Hoplitis (Annosmia) nisa was known so far only from Morocco and Algeria. In a sample of bees collected by M. Schwarz in southern Tunisia, a male and a female of H. nisa were found. Interestingly, the abdomen of these bees are red-coloured in contrast to specimens of H. nisa from southern Morocco, which possess a black-coloured abdomen.
Author: muelandr
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New synonymies 4
Based on the type specimens, Hoplitis (Annosmia) lefeberi Zanden, 1991 and Hoplitis (Annosmia) hierichonica wolfi (Warncke, 1991) are identical species. The former name is the junior synonym due to the date of publication.
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New species records for Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan
In a sample of bees from Central Asia collected by L. R. Best, two new species for Kyrgyzstan (Hoplitis (Alcidamea) capsulifer and Osmia (Helicosmia) prasina) and one new species for Tajikistan (Hoplitis (Anthocopa) perezi) were found.
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Hoplitis aqabaensis new for Tunisia
Hoplitis (Annosmia) aqabaensis has been recorded only in Jordan so far. In a sample of bees collected by M. Schwarz in Tunisia, bee specimens were found that exactly correspond to the type material of H. aqabaensis. Thus, H. aqabaensis has a considerably wider distribution than previously assumed.
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New species records for Macedonia
The collection of the Slovenian Museum of Natural History contains specimens of the following three species, which are new records for Macedonia: Hoplitis (Pentadentosmia) pomarina, Osmia (Hoplosmia) spinigera and Osmia (Pyrosmia) laticauda (A. Gogala, personal communication).
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New species for Portugal
In a sample of bees collected by David Baldock, two new osmiine bee species for Portugal were found: Hoplitis (Anthocopa) papaveris and Osmia (Metallinella) brevicornis. In addition, Osmia (Hemiosmia) argyropyga and Osmia (Helicosmia) niveocincta were added to the Catalogue as occurring in Portugal (Kuhlmann, 1996).
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Osmia oramara and Osmia livida
In two samples of bees collected at the same locality and date in Turkey and Iran, respectively, females of Osmia (Pyrosmia) oramara Warncke, 1992 were found together with several males that exactly correspond to the description of the male of Osmia (Helicosmia) livida by Tkalcu (1978). As in both samples no females of O. livida were found, the male of O. livida as described by Tkalcu (1978) might be the still unknown male of O. oramara. If further material should support this assumption, then i) O. oramara would be a member of the subgenus Helicosmia rather than of the subgenus Pyrosmia, and ii) the male of O. livida would be still unknown.
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Hoplitis garzetta
According to Ungricht et al. (2008), Hoplitis (Alcidamea) garzetta (Warncke, 1991) has been recorded in Greece. This record is erroneous as all specimens from Greece formerly identified as H. garzetta were recently found to belong to the closely related Hoplitis (Alcidamea) bispinosa Zanden, 1992. So far, H. garzetta is known to occur only in Turkey.
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New synonymies 3
Hoplitis (Pentadentosmia) laeviscutum (Alfken, 1933) is a junior synonym of Hoplitis (Pentadentosmia) rufopicta (Morawitz, 1875). Several males and females of Pentadentosmia from Central Asia, which were identified by V. B. Popov as Hoplitis rufopicta, were found to be morphologically identical with typical specimens of Hoplitis laeviscutum from Turkey and Israel (A. Müller, unpublished). The extent of the red colour of the cuticula appears to vary much intraspecifically: specimens from Turkey, Israel and Jordan are virtually devoid of red, while some specimens from Central Asia and Pakistan have their abdomen entirely red coloured. Even among individuals flying at the same locality, there are transitions from purely black specimens to specimens with differing amounts of red, as exemplified by a series of Hoplitis rufopicta recently collected by C. Praz, C. Sedivy and A. Monfared in Iran.
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New species records 1
In a sample of bees recently received from the American Museum of Natural History, several new species records were established: Hoplitis (Anthocopa) batyamae (Zanden, 1986): new record for Egypt (collected by J.G. Rozen and S.M. Kamel); Hoplitis (Anthocopa) jakovlevi (Radoszkowski, 1874): new record for Armenia (collected by S. Droege); Hoplitis (Pentadentosmia) nitidula (Morawitz, 1877): new record for Pakistan (unknown collector); Hoplitis (Pentadentosmia) rufopicta (Morawitz, 1875): new record for Pakistan (collected by J.G. Rozen).