Megachile luctuosa Smith, 1857

11. Megachile luctuosa Smith, 1857 View in CoL

Fig. 10

Megachile luctuosa Smith, 1857: 46–47 View in CoL , ♀.

Type material examined

Holotype

SINGAPORE • ♀; Sing [Singapore]; [either 25 Sep.–17 Oct. 1854 or 10–17 Feb. 1856]; OUMNH, ENT-HYME2772 .

Type locality

Singapore.

Notes

Baker (1993: 195) wrote the following:

“A ♀ labelled ‘Sing’, ‘ Megachile conjuncta, Sm. G. Meade-Waldo det.’ and ‘not type!’ [recent label], found standing over the drawer labels ‘ luctuosa . Sm Sing.’ and ‘said to be conjuncta Sm. G. Meade-Waldo det.’ in Saunders’ collection material in UMO, is, despite the labelling, in all probability Smith’s type of luctuosa . There is no reason to suppose it to be other than a Wallace specimen; it is from Smith’s indicated locality; it stood over Smith’s drawer label ‘ luctuosa ’ in his arrangement of Saunders’ collection, from which it was described; it agrees with Smith’s description; and there are no other specimens now present in Saunders’ material that satisfy these requirements - nor is there any reason to suppose that any may have been lost, The specimen has accordingly been labelled as the HOLOTYPE of Megachile luctuosa Smith, 1857 . Meade-Waldo was, however, correct in synonymizing this nominal species with conjuncta Smith (and may have been responsible for the loss of Smith’s determination label). The two descriptions, while differing in detail, are compatible, and conjuncta is a common Singapore insect”.

Current status

Megachile ( Aethomegachile) conjuncta Smith, 1853 ( Ascher & Pickering 2024).

Distribution

From Pakistan and China across Southeast Asia to Indonesia ( Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi) ( Ascher & Pickering 2024).