Osmiine bee material collected by T. Wood revealed the following new country records for the Lebanon: Osmia (Allosmia) lhotelleriei, Osmia (Allosmia) rufotibialis, Osmia (Helicosmia) dives, Osmia (Helicosmia) saxatilis, Osmia (Pyrosmia) cyanoxantha, Osmia (Pyrosmia) hellados and Osmia (Pyrosmia) viridana.
Author: muelandr
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New species records 24
Osmiine bee material collected by C. Schmid-Egger revealed the following new country records:
Iran: Osmia (Helicosmia) breviata
Oman: Hoplitis (Stenosmia) jordanica
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Biology of Hoplitis perambigua
In a recent publication (Ampulex, 22-30, 2023), B. Jacobi and T. Wood describe the biology of Hoplitis (Hoplitis) perambigua, an endemic species of the Canary Islands. See species account for details.
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New species records 23
Osmiine bee material provided by W. H. Liebig revealed the following new country records for Iran: Hoplitis (Alcidamea) curvipes, Hoplitis (Alcidamea) stellaris and Hoplitis (Anthocopa) perezi.
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New species records 22
Osmiine bee material recently collected by A. Fateryga and M. Proshchalykin in Dagestan revealed the following new country records for Russia: Hoplitis (Alcidamea) caucasica, Hoplitis (Alcidamea) scita, Hoplitis (Pentadentosmia) tringa, Osmia (Helicosmia) breviata and Osmia (Osmia) scheherazade
Both sexes of Hoplitis scita from Dagestan have a significantly shorter proboscis than those from Kyrgistan, Siberia (Altai, Buryatia, Khakassia, Tyva), Mongolia and China. In addition, the females from Dagestan have a rather dense whitish hair band on the marginal zone of tergum 5, which is missing in females from the more eastern populations. Otherwise, the morphology (including the male sterna and genitalia), pubescense and colour are identical. Unfortunately, no specimens of H. scita are known from the large geographic area between the Dagestan population and the more eastern populations (e.g. from Kazakhstan) that would allow us to assess whether the intermediate populations have intermediate character states indicating a gradual morphological change. As long as no specimens from Kazakhstan are available, the specimens from Dagestan are tentatively treated as conspecific with specimens of H. scita from Kyrgistan, Siberia, Mongolia and China.
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Hoplitis turcestanica
Specimens from Ukraine and Astrakhan assumed to be Hoplitis (Alcidamea) turcestanica by Fateryga & Proshchalykin, 2020) proved to be Hoplitis (Alcidamea) mollis (Ukraine, new country record) and a still undescribed H. (Alcidamea) species (Astrakhan). Most probably, H. turcestanica is restricted to Central Asia, it does neither occur in Ukraine nor in southern and central European Russia, and “H. turcestanica” in Banaszak & Romasenko (2001), Medvedev (1978) and Osytshnjuk et al. (1978) likely refers to H. mollis.
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Nesting biology of two species uncovered
In two recent articles in the Journal of Hymenoptera Research (96, 641-656 and 735-750, 2023) the nesting biology of Hoplitis (Hoplitis) astragali and of Hoplitis (Alcidamea) curvipes is described. See species accounts for details.
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Osmia steinmanni
Osmia steinmanni was recently found in northwesternmost Slovenia close to the Austrian border by Heinz Wiesbauer (Beiträge zur Entomofaunistik, 24, 55-61, 2023). This is the first record of O. steinmanni for Slovenia and the easternmost record for the species, indicating that the species’ distribution might extend over the entire alpine bow.
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New Hoplitis (Hoplitis) species
In a recent article in the Journal of Hymenoptera Research (96, 641-656, 2023), two new Hoplitis species of the subgenus Hoplitis from southern Russia, Azerbaijan and Central Asia are described, i.e. H. astragali and H. dagestanica. See species accounts for details.
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Protosmia magnicapitis
The examination of the holotype female of Protosmia magnicapitis (Stanek, 1969) revealed that the species does not belong to the subgenus Protosmia as assumed by Griswold (1985). Instead, it is a member of the subgenus Nanosmia as shown by the densely punctate apical margin of tergum 1, the almost cylindrical antennal flagellum and the small size. Among Protosmia species of the subgenus Nanosmia, P. magnicapitis is well characterized by the coarse punctation of scutum, scutellum and terga and particularly by the shape of the mandible, which is parallel-sided in its apical half and bears two minute and weakly separated teeth immediately followed by a long and reddish apical tooth.