Species Amegilla (Zonamegilla) pulchra (Smith, 1854)

Museums

Regional Maps

• Anthophora pulchra Smith, F. 1854. Catalogue of Hymenopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum. Part II. Apidae. London : British Museum pp. 199-465. [Date published 31/12/1854] [335].

  Type data:

   Lectotype BMNH 17B.666b ♂ (labelled: “pulchra type Sm.”, “Anthophora pulchra type”).
  Syntype(s) BMNH ♂ ♀ (Brooks, R.W. 1988. Systematics and phylogeny of the anthophorine bees (Hymenoptera: Anthophoridae; Anthophorini). University of Kansas Science Bulletin 53: 436–575 (571), states 'In the British Museum the female type of An[thophora] pulchra Smith, B.M. Type Hym. 17B666a, is not the type according to D. Baker; the type was apparently repinned and lost and the specimen in its place is Am[egilla] niveocincta (Smith)'), Cape Upstart, Moreton Bay, QLD, Hunter River, NSW.

  Subsequent designation references:

  Leijs, R., Batley, M. & Hogendoorn, K. 2017. The genus Amegilla (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Anthophorini) in Australia: A revision of the subgenera Notomegilla and Zonamegilla. ZooKeys 653: 79–140 [127].
• Anthophora salteri Cockerell, T.D.A. 1905. Descriptions and records of bees. IV. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 7 16: 392-403 [Date published 31/12/1905] [398].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH 17B.665 ♂, Parramatta, NSW.
• Anthophora parapulchra Rayment, T. 1944. A critical revision of species in the zonata group of Anthophora by new characters (Part I). Treubia (Japanese edition) 1: 1-30 [Date published 31/12/1944: dated 1942, actual date of issue 1944] [5] [nomen nudum; name listed without information to distinguish it from other species].

  Secondary source:

   Cardale, J.C. in Houston, W.W.K. & Maynard, G.V. (eds) 1993. Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Hymenoptera: Apoidea. Canberra : AGPS Vol. 10 x, 406 pp. [284].
• Anthophora perpulchra wallaciella Rayment, T. 1944. A critical revision of species in the zonata group of Anthophora by new characters (Part I). Treubia (Japanese edition) 1: 1-30 [Date published 31/12/1944: dated 1942, actual date of issue 1944] [10] [nomen nudum].

  Secondary source:

   Cardale, J.C. in Houston, W.W.K. & Maynard, G.V. (eds) 1993. Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Hymenoptera: Apoidea. Canberra : AGPS Vol. 10 x, 406 pp. [285].
• Anthophora townleyella Rayment, T. 1944. A critical revision of species in the zonata group of Anthophora by new characters (Part I). Treubia (Japanese edition) 1: 1-30 [Date published 31/12/1944: dated 1942, actual date of issue 1944] [10] [nomen nudum].

  Secondary source:

   Cardale, J.C. in Houston, W.W.K. & Maynard, G.V. (eds) 1993. Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Hymenoptera: Apoidea. Canberra : AGPS Vol. 10 x, 406 pp. [285].
• Anthophora holmesi Rayment, T. 1947. A critical revision of species in the zonata group of Anthophora by new characters (Part II). Treubia 19: 46-73 [Date published 31/12/1947] [56].

  Type data:

   
  Syntype(s) ANIC 32-034573 ♀ (“Type, Anthophora holmesi”), Como, NSW; ANIC 32-034574 ♂ (“Allotype, Anthophora perpulchra holmesi”), Sydney, NSW; ANIC 32-033648 ♀, Woollahra, NSW; ANIC 32-033651 ♂, Hunters Hill HS, NSW.
• Anthophora parapulchra Rayment, T. 1947. A critical revision of species in the zonata group of Anthophora by new characters (Part II). Treubia 19: 46-73 [Date published 31/12/1947] [61].

  Type data:

   Lectotype ANIC 32-034562 ♀, Hunters Hill, Sydney, NSW.
  Syntype(s) ANIC ♂ ♀, Hunters Hill, Sydney, NSW.

  Subsequent designation references:

  Leijs, R., Batley, M. & Hogendoorn, K. 2017. The genus Amegilla (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Anthophorini) in Australia: A revision of the subgenera Notomegilla and Zonamegilla. ZooKeys 653: 79–140 [127].
• Anthophora perpulchra wallaciella Rayment, T. 1947. A critical revision of species in the zonata group of Anthophora by new characters (Part II). Treubia 19: 46-73 [Date published 31/12/1947] [65].

  Type data:

   Lectotype ANIC 32-034571 ♀ (“type, Anthophora perpulchra wallaciella”), Hunters Hill, NSW.
  Syntype(s) whereabouts unknown ♂ ♀, Robertson, NSW (a specimen in the ANIC labelled 'type' bears a locality which was not given in the original description).

  Subsequent designation references:

  Leijs, R., Batley, M. & Hogendoorn, K. 2017. The genus Amegilla (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Anthophorini) in Australia: A revision of the subgenera Notomegilla and Zonamegilla. ZooKeys 653: 79–140 [127].
• Anthophora pulchra townleyella Rayment, T. 1947. A critical revision of species in the zonata group of Anthophora by new characters (Part II). Treubia 19: 46-73 [Date published 31/12/1947] [67].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) ANIC 32-034170 ♂ ♀ (only the female specimen is labelled 'type' as follows: “Type, Anthophora salteri townleyella”), Lismore, NSW.
• Anthophora shafferyella Rayment, T. 1947. A critical revision of species in the zonata group of Anthophora by new characters (Part II). Treubia 19: 46-73 [Date published 31/12/1947] [70].

  Type data:

   Holotype ANIC 32-033534 ♂, Mossman, QLD.

 

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Brooks, R.W. 1988. Systematics and phylogeny of the anthophorine bees (Hymenoptera: Anthophoridae; Anthophorini). University of Kansas Science Bulletin 53: 436-575 [Date published 31/12/1988] [570-1]
• Leijs, R., Batley, M. & Hogendoorn, K. 2017. The genus Amegilla (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Anthophorini) in Australia: A revision of the subgenera Notomegilla and Zonamegilla. ZooKeys 653: 79–140 [126]

 

Introduction

Redescription in Leijs et al. (2017)

 

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria

Extra Distribution Information

Also found on Fiji; specimens from the Pacific islands had mitochondrial haplotypes identical to those from the Brisbane area and were probably introduced there

IBRA and IMCRA regions

IBRA

NSW, Qld, SA, Vic: Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), New England Tablelands (NET), NSW North Coast (NNC), Riverina (RIV), Sydney Basin (SB), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Wet Tropics (WT)

Distribution References

Ecological Descriptors

Adult: mellivore, solitary, volant.

Larva: sedentary.

Extra Ecological Information

Nest gregariously in soil, in mortar between bricks and in mud-bricks, females attracted to old nests, males found clustering, flower visiting record: tomatoes, Hypochaeris L. [Asteraceae], Ipomoea L. [Convolvulaceae], Leptospermum Forster & G.Forster [Myrtaceae], Solanum L. [Solanaceae].

 

General References

Anderson, G.J. & Symon, D. 1988. Insect foragers on Solanum flowers in Australia. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Gardens 75: 842-852 [Date published 31/12/1988] (flower record)

Brooks, R.W. 1988. Systematics and phylogeny of the anthophorine bees (Hymenoptera: Anthophoridae; Anthophorini). University of Kansas Science Bulletin 53: 436-575 [Date published 31/12/1988] (subgeneric placement)

Cardale, J. 1968. Immature stages of Australian Anthophorinae (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). Journal of the Australian Entomological Society 7: 35-41 [Date published 31/12/1968] (immature stages)

Cardale, J. 1968. Nests and nesting behaviour of Amegilla (Amegilla) pulchra (Smith) (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophorinae). Australian Journal of Zoology 16: 689-707 [Date published 31/12/1968] (biology)

Cardale, J. 1968. Parasites and other organisms associated with nests of Amegilla Friese (Hymenoptera: Anthophorinae). Journal of the Australian Entomological Society 7: 29-34 [Date published 31/12/1968] (as host)

Cockerell, T.D.A. 1931. The bees of Australia. The Australian Zoologist 7: 34-54 [Date published 31/12/1931] (as synonym of Anthophora zonata (Linnaeus, 1758))

Dalla Torre, K.W. 1896. Catalogus Hymenopterorum Hucusque Descriptorum Systematicus et Synonymicus. Apidae (Anthophila). Lipsiae : G. Engelmann Vol. x 643 pp. [Date published 31/12/1896] (as Podalirius pulchra (Smith, 1854))

Houston, T.F. 1991. Ecology and behaviour of the bee Amegilla (Asaropoda) dawsoni (Rayment) with notes on a related species (Hymenoptera: Anthophoridae). Records of the Western Australian Museum 15: 535-553 [Date published 31/12/1991] (biology)

Leijs, R., Batley, M. & Hogendoorn, K. 2017. The genus Amegilla (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Anthophorini) in Australia: A revision of the subgenera Notomegilla and Zonamegilla. ZooKeys 653: 79–140 [126]

Michener, C.D. 1960. Observations on the behaviour of a burrowing bee (Amegilla) near Brisbane, Queensland (Hymenoptera, Anthophorinae). Queensland Naturalist 16: 63-67 [Date published 31/12/1960] (biology, as Amegilla salteri (Cockerell, 1905))

Rayment, T. 1935. A Cluster of Bees. Sixty essays on the life-histories of Australian bees, with specific descriptions of over 100 new species, and an introduction by Professor E.F. Phillips, D.Ph., Cornell University, U.S.A. Sydney : Endeavour Press. 752 pp. (illustration)

Rayment, T. 1944. A critical revision of species in the zonata group of Anthophora by new characters (Part I). Treubia (Japanese edition) 1: 1-30 [Date published 31/12/1944: dated 1942, actual date of issue 1944] (biology, as Anthophora townleyella; illustration)

Rayment, T. 1947. A critical revision of species in the zonata group of Anthophora by new characters (Part II). Treubia 19: 46-73 [Date published 31/12/1947] (taxonomy)

Sichel, J. 1869. in Dours, J.A. Monographie iconographique du genre Anthophora, Latr. Mémoires de la Société Linnéenne de Nord de la France 2: 5-211 [Date published 31/12/1869] (as Anthophora zonata pulchra Smith, 1854)

 

History of changes

Published	As part of group	Action Date	Action Type	Compiler(s)
26-Jun-2023	Anthophorini	01-Jun-2017	MODIFIED
22-Oct-2015		20-Sep-2012	MODIFIED
07-Aug-2012		23-Jul-2012	MODIFIED
		29-Mar-2010	MODIFIED