Megachile ventralis Smith, 1860

Wood, T. J., Risch, S., Orr, M. C. & Hogan, J. E., 2025, An illustrated type catalogue of the bee species collected by Alfred Russel Wallace and described by Frederick Smith from Southeast Asia (Hymenoptera: Apoidea), European Journal of Taxonomy 1028, pp. 1-144 : 96

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2025.1028.3129
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:06182A07-5DB6-4916-86AF-673865690CE2
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/251C1E7D-FFDF-1609-FDFF-137AFB165334
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Megachile ventralis Smith, 1860
status

Treatment

61. Megachile ventralis Smith, 1860 View in CoL

Fig. 59

Megachile ventralis Smith, 1860b: 134–135 View in CoL , ♀ ♂.

Type material examined

Lectotype

INDONESIA • ♀; Amb. [Amboyna]; [ 30 Nov. 1857 – 4 Jan. 1858]; OUMNH, ENT-HYME2817 ( lectotype indicated by Baker 1993, de facto lectotype by present designation).

Type locality

Amboyna [= Ambon].

Notes

Baker (1993: 215) wrote the following:

“ Two ♀♀ in the UMO type collection represent this species; Smith’s ♂, or supposed ♂, appears not to be extant in the Oxford collections.

The ♀ labelled ‘Amb.’ [white disc] is now designated, recognizing that the ♂ may yet be located, as LECTOTYPE of ventralis . [ Megachile ventralis Smith, 1860 , is not considered to be invalidated by Apis ventralis Panzer, 1798 , at one time (Walckenaer, 1802: 139) referred to Megachile but subsequently ( cf. Peets, 1910: 45, 50) recognized as a species of Osmia . Megachile ventralis Smith, 1879 , = dupla Ritsema, 1880, is another species.] The type is virtually intact and in fair condition, except that the head has at some time become detached and been crudely re-attached.

The second ♀, labelled ‘Gag,’ [white disc: Gagie of Wallace, 1886: 537, 539 and map, 538; Gag of modern maps, a small island west of Waigeu] and ‘ Megachile ventralis Smith’ [blue paper, possibly transferred from the Amboyna ♀], must be regarded as of no type status and it has been labelled accordingly: Wallace did not visit Gagie until October 1860 (it is remarkable that under the circumstances of his visit he found opportunity for any collecting!), and the present specimen could not possibly have been before Smith when he prepared his description.

M. ventralis (referred by Michener to Eutricharaea : see comment under M. insularis Smith, 1859 , 5.11-7) is a member of the rather numerous group of chiefly Malesian Megachile typified by M. laticeps Smith, 1853 ”.

We recognise Baker’s logic, and the specimen indicated by Baker is formally designated here as the lectotype.

Current status

Megachile ( Aethomegachile) ventralis Smith, 1860 ( Ascher & Pickering 2024).

Distribution

Indonesia ( Maluku: Ambon; Southwest Papua: Gag) ( Smith 1860b; Baker 1993). Ascher & Pickering (2024) also give the Solomon Islands based on SEMC specimens identified by Baker.