First records and description of metallic red females of Euglossa (Alloglossura) gorgonensis Cheesman, with notes on color variation within the species (Hymenoptera, Apidae)

Ismael Hinojosa-Díaz,Berry Brosi

doi:10.3897/zookeys.335.6134

Abstract

Metallic coloration is one of the signatures of orchid bees of the genus Euglossa, with some species showing variation associated with their geographic range. Euglossa (Alloglossura) gorgonensis Cheesman exhibits color variation, ranging from mainly green specimens in the southern extreme of its range (Pacific slope of Colombia), to noticeably reddish specimens in parts of the northern known limits of its range (Pacific slope of southern Costa Rica). Here we present the first description of females from Costa Rica belonging to the reddish extreme of the color variation.

Highlights

Besides their interesting biology, orchid bees are morphologically attractive, among other things due to the metallic coloration of the body
Cheesman (1929) originally described Euglossa (Alloglossura) gorgonensis based on two female specimens from Gorgona Island, off the southern Pacific coast of Colombia
The Costa Rican male specimens exhibit a range of integumental coloration with dominant golden–bronzy iridescence that turns intense red in specimens from some areas of the southern Pacific slope of the country

Summary

Introduction

Orchid bees are morphologically attractive, among other things due to the metallic coloration of the body. Within the genus Euglossa Latreille in particular, with few exceptions (see Hinojosa-Díaz and Engel 2011a), species exhibit bright metallic coloration all over the body, including colors such as green, blue, bronze–reddish (see Roubik and Hanson 2004), variations of these, as well as combinations and intergradations of them. Examples are discussed by Roubik (2004) for species in the subgenus Glossura Cockerell, and by Hinojosa-Díaz and Engel (2012) for species in the recently proposed subgenus Alloglossura As part of this last assemblage, Euglossa (Alloglossura) gorgonensis Cheesman, exhibits integumental color variation along its distributional range, from predominantly green specimens in the southern Pacific slope of Colombia, to distinctively reddish specimens in the southern Pacific slope of Costa Rica (Hinojosa-Díaz and Engel 2012). We present a description of females from the Pacific slope of southern Costa Rica filling this knowledge gap

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