Systematics of Horstiella
Ron Ochoa at the Estacion Pitilla, Guanacaste Conservation Area, Costa Rica.
The genus Horstiella was proposed by Turk (1948) for H. armata, collected as deutonymphs from a bee identified as Euglossa fasciata from Trinidad. This genus and species have not been subsequently reported in the literature. Examination of large series of bees in North American collections failed to recover Horstiella from any Euglossine bees, however, we have recovered H. armata and six undescribed congeners from fifteen species of Neotropical bees of the genus Epicharis (Apidae: Centridini) distributed from central Mexico through Brazil. Unlike the situation with most acarid mite-bee associations, where only one species of mite occurs on a given host species, Horstiella species are not restricted to single bee species, and more than one mite species typically occurs on the same host individual. In this project, we are redescribing H. armata from the type material and designating a lectotype for the species. We also describe the six new species, list host associations and geographic distributions. Phylogenetic analysis of mite relationships combined with host taxonomy indicates that mite species are specific to particular subgenera or related groups of subgenera within the host bee genus Epicharis.
Results of this study were presented at the annual meeting of the Entomological Society of America in December, 1997, and are being prepared for publication.
Horstiella armata Turk, 1948, lectotype deutonymph in BMNH
Horstiella armata deutonymphs on face of Epicharis rustica from Guyana.
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