''Oligochlora'' is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of sweat bee in the

Halictidae Halictidae is the second-largest family of bees (clade Anthophila) with nearly 4,500 species. Halictid species are an extremely diverse group that can vary greatly in appearance. These bees occur all over the world and are found on every contine ...

subfamily

Halictinae Within the insect order Hymenoptera, the Halictinae are the largest, most diverse, and most recently diverged of the four halictid subfamilies. They comprise over 2400 bee species belonging to the five taxonomic tribes Augochlorini, Thrinchos ...

. The genus currently contains six species, all of which are known from the early

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

Burdigalian The Burdigalian is, in the geologic timescale, an age (geology), age or stage (stratigraphy), stage in the early Miocene. It spans the time between 20.43 ± 0.05 annum, Ma and 15.97 ± 0.05 Ma (million years ago). Preceded by the Aquitanian (sta ...

stage

Dominican amber Dominican amber is amber from the Dominican Republic derived from resin of the extinct tree ''Hymenaea protera''. Dominican amber differentiates itself from Baltic amber by being nearly always transparent, and it has a higher number of fossil incl ...

deposits on the island of

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and th ...

History and classification

The genus was first described by Dr. Michael Engel in a 1996 paper published in the ''

Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society The ''Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the Kansas Entomological Society. The journal has a 2009 impact factor The impact factor (IF) or journal impact factor (JIF) of an ...

''. The genus name is a combination of "Oligo", from

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the ...

a possible age of the amber and "chlora" from the genus ''Augochlora'', the type genus of the tribe

Augochlorini Augochlorini is a tribe of sweat bees in the subfamily Halictinae. They are found in the Nearctic and Neotropic realms. They typically display metallic coloration, with many species that are red, gold, green, blue, or purple. Genera * '' An ...

where ''Oligochlora'' is placed. Along with the genus description, the paper contained the description of the type species ''O. eickworti'' and the second species ''O. micheneri''. Dr Engel described a third species, ''O. grimaldii'' in 1997. A fourth species, ''O. rozeni'' was published in 2000 and the genus was split into two subgenera, ''Oligochlora'' (''Oligochlora'') and ''Oligochlora'' (''Soliapis''). The subgenus ''Soliapis'' is named from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

words ''sola'', meaning "alone", and ''apis'', meaning "bee" in reference the lack of an

acarinarium An acarinarium is a specialized anatomical structure which is evolved to facilitate the retention of mites on the body of an organism, typically a bee or a wasp. The term was introduced by Walter Karl Johann Roepke. Evolution The acarinarium has ...

on ''O. rozeni''. A fifth species, ''O. marquettorum'' was also published in 2000, jointly described by Dr. Engel and Molly G. Rightmyer and placed into ''O.'' (''Soliapis''). In 2009, with the publication of ''O. semirugosa'' by Dr. Engel, the total number of species was raised to six.

Description

''Oligochlora'' is most similar to the

extant Extant is the opposite of the word extinct. It may refer to: * Extant hereditary titles * Extant literature, surviving literature, such as ''Beowulf'', the oldest extant manuscript written in English * Extant taxon, a taxon which is not extinct, ...

genus ''Neocorynura'', from which it can be separated by the shapes of the mesoscutum and preoccipital ridge or the monotypic genus '' Thectochlora'' which also has a mutualistic relationship with specialized

acarid The Acaridae are a family of mites in order Sarcoptiformes. Distribution There are several acarid genera with cosmopolitan distributions, such as ''Acarus', Sancassania'' and ''Tyrophagus''. There are even ''Tyrophagus'' found in Antarctic ...

mites Mites are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods). Mites span two large orders of arachnids, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari, but genetic analysis does not show clear evid ...

. The genus also superficially resembles the genus ''Corynura'' but differs in a number of features including the lack of eye hairs.

''O. eickworti''

''O. eickworti'' is known from the

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

only, a single long female currently in the private collection owned by Ettore Morone of

Turin, Italy Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...

as number "684". The species is named in honor of Dr. George Eickwort, who specialized in

systematics.

''O. micheneri''

The ''O. micheneri'' holotype is also a female in the Morone collection, as specimen number "167" and has a body length of approximately . The head and metasoma are a brilliant metallic green with brown edges. Dr. Engel named ''O. micheneri'' for Dr.

Charles D. Michener Charles Duncan Michener (September 22, 1918 – November 1, 2015) was an American entomologist born in Pasadena, California. He was a leading expert on bees, his ''magnum opus'' being ''The Bees of the World'' published in 2000. __TOC__ Biograp ...

who devoted most of his research career studying bees.

''O. grimaldii''

Dr. Engel described ''O. grimaldii'' in the journal '' Apidologie'' in 1997 from a female specimen. The single long bee specimen is deposited in the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...

Department of Entomology as number "DR-14-839". The species has a heavily sclerotized black Sc+R vein and the remaining veins are brown. The species is named in honor of Dr. David Grimaldi for his contributions to insect paleontology and study of amber.

''O. rozeni''

''O. rozeni'' is known from the long holotype female, number "M-2523" of the Morone collection. The species, named in honor of Jerome G. Rozen, Jr. of the

, is distinguishable from other members of the genus by the lack of and acarinarium on the upper side of the metasoma.

''O. marquettorum''

The first species to be described from more than one individual bee was ''O. marquettorum'', which was described from both a holotype and a

paratype In zoology and botany, a paratype is a specimen of an organism that helps define what the scientific name of a species and other taxon actually represents, but it is not the holotype (and in botany is also neither an isotype nor a syntype). Of ...

, both females, preserved in a single amber specimen. Published in the May/June 2000 issue of the journal ''Apidologie'', the amber containing the twp bees is in the American Museum of Natural History as number "DR-14-1484". Lack of an acarinarium places ''O. marquettorum'' in ''O.'' (''Soliapis'') and the species can be distinguished from ''O. rozeni'' by the obtuse angle of the

pronotum The prothorax is the foremost of the three segments in the thorax of an insect, and bears the first pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the pronotum (dorsal), the prosternum (ventral), and the propleuron (lateral) on ea ...

. The species is named in honor of George Edward Marquette and Jennie Smith Proskine Marquette, grandparents of M. Rightmyer.

''O. semirugosa''

''O. semirugosa'' is the newest addition to the genus and the fourth species in the subgenus ''O.'' (''Oligochlora''). The holotype is a female specimen, number KU-DR-21 in the collections of the

University of Kansas Natural History Museum The University of Kansas Natural History Museum is part of the University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute, a KU designated research center dedicated to the study of the life of the planet. The museum's galleries are in Dyche Hall on the unive ...

, is named from the Latin ''semi'' meaning "half" or "partial" and ''rugosus'' meaning, "wrinkled". This name refers to the species' distinct rugulose gena which along with the pronotal angle, the partially and sculpturing of the face, mesosoma, and metasomal terga are unique.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7086811 † Fossil bee genera Burdigalian life Neogene Dominican Republic Miocene insects of North America Prehistoric insects of the Caribbean Fauna of Hispaniola Insects of the Dominican Republic Fossils of the Dominican Republic Dominican amber Fossil taxa described in 1996 Fossil taxa described in 1997 Fossil taxa described in 2000 Fossil taxa described in 2009 Taxa named by Michael S. Engel