68 Z. BOUCEK 



Leucospis poeyi Guerin-Meneville 

 (Text-figs 59, 60) 



Leucospis Poeyi Guerin-Meneville, 1845 : 414, $. LECTOTYPE £ (here designated), Cuba 

 (MCSN, Genoa) [examined]. 



The following characters are from the lectotype. 



$. 9 mm. Black, with metallic tint distinct only on head; following parts lemon-yellow: 

 scapus, pedicellus and base of third antennal segment, pronotum except for crescentic black 

 macula anteriorly (Text-fig. 59), lateral margins of mesoscutum, scutellum except basal third, 

 propodeum except along base, metapleurum, broad cross-band on first and fifth tergite, epipygium 

 narrowly at apex along ovipositor, fore and mid femora except basally, all tibiae, hind coxa 

 very broadly ventro-apically, hind femur broadly at base and at apex; antennal flagellum 

 except medially, then pronotum anteriorly and mesoscutum on disc, partly reddish instead 

 of black, also black of coxae and femora mostly replaced by red, as well as epipygium. Fore 

 wing mainly yellowish brown, including venation, apical fifth in the lectotype slightly but 

 conspicuously infumate. 



Interantennal lobe with median carina indistinct. Antennal flagellum distinctly attenuate 

 basally, flagellum plus pedicellus 1-82 times as long as height of head (breadth not possible 

 to measure owing to damage by Anthrenus), seventh flagellar segment i-i times as long as 

 broad, eighth quadrate. Hind femur basally beneath with distinct inner crest. Hind tibia 

 dorsally in basal half hardly arched (Text-fig. 60). Otherwise very similar to L. affinis Say. 



I think that L. poeyi is a good species, together with Cresson (1872), whose 

 redescription fits well the typical form, and Dr P. Alayo (of Havana, Cuba), who 

 informs me that they have ten specimens 'of this rare species'. On the other 

 hand, Schletterer (1890 : 285) dropped poeyi as a synonym of L. affinis Say, which 

 reflected eventually in a subsequent misinterpretation of the name poeyi for a rich 

 yellow southern variety of L. affinis, e.g. by Weld (1922 : 27). The latter form of 

 affinis always has an anterior yellow cross-band on the pronotum, whilst in L. 

 poeyi the pronotal pattern is different, showing only the posterior yellow band 

 which expands strongly laterad but the anterior band is missing. Morphologically, 

 however, the two species are very similar. Apart from the somewhat longer 

 antennae in L. poeyi the differences are given in the key above. 



Biology. Reared from Megachile poeyi Guerin-Meneville (Hym., Apidae) 

 (Cresson, 1872). 



Distribution. Cuba. 



The £G^4/^4-Group 



The common characters are : lower tooth of the mandibles separated by a triangular notch ; 

 lower margin of clypeus mostly without median tooth ; occipital carina complete though strongly 

 sinuate on either side ; pronotum mostly without premarginal carina ; dorsellum at hind margin 

 distinctly carinate, more or less flat; fore femur and tibia with distinct dorsal carina; hind 

 femur with strong basal tooth followed by many small ones; hind tibia apically distinctly 

 produced into a spine, with the outer spur either rudimentary or simply forming apex of the 

 spine; gaster in both sexes slender, narrowed anteriorly, ovipositor mostly long, first tergite 

 in female with strongly diverging ovipositorial furrows. 



The species belonging here may be separated in two subgroups: one with L. 

 bulbiventris Cresson and L. manaica Roman, in which the triangular notch separating 



