Xylocopa sonorina Smith, 1874 from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (Hymenoptera: Apidae, Xylocopinae) with comments on its taxonomy

• DOI: 10.3897/bdj.8.e49918
• Publication Date: 2020-04-14T12:00:11Z
• Authors: Cory Sheffield; Jennifer Heron; Luciana Musetti
• Keywords: 0106 biological sciences; Insecta; Arthropoda; large carpenter bees; QH301-705.5; synonymy; Apidae; non-native species; Hymenoptera; 01 natural sciences; distribution; Animalia; DNA barcoding; Single Taxon Treatment; Biology (General); Apoidea

Only one species of large carpenter bee, Xylocopa virginica (Linnaeus, 1771), has been recorded from Canada, albeit restricted to southern Ontario and Quebec. However, a single female specimen identified by Hurd in 1954 as X. varipuncta Patton, 1879 British Columbia is the C.A. Triplehorn Insect Collection at The Ohio State University (OSUC), suggesting that this was accidentally introduced into coastal western Canada. As wood-nesters, many bees are likely capable expanding their range great distances natural unnatural transport methods while nesting inside suitable substrates, presumed mode elsewhere. ease which nests transported contributed nomenclatural distributional ambiguity surrounding due morphological similarities specimens North America, Hawaii, several South Pacific islands.By comparing DNA barcodes United States we confirm early opinion P.H. Timberlake (Timberlake 1922) long established on Hawaiian Islands same continental America. Furthermore, these barcode sequences also match those sonorina Smith, 1874 French Polynesian Samoan Islands, thus fully supporting Groom et al. (2017) all conspecific. sonorina, described Hawaii oldest name available, here placed synonymy. Additional research will be needed trace timing pathway introduction establishment sonorina; it native southwestern but since mid-1800s. It Polynesia, other south islands, with additional records occurrence Java, New Zealand, now