First record of intersexual phenotype in Calliopsini bees (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Andreninae): an unusual specimen of Acamptopoeum submetallicum (Spinola).

Sex anomalies are one of the best-known cases of teratology among wild bees with different terms used to differentiate among such abnormalities. Gynandromorphs are individuals with genetically distinct male and female tissues while intersexes are genetically uniform individuals with expression of sexual features of the opposite sex. Among the three commonly accepted gynandromorph categories—bilateral symmetry, transverse and mixed (or mosaic)—the relative proportion of each gynanders category described in the literature shows the transverse and mosaic as the most frequently observed cases among wild bees (Michez et al. 2009; HinojosaDíaz et al. 2012). In bees, gynandromorphs are recorded from 117 species in 30 genera of all families being mostly recorded from the long-tongued bees in Apinae and Megachilinae (Wcislo et al. 2004; Michez et al. 2009; Hinojosa-Díaz et al. 2012, Lucia et al. 2012). Andreninae constitute a diverse group of short-tongued bees, with approximately 2600 described species present on all continents except Australia and Antarctica (Michener 2007). Contrary to this large diversity and distribution, cases of gynandromorphism in Andreninae is restricted to Holarctic Andrena. According to Hinojosa-Díaz et al. (2012), efforts needs to be made to document and illustrate deviant individuals in order to understand how such patterns happens and how these individuals behave. Also, the study of intersexual specimens is important to clarify questions about the formation of sexual features, cleptoparasitic traits, and even homologies (Wcislo et al. 2004; Engel 2007; Michez et al. 2009; Yang & Abouheif 2011; HinojosaDíaz et al. 2012). In this work we describe the first record of intersexual phenotype in Calliopsini bees based in an unusual specimen of Acamptopoeum submetallicum (Spinola) from northern Chile.