Victor H. Gonzalez

A review of deviant phenotypes in bees in relation to brood parasitism, and a gynandromorph of Megalopta genalis (Hymenoptera: Halictidae)

We review the occurrence of gynandromorphy in 64 species of bee, and describe the abnormal traits as deviations from the male or female wild-type. Pheno-deviants occur at approximately equal frequency among the main body regions (head, thorax, metasoma). Cross-sex expression of character states occur more often among females (i.e. deviant expression of male-like traits) than among males (i.e. deviant expression of female-like traits). Such pathologies demonstrate how developmental switch mechanisms might generate novel structural traits similar to those expressed as a syndrome of brood parasitic traits. We also describe the first known gynandromorphic bee in the tribe Augochlorini, a specimen of the nocturnal bee, Megalopta genalis.

A New Gynandromorph of Xylocopa frontalis with a Review of Gynandromorphism in Xylocopa (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Xylocopini)

ABSTRACT A new case of gynandromorphism in bees is described and illustrated for the first time for Xylocopa (Neoxylocopa) frontalis (Olivier), a widely distributed carpenter bee in the neotropical region. The mixed gynandromorph, recorded from a single specimen from Paraguay, exhibits a mixture of male and female features in all tagmata. Previous literature records of gynandromorphs in Xylocopa Latreille are summarized, and the species identity of some gynandromorphs recorded for South America is revised. Including the specimen described herein, gynandromorphs are now known for a total of 12 species in Xylocopa, half of them in the neotropical subgenus Neoxylocopa.

A new Stelis (Dolichostelis) from northern Colombia (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae): first records for South America and a synopsis of the bee fauna from the Caribbean region of Colombia

The cleptoparasitic anthidiine bee genus Stelis Panzer is primarily Holarctic in distribution, extending as far south as Costa Rica. A new species of Stelis subgenus Dolichostelis Parker and Bohart is described and illustrated based on females collected in dry forests of the Caribbean region of Colombia. Stelis (Dolichostelis) costaricensis Friese is also recorded from dry forests but in western Colombia. These are the first records of the genus, as currently recognized, for South America. An updated key to the species of Dolichostelis and a synopsis of the diversity and biogeography of the bee fauna from the Caribbean region of Colombia are provided. Based on reports from the literature and data from collections, we provide a checklist consisting of 125 species in 48 genera of five families. The complex composition of this bee fauna parallels that of the flora, with taxa having the following origins or distributions: West Indian, North or Central American, Andean, xeric or temperate South American, and Neotropical widespread. A brief account on the contribution of George Salt to the knowledge of the biology of this Colombian bee fauna is also provided.