Palaearctic Osmiine Bees

Author: muelandr

  • 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).

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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found to be morphologically identical with typical specimens of Hoplitis laeviscutum from Turkey and Israel (A. Müller, unpublished).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.

  • 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).

  • Two new species for Portugal

    In a sample of osmiine bees collected by David Baldock, two species were found that have never been recorded for Portugal so far: Hoplitis (Anthocopa) bisulca (Gerstaecker, 1869) and Hoplitis (Hoplitis) ochraceicornis (Ferton, 1902).

  • Osmia labialis and Osmia melanogaster

    The species status of Osmia (Helicosmia) labialis Pérez, 1879 is disputed. Warncke (1986) synonymized it with Osmia melanogaster Spinola, 1808, while other authors considered it as a valid species different from O. melanogaster (Tkalcu, 1975c; Rasmont et al., 1995; Amiet et al., 2004). In a sample of bees from France, two specimens of Helicosmia were recently found that had been collected at the same day and exactly the same location. One of these specimens showed all characters typical of O. labialis as given by Tkalcu (1975c), the other specimen was a typical O. melanogaster. The syntopic occurrence indicates that O. labialis indeed warrants the status of a valid species.

  • Description of the nesting biology of Hoplitis monstrabilis

    Rozen et al. (2009) describe the nesting biology of Hoplitis (Hoplitis) monstrabilis from eastern Turkey. The species was found to nest in excavated burrows in the ground in a similar manner as the species of Hoplitis (Annosmia) do.

  • New synonymies 2

    Osmia (Melanosmia) hyperborea Tkalcu, 1983 is a junior synonym of Osmia (Melanosmia) laticeps Thomson, 1872 (Nilsson, 2009).

  • Osmia steinmanni recorded in Italy

    The rare Osmia (Melanosmia) steinmanni (Müller, 2002), which was known so far only from a few localities in the Swiss Alps, has recently been discovered in South Tirol, Italy (Kopf, 2008).