Two Tests of the Hypothesis of Nonspecificity in the Hoplitis Complex (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae)12

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Abstract
This is a study of the degree to which phenetic similarities among species of bees of the Hoplitis complex, evaluated by numerical taxonomy, are the same in the 2 sexes and in different body regions. A study was carried out on 97 species, partitioning the 122 recorded characters into 69 found in females and in both sexes vs. 53 found only in males. Furthermore, using the same 122 characters, 60 head characters were compared with 62 nonhead characters. The phenograms showing the classifications of these bees based on all characters and on the subsets indicated are shown in 5 figures. The cophenetic correlations based on correlation matrices are 0.71 for sexes and 0.61 for head vs. nonhead characters. The discrepancies among the phenograms are numerous and in some cases would result in major differences in the classification. Reasons for the partial failure of the nonspecificity hypothesis and the consequences of this fact for numercial taxonomy are discussed.

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