Hoplitis taurica (Radoszkowski, 1874)

Pseudosmia taurica was described by Radoszkowski (1874) based on female and male specimens collected near Salguir on the Crimean peninsula. Radoszkowski placed this species in a newly established genus Pseudosmia, to which he added – according to the current classification – eight further species belonging to Hoplitis (Anthocopa), Osmia (Erythrogastra), Osmia (Helicosmia), Osmia (Hoplosmia) and Osmia (Metallinella). Radoszkowski’s description is far from being sufficient to narrow down the identity of P. taurica. Due to the laterally toothed male tergum 6, P. taurica is probably a member of the genus Hoplitis, which is supported by the author’s remark that the new species is morphologically close to H (Anthocopabisulca (Gerstaecker). The types of P. taurica were neither found in Krakow, where a large part of the bee collection of Radoszkowski is housed, nor in Moscow or St. Petersburg (L. Przybyłowicz, A. Fateryga and M. Proshchalykin, personal communication), which suggests that they are lost. Due to the insufficient species description and the unavailability of the types, P. taurica Radoszkowski, 1874 is therefore newly regarded as a nomen dubium.



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