Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Science/2024 August 15

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August 15

Outdated species names of bees in Nomia and Nomadopsis

I've found a list of bees that the bee fly Heterostylum robustum parasitizes in a book written in 1973, but a lot of them are outdated. The list is: "Nomia bakeri Cockerell, N. triangulifera Vachal; Nomadopsis anthidius Fowler, N. scutellaris Fowler, and Halictus rubicundus (Christ.)." I have suspicions but I can't confirm them and would like to be sure, but can't locate any authoritative resource.

• Nomia bakeri I know has been reclassified as Nomia nevadensis baker ([1]), and I think may be Dieunomia nevadensis bakeri.
• Nomia triangulifera I am guessing is probably Dieunomia triangulifera
• Nomadopsis anthidius I think is Calliopsis anthidia: Calliopsis is a synonym but the second part apparently changed?
• Nomia scutellaris is still valid
• Halictus rubicundus is still valid

Does anyone know how to confirm any of this, or how to source it? Mrfoogles (talk) 07:10, 15 August 2024 (UTC)

• Have you tried asking at WT:WikiProject Insects? Or look at the sources in the taxobox at the bottom of the Nomia (bee) article or the sources in List of Nomia species? Abductive (reasoning) 08:01, 15 August 2024 (UTC)

This page syas: "Calliopsis anthidia - Synonyms: Calliopsis anthidius". Alansplodge (talk) 10:54, 15 August 2024 (UTC)

Also this page: "Dieunomia triangulifera - Synonyms: Nomia triangulifera" using this as a reference. Alansplodge (talk) 10:59, 15 August 2024 (UTC)

Thanks, this worked with a little extra googling for the last sources. Pretty much resolved now. Odd WorldSpecies, sourced to GBIF, has synonym listings it does not. Mrfoogles (talk) 00:20, 16 August 2024 (UTC)

Ancient Greek ὄψις (ópsis) is feminine, so Calliopsis from kalli- + opsis should be considered feminine as well. This means that Calliopsis anthidius (Fowler, 1899) did not conform to the gender-agreement requirement of the International Rules of Zoological Nomenclature introduced in 1905, and was changed to Calliopsis anthidia to make the gender of the specific epithet agree. (Due to an error in the introduction of the genus name Nomadopsis (Ashmead, 1898), this genus name was adopted by some but not accepted universally, which has led to some confusion.^[2])  --Lambiam 11:01, 15 August 2024 (UTC)

I thought it might have something to do with gender -- makes sense. Mrfoogles (talk) 00:32, 16 August 2024 (UTC)