Hoplitis (Anthocopa) widmeri Müller 2022, spec. nov.
Creators: name: Müller, Andreas
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Megachilidae
Hoplitis
Hoplitis widmeri

description: Hoplitis (Anthocopa) widmeri spec. nov.
Holotype. MOROCCO: Drâa-Tafilalet: Tizi-n-Tagergoust, 5 km E Tazenakht, 1400 m, 22.4.2008, ♂ (leg. M. Herrmann). Deposited in the Entomological Collection of ETH Zurich.
Paratypes. MOROCCO: Drâa-Tafilalet: 20 km SE Quarzazate, 30°47ʹN/6°43ʹW, 10.4.1996, 1♀ (leg. J. Gusenleitner); Quaouzagour, 30 km E Agdz, 30°41ʹN/6°08ʹW, 15.4.1996, 1♀ (leg. M. Schwarz); Dra valley, near Agdz, 4.3.2006, 1♀, 5♂ (leg. A. Müller, M. Widmer); Tizi-n-Tagergoust, 5 km E Tazenakht, 1400m, 22.4.2008, 12♀ (leg. A. Müller, C. Sedivy, M. Herrmann); N Tazenakht, 1500 m, 23.4.2008, 3♀, 1♂ (leg. F. Amiet); Errachidia, 32°02ʹN/4°26ʹE, 1160 m, 28.4.2015, 1♀ (leg. K. Denes); El Miyit, 30.36474N / 5.62471W, 20.3.2016, 1♂ (leg. S. Grabener); Guelmim-Oued Noun: 2.75 km SW Ifrane Atlas Saghir, 29°12ʹ09ʹʹN/9°30ʹ19ʹʹW, 740m, 17.4.2017, 2♀, 1♂ (leg. A. Müller). Deposited in the Entomological Collection of ETH Zurich and the private collection of M. Schwarz (Ansfelden).
Diagnosis. The 6.5–8 mm long female of H. widmeri is morphologically almost identical to H. sedivyi (see above), which was found to cooccur with H. widmeri at several localities. The females of these two species differ by the shape of the fore tibial spur, whose apex is very short in H. widmeri (Fig. 29) but extended into a long tip in H. sedivyi (Fig.18) and by the sculpture of the supraclypeal area, whose punctation is strongly blurred with completely dull interspaces in H. widmeri (Fig. 28) but distinct with polished interspaces in H. sedivyi. In addition, the punctation of the clypeus is finer and the tegulae are usually brighter in H. widmeri. Diagnostic character of the 6.5–7.5 mm long male of H. widmeri is the narrow brush of yellowish to brownish hairs arising from the middle of the slightly emarginate apical margin of sternum 5 (Fig. 30); this brush, however, is more or less concealed under the normal whitish sternal pilosity and therefore often difficult to see unless sternum 5 is well prepared. Additional characters are the shape of tergum 7, which ends in two widely spaced, rather narrow and more or less parallel-sided teeth about 1.75x as long as wide, the dorsoventrally flattened gonoforceps, whose maximum width slightly exceeds the apical width of the penis valve (Fig. 31) and the roundish, impunctate and more or less polished medioapical impression on sternum 6 (Fig. 30).
Description. FEMALE (Fig. 26): Body length 6.5–8 mm. Head: Head about 0.85x as long as wide. Distance between lateral ocellus and preoccipital margin 1.65–1.75x as long as ocellar diameter. Maximum width of genal area about 0.8x as long as maximum width of compound eye. Mandible four-toothed (basalmost tooth very small and in worn specimens sometimes completely fused with neighbouring tooth) and of black colour except for narrow dark reddish-brown preapical zone. Clypeus medially bulged and very densely punctured with only linear interspaces; its apical margin polished and mostly impunctate, black to dark reddish-brown and medially prolonged into short, regularly rounded, flat, sharp and polished projection lacking median impression (as in H. sedivy, Fig. 17). Supraclypeal area completely dull, its punctation strongly blurred (Fig. 28). Face and gena with whitish pilosity, which is suberect and rather sparse on frons and clypeus and appressed and rather dense on paraocular area and gena. Ventral side of mandible and gena beset with long, curved and whitish to yellowish bristles forming basket on underside of head; similar bristles also arise from dorsal side of mandible. Proboscis of medium length, when folded reaching slightly beyond posterior margin of coxae of fore legs; second segment of labial palpus 1.0–1.1x as long as compound eye and about 2.5x as long as first segment. Antenna black; antennal segment 3 about 1.4x long as wide and about 1.75x as long as segment 4, segments 4–11 shorter than wide and segment 12 about 1.5x as long as wide. Mesosoma: Parapsidal line linear. Punctation of scutum, scutellum and mesepisternum very dense with usually only linear interspaces except for median part of scutellum, where interspaces may reach diameter of one puncture. Basal area of propodeum polished except for basal half, which is distinctly shagreened. Pilosity of mesosoma laterally whitish and dorsally yellowish-white. Tegula yellow except for black inner and anterior margin; its surface rather densely punctured except for central part, where punctation is more scattered. Stigma and veins of fore wing dark brown to black. Tibial spur of fore leg apically with very short tip, which is at most as long as basally wide (Fig. 29). Tibial spurs of hind leg yellowish, long and straight. Metasoma: Punctation of tergal discs basally and laterally rather dense with interspaces rarely exceeding diameter of one puncture and medially usually more scattered with interspaces reaching diameter of two, rarely three punctures. Marginal zones of terga 1–5 finer and more densely punctured than discs and covered with short, uninterrupted and dense white hair bands. Terga 2–3 basally constricted. Tergum 6 with sparse appressed white pilosity. Scopa white and plumose.
MALE (Fig. 27): Body length 6.5–7.5 mm. Head: Head about 0.8x as long as wide. Distance between lateral ocellus and preoccipital margin about 1.6x as long as ocellar diameter. Maximum width of genal area about 0.7x as long as maximum width of compound eye. Mandible three-toothed and of black colour except for narrow dark reddish-brown preapical zone. Apical margin of clypeus medially serrate. Face and gena including ventral side covered with rather long whitish pilosity, which surpasses clypeal margin. Proboscis of medium length, when folded reaching slightly beyond posterior margin of coxae of fore legs; second segment of labial palpus 1.0–1.1x as long as compound eye and 2.5–2.7x as long as first segment. Antenna black to dark brown; antennal segment 3 about 1.2x as long as wide and slightly longer than segment 4, segments 4–12 about as long as wide and segment 13 about 1.5x as long as wide. Mesosoma: Parapsidal line linear. Punctation of scutum, scutellum and mesepisternum very dense with usually only linear interspaces except for median part of scutellum, where interspaces may reach diameter of one to two punctures. Basal area of propodeum polished except for basal half, which is distinctly shagreened. Pilosity of mesosoma laterally whitish and dorsally yellowish-white. Tegula yellow except for black inner and anterior margin; its surface rather densely punctured except for central part, where punctation is more scattered. Stigma and veins of fore wing dark brown to black. Fore tibial spur apically with very short tip, which is at most as long as basally wide. Tibial spurs of hind leg yellowish, long and straight. Metasoma: Punctation of tergal discs rather dense with interspaces reaching diameter of one to two punctures. Marginal zones of terga 1–5 black to reddish-brown, finer and more densely punctured than discs and covered with short, uninterrupted and dense white hair bands. Terga 2–3 basally constricted. Tergum 6 sparsely covered with appressed whitish pilosity, its apical margin translucent, impunctate, medially evenly rounded except usually for very shallow median emargination and laterally with distinct tooth. Tergum 7 with two widely spaced, rather narrow, more or less parallel-sided and apically mostly reddish teeth, which are about 1.75x as long as wide. Apical margin of sternum 1 straight to slightly rounded. Apical margin of sternum 2 usually with very shallow and narrow median emargination and beset with rather short and predominantly straight whitish pilosity not forming dense hair band. Apical margin of sternum 3 very shallowly emarginate in its median third and beset with whitish pilosity of medium length forming moderately dense band of inwardly directed hairs. Apical margin of sternum 4 shallowly emarginate in its median half and beset with yellowish-white and long pilosity forming dense band of inwardly directed hairs (Fig. 30). Sternum 5 with narrow and short brush of yellowish to brownish hairs, which arise from middle of its slightly emarginate apical margin and are more or less concealed under longer whitish sternal pilosity (Fig. 30). Sternum 6 at base with pair of translucent flaps and preapically with roundish, impunctate and more or less polished impression (Fig. 30). Gonoforceps dorsoventrally flattened, its outer margin evenly rounded except for buttonlike apex and its maximum width slightly exceeding apical width of penis valve (Fig. 31). Penis valve parallel-sided in medium third and apically widened (Fig. 31).
Distribution. Southern Morocco from the Drâa-Tafilalet region in the north to the Guelmim-Oued Noun region in the south.
Pollen hosts. Polylectic (Tab. 1); pollen hosts include Brassicaceae, Antirrhineae (Plantaginaceae), Convolvulaceae and Crassulaceae.
Nesting biology. Unknown.
Etymology. The species is dedicated to the Swiss biologist Michael Widmer, with whom the author has made several ornithological excursions to northern and southern Europe, Morocco and the Caucasus.
description: Published as part of Müller, Andreas, 2022, New Moroccan bee species of the tribe Osmiini (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Megachilidae), pp. 233-263 in Zootaxa 5188 (3) on pages 245-247, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5188.3.2, http://zenodo.org/record/7091557