Updates to the checklist of the wild bee fauna of Luxembourg as inferred from revised natural history collection data and fieldwork
Author
Herrera Mesias, Fernanda
Department of Animal Ecology, Evolution and Biodiversity, Ruhr-Universitaet Bochum, Bochum, Germany & Musee national d'histoire naturelle de Luxembourg, Luxembourg, Luxembourg
fernanda.herreramesias@rub.de
Author
Weigand, Alexander M.
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7587-6531
Musee national d'histoire naturelle de Luxembourg, Luxembourg, Luxembourg
alexander.weigand@mnhn.lu
text
Biodiversity Data Journal
2021
2021-05-14
9
64027
64027
http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.9.e64027
journal article
http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.9.e64027
1314-2828-9-e64027
A81147BCF3A35316BE551B75987017AC
Sphecodes majalis (
Perez
, 1903)
Sphecodes majalis
Common names:
Sphecode
de mai (French), Kortsnuitbloedbij (Dutch), Mai-Blutbiene (German).
Materials
Type status:
Other material
.
Occurrence
:
catalogNumber:
MNHNL100057
; sex:
male
; lifeStage:
adult
; associatedSequences: BOLD: MNHNL163-21;
Taxon
:
scientificName:
Sphecodes
majalis (
Perez
, 1903); order:
Hymenoptera
; family:
Halictidae
; genus:
Sphecodes
; specificEpithet: majalis; taxonRank: species; scientificNameAuthorship: (
Perez
, 1903); vernacularName:
Sphecode
de mai (French),
Kortsnuitbloedbij
(Dutch),
Mai-Blutbiene
(German);
Location
:
country:
Luxembourg
; locality:
Manternach
; decimalLatitude:
49.710039
; decimalLongitude:
6.430916
;
Identification
:
identifiedBy:
Fernanda
Herrera-Mesias
;
Event
:
samplingProtocol:
pan trap
(passive sampling)
; eventDate:
28-04-2019
;
Record Level:
institutionCode: MNHNL; basisOfRecord: Preserved Specimen
Diagnosis
Male: A medium sized
Sphecodes
species (6-8 mm) (Fig.
5
a and b). Flagellar segments of the antenna longer than broad, without pubescence in the front side (Fig.
5
c). The hind tibia present red spines on its upper side amongst a covering of pale hairs (Fig.
5
d). The punctures on tergites 4 and 5 are subtle and very sparsely distributed, presenting fine sculpture amongst them (Fig.
5
e). The gonocoxites lack any impression and the gonostyli have a rounded edge (Fig.
5
f).
Voucher specimen (MNHNL100057; BOLD identifier MNHNL163-21): Adult male. Body length of 7.19 mm.
Molecular identification
The taxonomic annotation is supported by DNA barcoding data. A perfect match of genetic sequence similarity was achieved with a specimen of
Sphecodes majalis
from France (100%; BOLD identifier POLLE1165-19), collected in Loir et Cher.
Ecology
A rare cuckoo bee that inhabits steppes and sunny sites, flying only during a short time span in spring from late March until mid-May, matching the flight season of
Lasioglossum pallens
(
Brulle
, 1832), its only known host in Europe (
Amiet et al. 2007
,
Bogusch and Straka 2012
).
Conservation
Sphecodes majalis
is classified as "Near Threatened (NT)" (
Nieto et al. 2014
). Records of this bee and its host are scarce and the populations of both are described as locally decreasing (
Bogusch and Straka 2014
).