Category: Distribution

The examination of osmiine bees received from Matthieu Aubert revealed the presence of Hoplitis (Anthocopa) fasciculata in Corsica. In Europe, this species has been known so far only from Sardinia, Greece and Crete.

Three osmiine bee species have been recorded for the first time in Egypt: Hoplitis (Alcidamea) epeoliformis, Hoplitis (Platosmia) africana and Hoplitis (Platosmia) gerofita.

The examination of osmiine bee material received from Yael Mandelik and coworkers revealed the following new species records for Israel: Hoplitis (Anthocopa) serainae and Hoplitis (Micreriades) antalyiae.

Matthieu Aubert and Christophe Philippe discovered Hoplitis (Hoplitis) lithodorae in southern France near Montpellier in spring 2013 and at other places in the Aude and Bouches du Rhone provinces in 2014. This species was hitherto known only from a small area in southwestern Spain (Müller, 2012). Flowers of Lithodora fruticosa were very common at the sites of H. lithodorae in southern France, suggesting that the species is indeed a Lithodora oligolege.

The examination of osmiine bee material received from the Oberösterreichische Landesmuseum Linz revealed the following new country records:

Afghanistan: Osmia (Metallinella) brevicornis

Albania: Hoplitis (Pentadentosmia) pomarina

Armenia: Hoplitis (Hoplitis) manicata

Bulgaria: Hoplitis (Alcidamea) grossepunctata, Hoplitis (Anthocopa) nicolaei, Hoplitis (Hoplitis) pallicornis

Croatia: Hoplitis (Pentadentosmia) laevifrons

Iran: Hoplitis (Hoplitis) carinata, Hoplitis (Hoplitis) strymonia

Kyrgyzstan: Hoplitis (Formicapis) latifemoralis

Madeira (Portugal): Osmia (Helicosmia) niveata

Romania: Hoplitis (Micreriades) mazzuccoi

Syria: Osmia (Osmia) cornuta quasirufa, Osmia (Tergosmia) rhodoensis

Osmiine bee material recently received from Stefan Risch and the Oberösterreichische Landesmuseum Linz revealed the following new country records:

Bulgaria: Osmia (Helicosmia) labialis

Croatia: Hoplitis (Hoplitis) carinata, Hoplitis (Micreriades) mazzuccoi, Osmia (Allosmia) bischoffi, Osmia (Neosmia) bicolor, Osmia (Pyrosmia) hellados

Hungary: Hoplitis (Hoplitis) manicata

Israel: Hoplitis (Alcidamea) brachypogon

Serbia and Montenegro: Chelostoma (Foveosmia) foveolatum, Heriades (Heriades) crenulatus, Osmia (Helicosmia) aurulenta, Osmia (Helicosmia) caerulescens, Osmia (Helicosmia) melanogaster, Osmia (Helicosmia) niveata

Several samples of osmiine bees recently received from Naturalis (Leiden) and the American Museum of Natural History (New york) revealed the following new country records:

Andorra: Heriades (Heriades) truncorum, Hoplitis (Hoplitis) adunca, Osmia (Osmia) bicornis, Osmia (Helicosmia) caerulescens, Osmia (Metallinella) brevicornis

Israel: Hoplitis (Anthocopa) mocsaryi, Osmia (Helicosmia) mirhiji

Portugal: Protosmia (Nanosmia) asensioi

Russia: Hoplitis (Anthocopa) caucasicola

Turkey: Osmia (Helicosmia) mirhiji

Stenoheriades maroccanus and Hoplitis (Chlidoplitis) teucrii have been recorded so far only from Morocco. The examination of a large osmiine bee material kindly provided by Max Schwarz (Ansfelden) and Fritz Gusenleitner (Oberösterreichisches Landesmuseum Linz) revealed that both species have a wider distribution than hitherto assumed: S. maroccanus also occurs  in southern Spain and Sicily, and H. teucrii in southern Spain. In addition, Hoplitis (Micreriades) antalyae, formerly known only from Turkey, is distributed also on several islands of the Aegean.

A sample of osmiine bees from Bulgaria and Greece contained several specimens of a new European Heriades species of the subgenus Michenerella. The females exactly correspond morphologically to the females of Heriades hissaricus, which was known so far from Central Asia, Iran and Turkey. The new European records indicate that H. hissaricus has a much larger distribution area than hitherto thought. However, as the male of H. hissaricus is not yet known, the European specimens might possibly represent a still undescribed species, which cannot be distinguished from H. hissaricus in the female sex.

In a recent paper, Nadimi et al. (2013) report on the occurrence of 25 osmiine bee species from northern Iran. Six species are recorded for the first time for Iran: Chelostoma (Chelostoma) diodon, Chelostoma (Gyrodromella) rapunculi, Heriades (Heriades) truncorum, Heriades (Rhopaloheriades) clavicornis, Hoplitis (Alcidamea) ciliaris and Osmia (Hoplosmia) bidentata.