Euaspis (Parevaspis) carbonaria Smith, 1854

Euaspis (Parevaspis) carbonaria Smith, 1854

Hymenoptera: Megachilidae: Euaspis

Stelis carbonaria Smith, 1854
Parevaspis carbonaria Smith, 1854
Euaspis (Parevaspis) carbonaria Cockerell, 1905
Euaspis simillima Meyer, 1912

INDIA: Chhattisgarh: Somnath, Lakhna, 29.x.2019, 1♀, 2♂, sweep net, coll. Bhojeshwari Sahu.

Female:
General description: Body black, body length 13.99 mm, terga entirely black, body with sparsely distributed small white hairs.
Colour: Body black, similar to Euaspis edentate except S6 with distal tooth with 2 laterobasal teeth.
Head: Face with coarse punctation and dense white pubescence on periocular area, sides of clypeus; clypeus convex with median longitudinal polished line at base; face with three longitudinal ridges; supraclypeal area ridged and shiny; pedicel is longer than F1.
Mesosoma: Scutum with median invagination; scutellum overhanging posteriorly with two laterodorsal teeth projection posteriorly, not reaching to apical margine.
Metasoma: T6 slightly concave with spine on each side; S6 coarsely punctate, three tooth present, one distal and two laterobasal, deflexed apex covered with white hairs, wing hyaline at base and fuscous apically.
Male:
General description: Body black, body length 13.18 mm, smaller than female, with white hair on face; T7 with three apical spines, median spine prominent than lateral spines; S6 fringed with white pubescence, with median carina, apical margin medially incurved.
Colour: Body black, similar to Euaspis edentate except S6 with distal tooth with 2 laterobasal teeth.
Genitalia: Gonostylus bulged and slightly concave with short hairs; penis valve pointed distally, sharply raised carina between penis valve and gonostylus.

E. carbonaria has similarity with E. edentata Baker by following set of characters: three longitudinal ridges on face, integumental marks absent on the body and both female and male terga completely black; female without scopa (Michener 2007). E. carbonaria can be differentiated by E. edentata with following characters: female E. carbonaria Smith S6 with three teeth and male S6 having minute angular projection medially (Michener 2007).

India: Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Odisha, Haryana, Gujarat, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan.
Global: India, Sri Lanka, Southern Asia.

Ascher, J. S. & J. Pickering. (2020). Discover Life bee species guide and world checklist (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila).

Baker, D. B. (1995). A review of the Asian species of the genus Euaspis Gerstacker (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Megachilidae). Zoologische mededelingen, 69(22): 281-302.

Batra, S. W. T. (1977). Bees of India (Apoidea), their behaviour, management and a key to the Genera. Oriental Insects, 11(3): 289–324.

Bentley, A. & Thomas, J. (2022). Snow Entomological Museum Collection. Version 26.61. University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute.

Bingham, C. T. (1897). The Fauna of British India Including Ceylon and Burma, hymenoptera. Vol. I. Wasps and Bees. Taylor and Francis, London, 577 pp., 4 pls.

Michener, C. D. (2007). The Bees of the World. Second edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD; p. 922.

Veereshkumar & Kumaranag K. M. (2018). Diversity and conservation of leaf cutter bees (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Adv Plants Agric Res.; 8(1):53-54.

Veereshkumar, Kumaranag, K. M., Uthappa, A. R. Dibyendu Deb, Srivastava, M., Sridhar, K. B.A. & Handa, K. (2021). Wild bee pollination in Grewia flavescens Juss. International Journal of Tropical Insect Science. volume 41, pages1087–1093.