New species of Elaphropoda Lieftinck, 1966 and Habropoda Smith, 1854 (Hymenoptera, Apidae) from Arunachal Pradesh, India

  • Femi Ezhuthupallickal Benny Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), Royal Enclave, Srirampura, Jakkur Post, Bangalore 560064, India https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5991-9896
  • Dharma Rajan Priyadarsanan Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), Royal Enclave, Srirampura, Jakkur Post, Bangalore 560064, India https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8137-3404
Keywords: Anthophorinae, male description, Northeast India, solitary bees, taxonomy

Abstract

Elaphropoda Lieftinck, 1966 and Habropoda Smith, 1854 are two rarely collected genera belonging to the family Apidae. Elaphropoda is found to be restricted to the Oriental region with 13 extant species. Habropoda is a rather extensively distributed genus with a total of 55 species worldwide. We describe two new species (Elaphropoda triangulata sp. nov. and Habropoda adi sp. nov.) belonging to these genera, based on two male specimens collected from Arunachal Pradesh, India. The importance of male holotypes in rarely collected Hymenoptera is highlighted. Also, the rarity of anthophorine bees in collections and the distribution pattern of Elaphropoda and Habropoda are discussed. Identification keys and distribution maps to the Indian species of Elaphropoda and Habropoda are provided.

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Published
2026-07-06
How to Cite
Benny, F. E., & Priyadarsanan, D. R. (2026). New species of Elaphropoda Lieftinck, 1966 and Habropoda Smith, 1854 (Hymenoptera, Apidae) from Arunachal Pradesh, India. European Journal of Taxonomy, 1073(1), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2026.1073.3298
Section
Research article