Published December 4, 2025 | Version v1
Taxonomic treatment Open

Lasioglossum (Homalictus) punctatum

  • 1. Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Darwinweg 2, 2333 CR, Leiden, the Netherlands.
  • 2. Imbacher Weg 59, Leverkusen, 51379, Germany.
  • 3. Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart, Rosenstein 1, 70191, Stuttgart, Germany.
  • 4. Life Collections, Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Oxford, OX 1 3 PW, UK.

Description

28. Nomia punctata Smith, 1858

Fig. 29

Nomia punctata Smith, 1858a: 5, ♂.

Type material examined

Holotype

INDONESIA • ♂; Mak. [Makassar, Sulawesi]; [2 Sep.–18 Dec. 1856]; OUMNH, ENT-HYME2787.

Type locality

Celebes [= Sulawesi].

Notes

Baker (1993: 199) wrote the following:

“A ♂ labelled ‘Mak.’ [blue disc], ‘ Nomia punctata. Smith.’ [blue rect. label] and ‘ Holotype C.D. Michener in Litt. 13 VIII 1965 ’, standing as punctatum in the UMO type collection is, as recognized by Michener, the HOLOTYPE of this species. The mesosoma has been broken apart in pinning, tarsus R II is lost, and the genitalia have been crudely extracted and embedded in glue, but the type is otherwise intact and in good condition”.

Baker treated the species in the combination Lasioglossum punctatum (Smith, 1858), and we agree that it is the holotype. Separately, Michener (1965: 241) and Walker (1986: 152–153) treated Halictus punctatus Smith, 1879 (described from Australia) as Homalictus punctatus (Smith), with Walker synonymising Halictus punctatus var. exlautus Cockerell, 1905 under Homalictus punctatus. After describing this variety, Cockerell (1922: 662) later believed that Halictus punctatus was preoccupied by Nomia punctata Smith, 1858, and that the name exlautus should be applied as the senior name for the Australian taxon, the type specimen of the “variety” representing only individual variation. The placement of Smith’s taxon from Sulawesi and Smith’s taxon from Australia into the genus Lasioglossum Curtis, 1833 definitively renders the Australian taxon as a junior secondary homonym; the Australian taxon is rightly referred to as Lasioglossum (Homalictus) exlautum (Cockerell, 1905) (J. Gardner pers. com.).

Current status

Lasioglossum (Homalictus) punctatum (Smith, 1858) (J. Gardner pers. com.). Not included within the genus Homalictus by Pauly (1980) in his revision of the Indonesian members of this group.

Distribution

Indonesia (Sulawesi) (Smith 1858a; Ascher & Pickering 2024).

Notes

Published as part of 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), pp. 1-144 in European Journal of Taxonomy 1028 on pages 48-49, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2025.1028.3129, http://zenodo.org/record/18035376

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Linked records

Additional details

Biodiversity

Collection code
OUMNH
Material sample ID
ENT-HYME2787
Event date
1856-09-02
Verbatim event date
1856-09-02/12-18
Scientific name authorship
Smith
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Arthropoda
Order
Hymenoptera
Family
Halictidae
Genus
Lasioglossum
Species
punctatum
Taxon rank
species
Type status
holotype
Taxonomic concept label
Lasioglossum (Homalictus) punctatum (Smith, 1858) sec. Wood, Risch, Orr & Hogan, 2025

References

  • Smith F. 1858 a. Catalogue of the hymenopterous insects collected at Celebes by A. R. Wallace. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 3 (9): 4-27. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.1858.tb02506.x
  • Baker D. B. 1993. The Type Material of the Nominal Species of Exotic Bees Described by Frederick Smith (Hymenoptera, Apoidea). PhD thesis, Oxford University, St John's College.
  • Michener C. D. 1965. A classification of the bees of the Australian and South Pacific regions. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 130: 1-362. Available from http://hdl.handle.net/2246/1124 [accessed 12 Oct. 2024].
  • Walker K. 1986. Revision of the Australian species of the genus Homalictus Cockerell (Hymenoptera: Halictidae). Memoirs of Museum Victoria 47 (2): 105-200. https://doi.org/10.24199/j.mmv.1986.47.05
  • Cockerell T. D. A. 1922. LXXX. - Descriptions and records of bees. - XCIV. Annals and Magazine of Natural History: Series 9 9: 660-668. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222932208632725
  • Pauly A. 1980. Les especes indonesiennes du genre Homalictus Cockerell (Hymenoptera, Apoidea, Halictidae). Zoologische Mededelingen 55 (2): 11-27.
  • Ascher J. S. & J. Pickering. 2024. Discover Life Bee Species Guide and World Checklist (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Anthophila). Available from https://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?guide=Apoidea_species&flags=HAS [accessed 12 Oct. 2024].