Palaearctic Osmiine Bees

The examination of osmiine bee material collected by D. Baiocchi and provided by M. Selis revealed the following new country records for Iraq:

Chelostoma (Foveosmia) isabellinum, Chelostoma (incertae sedis) ventral, Heriades (Heriades) rubicola, Hofferia schmiedeknechti, Hoplitis (Anthocopa) anipuncta, Hoplitis (Anthocopa) yermasoyiae asiae, Hoplitis (Anthocopa) bisulca, Hoplitis (Anthocopa) duckeana, Hoplitis (Anthocopa) nicolaei, Hoplitis (Chlidoplitis) allii, Hoplitis (Chlidoplitis) heinrichi, Hoplitis (Chlidoplitis) lysholmi, Hoplitis (Chlidoplitis) onychophoran, Hoplitis (Hoplitis) linguaria, Hoplitis (Hoplitis) pallicornis, Hoplitis (Micreriades) illyrica, Hoplitis (Pentadentosmia) tringa, Osmia (Erythrosmia) andrenoides, Osmia (Helicosmia) melanogaster, Osmia (Helicosmia) niveata, Osmia (Helicosmia) subcornuta, Osmia (Hoplosmia) bidentata, Osmia (Hoplosmia) distinguenda, Osmia (Hoplosmia) ligurica, Osmia (Hoplosmia) padri, Osmia (Hoplosmia) scutellaris, Osmia (Hoplosmia) spinigera, Osmia (Hoplosmia) warnckei, Osmia (Osmia) apicata, Osmia (Osmia) maxschwarzi,  Osmia (Pyrosmia) laticauda, Osmia (Pyrosmia) submicans, Osmia (Pyrosmia) versicolor and Osmia (Pyrosmia) viridana.

Osmiine bee material collected by A. Fateryga, M. Proshchalykin and M. Maharramov revealed the following ne country records:

Azerbaijan: Heriades (Michenerella) punctulifera, Protosmia (Nanosmia) magnicapitis

Kazakhstan: Hoplitis (Eurypariella) denudata, H. (Platosmia) inconspicua, H. (Alcidamea) pinkeunia, H. (Pentadentosmia) minuta

The examination of osmiine bee material collected by Thomas Wood in Bulgaria and Greece in 2024 revealed the following new country records:

Bulgaria: Hoplitis (Alcidamea) praestans, H. (Anthocopa) corcyraea, Osmia (Helicosmia) signata

Greece: Hoplitis (Hoplitis) loti, Osmia (Helicosmia) labialis. The former species was found at an elevation of 1900-2000 m in the Verno mountains in Western Macedonia and the latter species at an elevation of 1800 m in the Voras mountains in Central Macedonia, both localities are near the border to North Macedonia.

According to Fateryga et al. (2024), all records of Hoplitis (Anthocopa) papaveris from Crimea belong to Hoplitis (Anthocopa) perezi; so far, no reliable records exist for H. papaveris on Crimea. Furthermore, the authors list Hoplitis (Alcidamea) mollis for southern European Russia.

Osmiine bee material provided by T. Ljubomirov and T. Trifonov revealed the following two new country records for Bulgaria: Hoplitis (Hoplitis) galichicae and Osmia (Osmia) mustelina.

In a recent publication (Journal of Hymenoptera Research, 97, 127-189, 2024) on the megachilid bees of Corsica, Le Divelec et al. (2024) report on the following findings:

1. The records of Hoplitis (Alcidamea) claviventris and Osmia (Helicosmia) notata from Corsica are dubious;
2. the records of Hoplitis (Anthocopa) mocsaryi, Hoplitis (Hoplitis) benoisti, Hoplitis (Hoplitis) loti, Hoplitis (Hoplitis) marchali and Osmia (Pyrosmia) cyanoxantha from Corsica are erroneous;
3. the records of Chelostoma (Foveosmia) foveolatum and Protosmia (Nanosmia) minutula are new records for Corsica.

Osmiine bee material collected by D. Baiocchi in northern Iraq in 2023 and provided by M. Selis revealed the following new country records: Chelostoma (Chelostoma) comosum, Chelostoma (Chelostoma) diodon, Chelostoma (Chelostoma) dolosum, Chelostoma (Chelostoma) emarginatum, Chelostoma (Chelostoma) mocsaryi, Chelostoma (Gyrodromella) hebraeum, Hoplitis (Anthocopa) serainae, Osmia (Allosmia) rufohirta, Osmia (Allosmia) sybarita, Osmia (Helicosmia) aquila, Osmia (Helicosmia) clypearis acuta, Osmia (Helicosmia) signata, Osmia (Pyrosmia) cephalotes, Osmia (Pyrosmia) nana, Osmia (Pyrosmia) saxicola, Osmia (Pyrosmia) teunisseni, Stenoheriades asiatica.

Heinz Wiesbauer recently published the first record of Osmia (Melanosmia) inermis for Slovenia (Beiträge zur Entomofaunistik, 24, 55-61, 2023). Teodor Trifonov recorded Hoplitis (Hoplitis) pici for the first time in Bulgaria; he will publish this new country record soon.

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.

Osmiine bee material collected by C. Schmid-Egger revealed the following new country records:

Iran: Osmia (Helicosmia) breviata

Oman: Hoplitis (Stenosmia) jordanica