Coelioxys (Allocoelioxys) coturnix Pérez, 1884

Coelioxys (Allocoelioxys) coturnix Pérez, 1884 View in CoL [“1883”]

Red-tipped Sharptail

Notes: This species was first discovered in the New World based on specimens collected in Olney, Montgomery County Maryland, by J. S. Ascher in 2004 and identified with reference to material in the AMNH confirmed by Palearctic Coelioxys expert Maximilian Schwarz. Subgenus Allocoelioxys can be recognized by characters described by Michener (2007). The male T6 has eight teeth (two lateral, six apical) whereas other Holarctic subgenera have only six teeth (two lateral, four apical). Females have a transverse subocular carina extending posteriorly from posterior mandibular and joining the preoccipital carina whereas such a carina is absent or ending free in most other Holarctic Coelioxys (for exceptions see Michener 2007). In hand both sexes are notably smaller than most native Coelioxys . In images a variably reddened (not black) apical tergum (T6) is often useful for identification of C. coturnix . The apical tergum (T6) and sternum (S6) of female C. coturnix are less attenuate than in many native Coelioxys and lacks the specialized hairs fringing S 6 in subgenus Cyrtocoelioxys (which is small-bodied and has a relatively nonattenuate metasomal apex). The precise pattern of white hair patches can also be helpful in recognizing C. coturnix , with notably conspicuous separated pairs of bright white hair patches present at the anterior of the scutum and on the scutellum (as posteriorly-directed triangles) whereas in many other Coelioxys hairs may be tan (not bright white) and arrayed more transversely and more continuously, e.g., forming a more or less complete transverse band along the scuto-scutello suture. This is the only known example of an adventive cleptoparasite becoming established on a different continent. A female of this species was first detected in Connecticut by F. Morrison on 15 July 2017 at Wesleyan University in the town of Middletown (Middlesex County) while nectaring in a small patch of Coreopsis sp. It has also been found in West Hartford (Hartford County), documented by photos taken by D. Cappaert on 25 August 2020 posted to iNaturalist (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/57564258) (see also Figure 2 View FIGURE 2 , B).

Material examined. Middlesex Co.: Middletown: 15 July 2017, coll. F. Morrison, 1 ♀, personal collection, det. F. Morrison, netted from Coreopsis .