Feeding on Centaurea jacea. Body length: 10,1 mm. Labrum 38/42,88 mm long, 43/42,88 mm wide; clypeus 41/42,88 mm long.
[Key to genus, MIchez et al 2023]
Antenna short extending very rarely beyond mesosoma.
Eyes normal or just slightly developed, their inner margins converging ventrally.
Forewing with three submarginal cells.
Basal vein generally long, two-thirds longer than anterior margin of second cubital cell.
Nervulus sometimes interfurcal, often postfurcal.
Tongue relatively long in relation to head, with last two segments of labial palpus much reduced.
Clypeus often bulging, protruding in relation to axis of eyes.
Body without yellow spots or bands other than on face, pronotal lobe and legs.
Metasoma black.
Marginal cell with tip pointed or rounded but always clearly distant from anterior margin of wing.
Nervulus most often pre- or interfurcal.
Third submarginal cell smaller than first two put together, second never extending as strongly under the first.
Species often smaller than 15 mm, without metallic reflection purple on wings.
Face without carina along inner margins of eyes, which converge towards clypeus.
First recurrent vein clearly prefurcal to the second transverse cubital vein.
Metasoma black.
Metasoma without metallic reflection, with long and/or dense dorsal hair cover, forming light or more strongly coloured bands, reaching its greatest width with terga 2 and 3.
Tergum 7 never folded ventrally under tergum 6.
Basitibial plate present as a half-disc shaped at the base of hind tibia.
Face with cuticle spotted with yellow.
Malar space vestigial or clearly shorter than third antennal segment.
First submarginal cell without small very short vein.
Marginal cell clearly shorter than distance between it and wing tip.
First submarginal cell smaller or equal to second one.
First recurrent vein ending towards middle of second submarginal cell.
Third transverse cubital vein ending clearly after middle of marginal cell.
Nervulus pre- or interfurcal.
Arolium absent.
Amegilla
[Key to subgenera, Brooks 1988]
Seven exposed metasomal terga; thirteen antennal segments, (males).
Apex of S8 narrowed, either bilobed or rounded such that sternum appears triangular from ventral or dorsal aspect.
Apex of S8 strongly bilobed.
Gonostylus present as a blister to an elongate appendage.
Apical margin of S5 entire; color of metasomal hair never metallic blue;
mainly an Ethiopian groups with a few Oriental species.
Apex of S7 laterally expanded normally, about as broad as long [feature not observed]
All metasomal terga with pale apical bands of hair.
Body length 8-14 mm.
Zebramegilla
[Ortiz-Sánchez & Jimenez 1991]
This key does not include some especies as "savignyi" (as magnilabris) and talaris.
Escapo [en parte] y espacio entre el clípeo y el margen interno del ojo de color blanco.
Especies menores, 9-12 mm.
Pilosidad en general cenicienta.
Labro más ancho que largo.
Esternitos con pilosidad [marron oscura] en el disco.
La pilosidad blanca ocupa, a lo sumo, el tercio proximal del metatarso.
La puntuación del labro es generalmente más densa y fuerte en la línea media y ápice
A. fasciata (F.)
The specimen as captured in a net, chilled, photographed and released near the point of capture. It was foraging on Salvia rosmarinus in full flower.
202307 Can Soler