A new interpretation of the bee fossil Melitta willardi Cockerell (Hymenoptera, Melittidae) based on geometric morphometrics of the wing.
Although bees are one of the major lineages of pollinators and are today quite diverse, few well-preserved fossils are available from which to establish the tempo of their diversification/extinction since the Early Cretaceous. Here we present a reassessment of the taxonomic affinities of Melitta willardiCockerell 1909, preserved as a compression fossil from the Florissant shales of Colorado, USA. Based on geometric morphometric wing shape analyses M. willardi cannot be confidently assigned to the genus Melitta Kirby (Anthophila, Melittidae). Instead, the species exhibits phenotypic affinity with the subfamily Andreninae (Anthophila, Andrenidae), but does not appear to belong to any of the known genera therein. Accordingly, we describe a new genus, Andrenopteryx gen. n., based on wing shape as well as additional morphological features and to accommodate M. willardi. The new combination Andrenopteryx willardi (Cockerell) is established.
University of Mons, Research Institute of Biosciences, Laboratory of Zoology, Place du parc 20, 7000 Mons, Belgium.
Alexandre
A
Dewulf
University of Mons, Research Institute of Biosciences, Laboratory of Zoology, Place du parc 20, 7000 Mons, Belgium ; Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Darwinweg 2, PoBox 9517, 2300RA Leiden, the Netherlands.
Thibaut
T
De Meulemeester
University of Mons, Research Institute of Biosciences, Laboratory of Zoology, Place du parc 20, 7000 Mons, Belgium.
Manuel
M
Dehon
 Division of Entomology (Paleoentomology), Natural History Museum, and Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, 1501 Crestline Drive - Suite 140, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, U.S.A.
Michael S
MS
Engel
University of Mons, Research Institute of Biosciences, Laboratory of Zoology, Place du parc 20, 7000 Mons, Belgium.
Denis
D
Michez
Bees; Oligocene; Tertiary; compression; geometric morphometrics; wing shape