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A new species of Samba s. str. (Hymenoptera: Melittidae) from the Turkana Basin, Kenya with observations on the function of the metatibial spur in females

  • York University Toronto

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

The third known species of the Afrotropical subgenus Samba s. str. is described based upon eight females. This is the northernmost and also the most arid habitat record for the genus. Images are provided of the habitus and diagnostic features for the species as well as the subgenus and some notes on floral hosts and habitat are provided. The species is added to a morphology-based phylogeny for the genus and results of barcoding of some species of the genus are presented. Some unusual morphological features of the subgenus are discussed, in particular, the function of the remarkable metatibial spurs of the female is recorded as assisting with removal of pollen from a floral host.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)261-272
Number of pages12
JournalZootaxa
Volume3918
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 11 2015

Keywords

  • DNA barcodes
  • Floral hosts
  • Foraging adaptation
  • Morphology
  • Phylogeny
  • Synapomorphy

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