Protohabropoda

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Protohabropoda is an extinct bee genus in the Apidae family, known from a single fossil found in southern France. The only described species, Protohabropoda pauli, lived during the Late Oligocene and is known from a solitary compression-impression specimen preserved in soft lake sediments near Céreste in the Luberon mountains. The fossil comes from the calcaire de Campagne Calavon and indicates the ancient lake was surrounded by a mixed-mesophytic forest in a climate that could be semi-arid.

The genus name combines proto- (first) with Habropoda, reflecting its resemblance to Habropoda, while the species name pauli honors bee systematics enthusiast Paul Vigot. The holotype is a female preserved in dorsal view; the head is twisted upward, the right forewing is outstretched, and the hindwings are missing. The mesosoma measures about 5.88 mm and the metasoma about 4.5 mm, with a forewing length of roughly 7.79 mm. The specimen shows dense body and leg hair, though the antennae are not well preserved.

Wing venation suggests affinities with the Apinae tribes Anthophorini and Centridini, but the pattern is closest to Anthophorini, differentiating it from living genera such as Anthophora and Amegilla. The pterostigma is present with parallel sides, and the marginal and submarginal cells have a distinctive arrangement. Protohabropoda pauli is one of four bee species described in the study describing this fossil, which also named Andrena antoinei, Bombus cerdanyensis, and Euglossopteryx biesmeijeri. The fossil, housed at the Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, was described by Dehon and colleagues in 2014.