MELOE DOMINICANUS N. SP (COLEOPTERA: MELOIDAE) PHORETIC ON THE BEE PROPLEBIA DOMINICANA (HYMENOPTERA: APIDAE) IN DOMINICAN AMBER

A new species of blister beetle, Meloe (Meloe) dominicanus (Coleoptera: Meloidae), is described from a triungulin in Dominican amber. The new species is characterized by its small size (under 1 mm), large, laterally positioned eyes and antennal structure. The specimen is attached to a hair on the occiput of a worker stingless bee, Proplebia dominicana Wille and Chandler, 1964 (Hymenoptera: Apidae). This is the first official description of a meloid in any amber deposit, the first New World record of a fossil meloid triungulin and the first record of a meloid triungulin associated with a stingless bee.