the close genus Nomiapis there are only basal bands).
Male. The species is close to Pseudapis crassivertex Bossert & Pauly, 2019 and P. nubica (Warncke, 1976): the sternum 4 does not have structures, and sternum 5 has a small medio-apical keel. Hind tibiae are narrow shaped, and femora have short, scaly bristles all along the length of the lower part. Distal tarsal segments of anterior and median legs oval and black. The new species differs however from these two species by the scutellum lacking spines. The vertex is a little less developed than in P. crassivertex and has some felted pubescence behind the ocelli, which is not found in P. crassivertex (see Fig. 7A in Bossert and Pauly).
The species is also close to the Palaearctic species Pseudapis tadzhica (Popov, 1956), a species similar having the short tibial lobe and unmodified sternum 4, but which differs by sternum 5 without apical keel and scutellum with two projections.
The new species differs from P. duplocincta (Vachal, 1897) and P. innesi (Gribodo, 1894) (Figs 167 and 169 in Pauly, 1990) by having the tibiae of hind legs narrow (Fig. 8B).
With the key of Bossert & Pauly (2019) to the males of Pseudapis, we arrive at couplet 19. The keys should be updated as follow:
19. Lobe of hind tibiae narrow (Fig. 8B) …........................................ P. lisetae Pauly & Monks sp. nov. - Lobe of hind tibiae well developed ((Figs 167 and 169 in Pauly, 1990) …....................................... 19a 19a. Couplet 19 in Bossert & Pauly (2019) … P. duplocincta (Vachal, 1897) and P. innesi (Gribodo,................... 1894)
Female. In the key of Bossert & Pauly (2019) we arrive at couplet 6. The species is close to P. crassivertex and P. nubica by the small size, the scutum smooth, the propodeal area with a small posterior carina, and the dense punctation of tergum 1. The new species differs by the much denser punctation on the scutum. The vertex is a little less developed than in P. crassivertex and covered with white felting (compare Fig. 11 A, B with Fig. 6D and 7B in Bossert & Pauly, 2019). The body is entirely red-brown while in P. crassivertex it is mostly black. The body is slightly larger (6-6,5 mm) than P. crassivertex. The lateral sides of the propodeum bear two types of punctation, one wide, spaced and shallow, the other very thin and dense. The propodeal area is narrow and keeled posteriorly.
Etymology. Named for Liset Lansaat, niece of the third author (Andrew Polaszek).
Holotype. 1♁, Oman, Old road to Sur, 23°10.03′N 058°06.12′E, 560 m, 23.VI.2016, Blepharis ciliaris, leg. J. Monks (NHMUK).
Paratypes. 3♀, idem (1 PT NHMUK; 1 PT ONHM; 1 PT RBINS).
Geographic distribution. The species is known only from the typical locality in Oman (Fig. 1C, blue dot).
Host plants. Pseudapis lisetae was collected while visiting the flowers of Blepharis ciliaris (L.) (Acanthaceae) (Fig. 12D). This small perennial contains small purple to purple-blue flowers with a white corolla, with the flowers occurring on short spikes. B. ciliaris is abundant in rocky, arid sites such as along the sides of wadis and grows from 10- 800 m. Outside of Oman the plant is found in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iran and Pakistan (Ghazanfar 2015). More data concerning visited plants are needed to confirm Pseudapis lisetae is a polylectic bee as is the case for other Pseudapis species.
description: Published as part of Pauly, Alain, Monks, Joseph & Polaszek, Andrew, 2023, Two new species of Pseudapis Kirby, 1900 (Hymenoptera: Halictidae: Nomiinae) from Oman, pp. 107-121 in Zootaxa 5263 (1) on pages 114-118, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5263.1.6, http://zenodo.org/record/7797874