New species of the cuckoo bee genus Austrosphecodes Michener, 1978 (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Sphecodini) and a key for Brazilian species

Abstract

The bee genus Austrosphecodes Michener, 1978 comprises 29 obligatory cleptoparasitic species distributed from Chile to Mexico. Currently, three species are known to occur in Brazil, Austrosphecodes brasiliensis (Schrottky, 1910), A. inornatus (Schrottky, 1902), and A. minarum (Schrottky, 1910). Here, we describe nine new species, Austrosphecodes asmodeus sp. nov., A. balrog sp. nov., A. cerberus sp. nov., A. gorgon sp. nov., A. jurupari sp. nov., A. krampus sp. nov., A. lucifer sp. nov., A. orcus sp. nov., and A. tartarus sp. nov. An identification key for the 12 known species from Brazil is presented. Specimens of A. asmodeus sp. nov. and A. brasiliensis were observed near nest aggregations of Caenohalictus incertus (Schrottky, 1902) in Curitiba (State of Paraná).

Keywords

• Halictidae
• Neotropical
• Sphecodes
• new species