Entomologist's Monthly Magazine - Vol. 158, No. 2, 2022
Published: 4/29/2022
Article Details for this issue
A second species of the stingless bee genus Plectoplebeia (Hymenoptera: Apidae)
By: MICHAEL S. ENGEL
Page: 79–86
Type: Paper
Synopsis:
The stingless bee genus Plectoplebeia Melo (Meliponini) is one of several lineages in the
complex Plebeia-group of New World meliponines. The genus has hitherto been known from a
single species of the Yungas forests of Bolivia, southern Peru, and northwestern Argentina. A
second species is here described from a worker collected from the Eastern Andes of Ecuador,
extending the geographic occurrence of the genus northward as well as into the Eastern Cordillera
Real Montane Forests. Plectoplebeia aurantia sp. n. is distinguished from the type species,
P. nigrifacies (Friese), by the entirely yellowish orange metasoma, extensively yellowish orange
or brownish legs, ventrally orange scape, and more distinct lower facial coloration. Additionally,
the species differ in the form of the metatibial proventral margin, the form of the first metasomal
tergum, the extent of the mesoscutellar protrusion, and the coloration of the wing membranes.
SHORT NOTE Four replacement names in Lasioglossum, subgenus Homalictus (Hymenoptera: Halictidae)
By: MICHAEL S. ENGEL
Page: 87–88
Type: Short Notes
On abdomen pattern and some other differentiating features of female Hydrotaea borussica Stein from Bulgaria, verified by DNA analysis, and in females of similar species (Diptera: Muscidae)
By: EBERHARD ZIELKE & ANELIYA BOBEVA
Page: 89–114
Type: Paper
Synopsis:
A reliable determination of Hydrotaea borussica females, and of females in closely related
species, has so far not been possible as a range of criteria, some contradictory, has been ascribed
to their identification. The DNA sequence of H. borussica is identified to enable the assignment
of females to males. In addition, the DNA sequence of H. meridionalis is identified for
comparison with H. borussica, and the DNA sequence of H. pandellei determined for
intraspecific comparisons. The yellow colour of the abdomen, regardless of its extent, and the two
dark shiny dorsolateral third tergite patches reported from various females have little or no
taxonomic significance in these flies. Existing identification keys are inadequate for distinction
between H. borussica and H. meridionalis females; a considerable number of Hydrotaea females
may have been incorrectly assigned to species in collections. Identification criteria for females of
Hydrotaea borussica and similar species are re-evaluated and a revised evidenced-based key to
these species (albeit based on a limited number of specimens) is proposed.
The Lepidoptera collection from Sierra Leone of Lieutenant Ellis Leech in the Manchester Museum
By: LAURENCE M. COOK, MICHAEL DOCKERY & DMITRI V. LOGUNOV
Page: 115–127
Type: Paper
Synopsis:
We discuss a small collection of butterflies and other insects presented to the Manchester
Museum in 1904. It was made by an officer of the colonial administration in Sierra Leone. The
collector, Ellis Joynson Leech, was a member of a family that had established itself as part of
Manchester society during the 19th century. The Museum also has donations made by two other
family members. Their varied contributions may help to explain some of the anomalies in the
insect collection.
Opius pulicariae Fischer (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Opiinae) added to the British checklist
By: H. CHARLES J. GODFRAY & JOHN J. DAY
Page: 128–130
Type: Paper
Synopsis:
Opius pulicariae Fischer (Braconidae: Opiinae) is added to the British list based on a specimen
reared from Ophiomyia pulicaria (Diptera: Agromyzidae) in Devon, England in 2021. Means of
distinguishing this species from other Opiinae are given and its host range discussed.
A new species of Megaselia Rondani (Diptera: Phoridae) from a cave in France
By: R. HENRY L. DISNEY & PHIL WITHERS
Page: 131–133
Type: Paper
Synopsis:
A new species of scuttlefly, Megaselia sabreensis sp. n., is described from a cave in France.
Some prey records for Cerceris Latreille, 1802, from the Iberian Peninsula (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Crabronidae)
By: IAN C. CROSS
Page: 134–142
Type: Paper
Synopsis:
New data on prey records are presented for six species of Iberian Cerceris wasps.
SHORT NOTE Monodontomerus obscurus Westwood, 1833 (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Torymidae) reared from bee nesting tubes occupied by Osmia bicornis L. (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) in Kent, England
By: MALCOLM JENNINGS
Page: 143–144
Type: Short Notes
OBITUARY ALEXANDER VASILIEVICH PUCHKOV 5 September 1954 – 30 April 2021
By: J. COOTER
Page: 145–146
Type: Obituary
OBITUARY STANLEY ALEXANDER WILLIAMS 31 August 1933–16 February 2021
By: J. COOTER
Page: 147–154
Type: Obituary
BOOK REVIEW OBSERVING EVOLUTION: PEPPERED MOTHS AND THE DISCOVERY OF PARALLEL MELANISM by Bruce S. Grant
By: ANDREW WAKEHAM-DAWSON
Page: 155–156
Type: Book Review
NOTICE IRISH BIOGEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY – BULLETIN No. 45
Page: 156