Bees of the genus Lasioglossum (Hymenoptera: Halictidae) from Greater Puerto Rico, West Indies

Jason Gibbs

doi:10.5852/ejt.2018.400

Abstract

The species of Lasioglossum from Greater Puerto Rico are reviewed. Nine species are recognized, including five new species described herein: Lasioglossum (Dialictus) genaroi sp. nov., L. (D.) dispersum sp. nov., L. (D.) enatum sp. nov., L. (D.) monense sp. nov. and L. (D.) amona sp. nov. The latter two are known only from Mona Island. Keys and images are provided to assist in identification. Details of nesting biology, floral hosts and distribution are provided where available. Three species, L. (D.) parvum (Cresson, 1865), L. (D.) busckiellum (Cockerell, 1915), and L. (D.) mestrei (Baker, 1906) are removed from the list of species for Puerto Rico. Details on their revised distribution are provided. Three new records for Haiti, L. (D.) gundlachii (Baker, 1906), L. (D.) ferrerii (Baker, 1906) and L. (D.) busckiellum are documented. Notes on other species in the Greater Antilles are provided, including the synonymy of Lasioglossum bruesi (Cockerell, 1912) and L. jamaicae (Ellis, 1914) under L. gemmatum (Smith, 1853).

Highlights

Halictid bees are abundant members of most terrestrial ecosystems (Michener 1979; Eickwort 1988)
Due to limited fresh material and Wolbachia amplifications, no sequences are available for L. eickwortellum or L. ferrerii
Puerto Rican specimens in the L. parvum species complex are a distinct clade from other L. parvum group species — L. lepidii (Graenicher, 1927), L. surianae (Mitchell, 1960) and L. parvum — that were included in the analysis

Summary

Introduction

Halictid bees are abundant members of most terrestrial ecosystems (Michener 1979; Eickwort 1988). In the Greater Antilles group of Caribbean Islands, members of the family Halictidae make up nearly one third of bee species (Alayo 1973, 1976; Raw 1985; Eickwort 1988; Ascher & Pickering 2016). Twenty-one described species of Lasioglossum are currently recognized from the Greater Antilles. These have been described over a period of more than 160 years (Smith 1853; Cresson 1865; Ashmead 1896; Baker 1906; Cockerell 1912, 1915; Ellis 1914; Sandhouse 1924; Graenicher 1927; Engel 2001b; Genaro 2001, 2016).

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Conclusion