Xenochlora meridionalis sp. nov. (Hymenoptera: Apidae), a new halictine bee from eastern Brazil as evidence of past connections between Amazonia and Atlantic Forest

We describe a new species of the bee genus Xenochlora Engel, Brooks & Yanega, 1997, X. meridionalis sp. nov., based on a single female collected in the coastal forests of southeastern Brazil, in the state of Espírito Santo. The disjunct distribution exhibited by Xenochlora , with species in northern South America and in the Atlantic Forest of eastern Brazil, is discussed in light of current knowledge about other taxa with similar distribution pattern.