The nesting behaviour of Osmia (Hoplosmia) croatica (Friese, 1893) was unknown so far. Recently, A. Müller detected a nest of this species in an empty snail shell hidden below stones in the Abruzzi mountains (Italy). For details see the species account on the Palaearctic osmiine bee website.
Author: muelandr
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Nests of four osmiine bee species detected for the first time
On their excursion to Israel in spring 2010, C. Praz and C. Sedivy detected the hitherto unknown nests of Hoplitis (Anthocopa) batyamae, Hoplitis (Pentadentosmia) helouanensis, Hoplitis (Pentadentosmia) quinquespinosa and Osmia (Helicosmia) fasciata. For details see the species accounts on the Palaearctic osmiine bee website.
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Replacement name for Microhoplitis
The subgenus name Microhoplitis Tkalcu, 1993 is a junior homonym of the lepidopteran genus name Microhoplitis Marumo, 1920 (Kocak and Kemal, 2010). As there is no junior synonym of Microhoplitis Tkalcu, 1993, Kocak and Kemal propose Tkalcua as replacement name.
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New species records 4
A field trip by Christophe Praz and Claudio Sedivy to Israel in spring 2010 revealed the following new country records: Chelostoma (Foveosmia) maidli, Haetosmia circumventa, Hoplitis (Alcidamea) tridentata, Hoplitis (Prionohoplitis) campanularis and Hoplitis (Stenosmia) jordanica. In addition, the hitherto unknown male of Hoplitis (Bytinskia) negevensis and the unknown female of Hoplitis (Pentadentosmia) enslini were found.
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New results of pollen analytical studies 2
Results of the microscopical analysis of 254 pollen samples from 78 osmiine bee species were incorporated into the species accounts. For the following 8 species, the first pollen samples became available: Hoplitis (Annosmia) christae, Hoplitis (Annosmia) leiocephala, Hoplitis (Annosmia) segura, Hoplitis (Annosmia) verhoeffi, Hoplitis (Anthocopa) unispina, Hoplitis (Hoplitis) tkalcuella, Hoplitis (Pentadentosmia) enslini and Hoplitis (Pentadentosmia) helouanensis.
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Subspecies of Osmia signata
John S. Ascher (American Museum of Natural History) recently pointed out that B. Tkalcu has described a subspecies of Osmia signata from the island of Rhodos (Greece), which was not yet listed in the catalogue by Ungricht et al. (2008). O. signata rhodia has now been included in the Palaearctic osmiine bee website.
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New results of pollen analytical studies 1
Results of the microscopical analysis of 241 pollen samples from 76 osmiine bee species were incorporated into the species accounts. For the following 12 species, the first pollen samples became available: Hoplitis (Alcidamea) grossepunctata, Hoplitis (Anthocopa) alba, Hoplitis (Anthocopa) wahrmani, Hoplitis (Anthocopa) zaianorum, Hoplitis (Hoplitis) latuspilosa, Hoplitis (Hoplitis) linguaria, Osmia (Erythrosmia) erythrogastra, Osmia (Helicosmia) lazulina, Osmia (Hemiosmia) anceps, Osmia (Neosmia) scutispina, Osmia (Neosmia) tingitana and Osmia (Osmia) emarginata.
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New species records 3
Several samples of osmiine bees received from M. Schwarz, F. Gusenleitner, A. Dorchin, C. Praz and C. Sedivy revealed the following new country records:
Azerbaijan: Hoplitis (Alcidamea) leucomelana, Hoplitis (Annosmia) annulata crenulata, Hoplitis (Anthocopa) agis, Hoplitis (Hoplitis) carinata
Bulgaria: Osmia (Osmia) cerinthidis
Iran: Hoplitis (Annosmia) mutica, Hoplitis (Annosmia) uncaticornis, Hoplitis (Chlidoplitis) illustris, Hoplitis (Hoplitis) flabellifera, Hoplitis (Pentadentosmia) minor, Hoplitis (Pentadentosmia) tringa, Osmia (Helicosmia) aeruginosa, Osmia (Helicosmia) chrysaetos, Osmia (Helicosmia) dives, Osmia (Helicosmia) fasciata, Osmia (Orientosmia) maxillaris scheherazade, Osmia (Pyrosmia) cyanoxantha, Osmia (Pyrosmia) dilaticornis, Osmia (Pyrosmia) laticauda, Osmia (Pyrosmia) saxicola, Osmia (Pyrosmia) viridana
Israel and Palestine: Hoplitis (Alcidamea) acuticornis, Hoplitis (Anthocopa) agis, Osmia (Helicosmia) melanogaster, Osmia (Helicosmia) saxatilis, Osmia (Tergosmia) rhodoensis
Morocco: Heriades (Heriades) truncorum, Hoplitis (Anthocopa) batyamae, Hoplitis (Anthocopa) longispina
Portugal: Hoplitis (Alcidamea) tridentata, Osmia (Tergosmia) tergestensis
Syria: Hoplitis (Annosmia) mutica, Hoplitis (Prionohoplitis) curvipes, Osmia (Hoplosmia) distinguenda, Osmia (Pyrosmia) dilaticornis
Tunisia: Heriades (Heriades) fertoni, Hoplitis (Alcidamea) tricolor, Hoplitis (Anthocopa) ilamana, Hoplitis (Anthocopa) oxypyga, Hoplitis (Anthocopa) rubricrus, Hoplitis (Anthocopa) saundersi, Hoplitis (Anthocopa) zaianorum, Hoplitis (Prionohoplitis) epeoliformis, Osmia (Erythrosmia) sparsipuncta, Osmia (Hoplosmia) scutellaris, Osmia (Metallinella) brevicornis subcyanea, Osmia (Osmia) emarginata infuscata, Wainia (Caposmia) eremoplana
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Hoplitis mazzuccoi new for Slovenia
Gogala (2009b) recorded Hoplitis (Micreriades) mazzuccoi for the first time in Slovenia.
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Biology of Ozbekosmia and Tergosmia
In a recent paper, Rozen et al. (2010) describe the nesting biology, floral preferences and immature stages of Osmia avosetta, the only representative of the subgenus Ozbekosmia, and compare its biology with that of three Tergosmia species, which are closely related to O. avosetta: Osmia lunata, O. rhodoensis and O. tergestensis.