Phylogeny and new species of the Neotropical bee genus Paroxystoglossa Moure (Hymenoptera, Apoidea)

ABSTRACT

ABSTRACT Paroxystoglossa is a solitary, ground-nesting bee genus. It was revised in 1960 and currently includes nine species from Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. The objectives of this contribution are to provide a morphological phylogeny for the group and to describe two new species P. levigata n.sp. and P. mourella n.sp. Paroxystoglossa is monophyletic and three species groups are recognized, jocasta species group (P. mourella n.sp., (P. brachycera, (P. jocasta, P. barbata))), transversa species group (P. transversa, P. levigata n.sp.), and crossotos species group (P. mimetica, (P. crossotos, P. seabrai, (P. andromache, P. spiloptera))). The crossotos and transversa species groups were considered as sister groups. Interestingly Paroxystoglossa species have very similar male genital capsules an uncommon pattern among Augochlorini genera. The species groups have a widely redundant distribution indicating replication events in southeastern South America. An updated, illustrated key for species identification is also presented.