Anthophora padiola Vachal 1910

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)

Abstract

Anthophora padiola Vachal, 1910 (Fig. 10) Anthophora padiola Vachal, 1910b: 533. MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Kenya • 1♂ (lectotype by present designation); Afrique Orient. Angl., sud du Lac Rodolphe [Lake Turkana], entre le chemin de fer et le lac; 1-31.VIII.1905; M. de Rotschild leg.; J. Vachal det.; MNHN-EY-EY58559. CURRENT STATUS. — Amegilla (Zebramegilla) padiola (Vachal, 1910) n. comb. DISTRIBUTION. — Nominally Kenya (Vachal 1910b), but revision of African Amegilla (Zebramegilla) is required. REMARKS Anthophora padiola was not studied by Brooks, and was placed as Anthophorini incertae sedis (Brooks 1988: 450). As for Anthophora hastula, one specimen of Anthophora padiola was found in predominantly undetermined material from the Vachal collection. Originally described based on two males from “ Nairobi et du sud du lac Rodolphe (VIII), Afrique orientale anglaise ”, only the specimen from Lake Rodolphe [Lake Turkana] could be located; it does not bear a typical Vachal label written with thick black ink, possibly because this material was described shortly before the end of Vachal’s life when his typical modus operandi may have been disrupted, but the specimen matches the description: “ Diffère de A. torrida Sm. par l’article 3 des antennes pas plus long que l’article 5; par son chaperon tout jaune; par la base du prototarse 3 en dehors avec un bouquet de poils gris jaunâtre.” This short A3 that equals A5 (slightly exceeding the length of A4), almost entirely yellow-marked face (with black markings limited to the areas around the tentorial pits), and short brush of pale hairs as the base of the hind basitarsus are all visible, and the specimen can be accepted as syntypic; it is here designated as the lectotype in the absence of the specimen from Nairobi. Morphologically, it can be placed as Amegilla (Zebramegilla) padiola n. comb. due to the lack of arolia between the tarsal claws, yellow-marked supraclypeal and lower paraocular areas, moderate body size, black and white banded metasoma, lack of metallic hairs anywhere on the body, and typical genital capsule. As for Amegilla hastula, a deep revision of East African Amegilla (Zebramegilla) is required. CLARIFICATION OF THE AMEGILLA (ZONAMEGILLA) SPECIES PRESENT ON THE ISLAND OF SULAWESI Dealing with the subgenus Amegilla (Zonamegilla) in South-east Asia is highly challenging due to the very small morphological differences displayed by species. This resulted in many taxa being described as varieties or subspecies of Amegilla zonata (Linnaeus, 1758), the oldest name in the group and the type species of the subgenus (Popov 1950). Cockerell (1910: 412) wrote, when talking about “variation” inside Amegilla zonata: “Nevertheless, in the moist tropical islands of the Malay Archipelago it has developed several distinct forms, which are probably constant and for the most part confined to particular islands”. This is quite an understatement, as there is a swarm of currently undescribed diversity, particularly east of the Wallace Line (pers. obs.). The challenge of characterising species is rendered more complex by the uncertain identity of Amegilla zonata itself, having been described based on the female sex only (Baker 1996). Given the challenges of correct sex association, the identity of the male is somewhat ambiguous, but a consensus exists in the limited available literature that it is the male with large and flattened more-or-less rectangular apical blades of the gonocoxae and reduced black markings around the tentorial pits (Lieftinck 1975; Baker 1996; Engel 2007), i.e., not the Amegilla zonata of Cockerell (1910) and subsequent works. Baker (1996) synonymised Amegilla cingulifera (Cockerell, 1910) under Amegilla zonata, giving it a broad distribution from India to southern China and Taiwan south to the Malay Peninsula at least as far south as Perlis (Lieftinck 1975; Baker 1996). Whilst a case may need to be written to the ICZN to decisively and unambiguously fix the application of this name, it is the concept of Lieftinck and Baker that is followed here, with Amegilla zonata not considered to be present on the islands of Borneo, Sumatra, Java, or further east. When dealing with the fauna of Sulawesi, it is necessary to resolve the application of the names described by Cockerell, specifically Amegilla andrewsi (Cockerell, 1910) (Fig. 11), Amegilla borneensis (Cockerell, 1910) (Fig.12), Amegilla stantoni (Cockerell, 1911), Amegilla samarensis (Cockerell & LeVeque, 1925), and Amegilla whiteheadi (Cockerell, 1910) (Fig. 13). Three of the five taxa and all five taxa were considered to be valid at a specific level by Lieftinck (1975) (Amegilla samarensis and Amegilla stantoni not explicitly mentioned) and Brooks (1988), respectively, and the work of the latter is consequently used as the current taxonomic baseline.

Authors 1

1. Thomas James Wood corresponding Aachen Naturalis Biodiversity Center

   Naturalis Biodiversity Center

   Affiliation as printed

   Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Darwinweg 2, 2333 CR, Leiden (the Netherlands)