A new subgenus and three new species of leafcutter bees, Megachile (Austrosarus) (Hymenoptera, Megachilidae) from central BrazilAuthorRaw, AnthonytextZootaxa200612282534journal article10.5281/zenodo.172711c8ed6035-374f-4b7c-ae4d-dfc0cd5921a611755326172711Megachile
(
Austrosarus
)
diasinew speciesHOLOTYPE
: Female. Length of fore wing
6·5 mm
. Body black and tarsi dark brown. Pubescence of head, thorax, propodeum, first metasomal tergite and femora largely white. Sordid hairs across vertex, much of scutellum, erect hairs of sixth tergite and apical fringe of sixth sternite and also admixed on face and mesoscutum. Wings dark brown with black venation. Apical bands of first to fifth tergites and appressed hairs of sixth are pale golden; scopa golden. Erect hairs of tergites are offwhite on second, becoming deeply golden on fourth. Length of hairs on vertex and mesoscutum
2 X
an ocellar diameter. Apical margin of clypeus even and slightly concave, the impunctate edge slightly upturned, its width
3 XMaterial examined
or 4 X that of adjacent punctures. Apex
of propodeal triangle not
reaching propodeal
orifice. Apical fascia present on>18% of
each side of total width of
fourth sternite. The
male is unknown.
18 females
.
Holotype
female
: Fazenda Água Limpa, Federal District,
24.1.1979
, A. Raw
leg
.
Paratypes
: A. Raw
leg
: Cabeça de Veado (
1 female
); Chapada de Contagem (
1 female
); Centro de Pesquisas Agropecuárias do Cerrado of EMBPRAPA (
1 female
). B. F. S. Dias
leg
: Reserva do Roncador (Instituto Brasileira de Geografia e Estatística) in Malaise traps (
9 females
). R. I. P. de Freitas & G.S. de Freitas
leg
: Cabeça de Veado (
3 females
); Peninsular Norte (
1 female
); Reserva Roncador (
1 female
).
Distribution
The species has been found only in the Federal District of
Brazil
.
Flowers
The bees visited
Aspilia foliacea
,
Cuphea linarioides
Pohl ex Benth.,
C. spermacoce
,
Eriope complicata
,
Eriosema floribundum
,
Stylosanthes guianensis
and
Turnera arcuota
Urban (Turneraceae)
.
Type
repositories
The
holotype
is deposited in the collection of the Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras of the Universidade de São Paulo in Ribeirão Preto,
Brazil
.
Paratypes
are in the collections of Instituto Brasileira de Geografia e E statística in
Brasília
, Departamento de Zoologia of the Universidade de
Brasília
, Departamento de Zoologia of the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais in Belo Horizonte and the collection of the author.
The species is dedicated to Dr. Braulio F. S. Dias of the Biodiversity Office at the Ministry of the Environment in
Brasilia
who collected nine of the eighteen specimens examined.