Phylogeny of the cleptoparasitic bee genus Exaerete (Hymenoptera:Apidae)

Relationships among the species of Exaerete Hoffmannsegg (Apinae: Euglossini) were explored based on new morphological data and including new taxa described since the study of Engel (Am. Mus. Novit. 3272, 1 - 14, 1999). Analysis of the data matrix was undertaken in NONA using the WinClada interface and resulted in a single topology of length 39, CI 0.66, RI 0.78. Three principal clades were identified in the genus, resulting in interrelationships among the species as: (((E. smaragdina + (E. frontalis + E. lepeletieri)) + ((E. trochanterica + E. guaykuru) + (E. azteca + E. dentata))). Biogeographic patterns are briefly discussed in light of the recovered phylogeny and Exaerete lepeletieri Oliveira & Nemesio is newly considered a synonym of E. frontalis (Guerin- Meneville).