Osmia mirhiji is a member of O. (Tergosmia)

The systematic position of Osmia mirhiji Mavromoustakis, 1957 was unclear. Due to the weak metallic blue to green sheen of head and terga of the female, Mavromoustakis (1957) assigned the species to the subgenus Chalcosmia = Helicosmia. However, the structure of the clypeus deviates from that of Osmia (Helicosmia) but is instead similar to that of Osmia (Tergosmia) or Hoplitis (Anthocopa). The recent examination of several males revealed that Osmia mirhiji actually belongs to the genus Osmia (punctiform parapsidal lines, lack of lateral tooth at tergum 6, lack of basal flaps at base of sternum 6) and that it shows the typical male characters of Osmia (Tergosmia), such as the similar form and size of sterna 2-3 lacking fringed emarginations, the strong and haired median emargination of sternum 5 and the shape of tergum 7. Thus, Osmia mirhiji is newly placed into the subgenus Osmia (Tergosmia). It is the only species of this subgenus with a metallic body sheen.



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