First record of Huarpea wagneriella (Hymenoptera: Sapygidae) as a cleptoparasite of large carpenter bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae, Xylocopinae)

ABSTRACT

The species Huarpea wagneriella (Hymenoptera: Sapygidae), a cleptoparasite of nests of bees of the genera Xylocopa Latreille and Megachile Latreille (Hymenoptera: Apoidea), is reported for the first time as a cleptoparasite of Xylocopa ciliata Burmeister (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Biological notes on species of Xylocopa and a morphological characterization of Huarpea are given.

KEYWORDS:

• Xylocopa
• Sapygidae
• Argentina

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Bolívar Rafael Garcete-Barrett, Denis Brothers and anonymous reviewers for valuable comments on an earlier manuscript. Thanks to J.P. Carricart for the support in the fieldwork and OPDS (Organismo Provincial de Desarrollo Sustentable, provincial de Buenos Aires) for the collecting permit. M.L. is a member of the Carrera del investigador científico, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Fondo para la Investigación Científica y Tecnológica (FONCyT) [PICT 2112 (2012-2014)].