Andrena, Fabricius, 1775

Wood, Thomas James, 2023, New Old World Andrena species, with a focus on Turkey (Hymenoptera: Andrenidae), Zootaxa 5266 (1), pp. 1-72 : 61-63

Andrena (? Aciandrena ) palmyriae Wood, 2021

Description: Male: Body length: 5–6 mm ( Figure 36A ). Head: Dark, 1.25 times wider than long ( Figure 36B ). Clypeus weakly domed, densely punctate, punctures separated by 1 puncture diameter, underlying surface finely shagreened, weakly shining. Process of labrum short, slightly wider than long, deeply semi-circularly emarginate medially. Gena subequal to width of compound eye; ocelloccipital distance equalling 1.5 times diameter of lateral ocellus. Face, gena, vertex, and scape with white hairs, none equalling length of scape. Antennae basally dark, A3 apically and A4–13 lightened bright orange ventrally. A3=A4+5, A4 extremely short, clearly wider than long, half length of A5 ( Figure 36C ). Mesosoma: Scutum and scutellum finely and irregularly punctate, punctures separated by 1–4 puncture diameters, underlying surface smooth and shining, becoming shagreened laterally ( Figure 36D ). Pronotum without humeral angle, evenly rounded. Mesepisternum and dorsolateral parts of propodeum finely microreticulate; propodeal triangle poorly defined, internal surface almost indistinguishable from dorsolateral parts, with short and weak rugae basally. Mesosoma with long white hairs, longest equalling length of scape. Legs dark basally, tarsi and hind tibiae lightened orange. Hind tarsal claws with inner tooth. Wings hyaline, stigma and venation orange, nervulus antefurcal. Metasoma: Tergal discs dark, marginal areas extensively lightened yellow-orange, becoming hyaline apically ( Figure 36E ). Tergal discs microreticulate basally, dull, microreticulation disappearing apically, here smooth and shining; areas lacking microreticulation sparsely punctate, punctures separated by 2–3 puncture diameters. T1–4 apically with loose white hairbands. Genital capsule compact, gonocoxae very weakly produced, apically rounded, gonostyli apically spatulate, penis valves moderately broad basally, gradually narrowing apically ( Figure 36F ).

Diagnosis: Andrena palmyriae was originally tentatively placed in the Aciandrena based on the unsculptured propodeal triangle, antefurcal nervulus, and domed and striation-free clypeus. It was described from a single female, and no male material was available for study. A long series of females and males was found in unidentified Warncke material from relatively close to the locus typicus of Palmyra in the Syrian desert. Males have a dark clypeus ( Figure 36B ), whereas most Aciandrena species have a yellow-marked clypeus. Subgeneric placement in the many small black species found in deserts is highly challenging ( Pisanty et al. 2022b), and genetic work will be needed to decisively resolve this issue. For species diagnosis, male A. palmyriae should be recognised by its combination of simple genital capsule ( Figure 36F ), dark clypeus, ventrally orange antennae, A3=A4+5, A4 extremely short, half as long as A5 ( Figure 36C ), propodeal triangle with obscure striations at its base, antefurcal nervulus, light orange tarsi ( Figure 36A ), and reddish-orange hyaline tergal margins ( Figure 36E ). Separation from other species is challenging because some species that are similar in the female sex have been described only from females (specifically, A. nitidicollis and A. xera ). It can be separated from males of the similar A. badiyah Wood, 2021 as this species has a yellow clypeus. It is almost identical to A. pavonia , but the scutum and scutellum are extensively shiny ( Figure 36D ; shagreened and dull in A. pavonia ) and the clypeus is more densely punctate, punctures separated by 1 puncture diameter, without clear shining interspaces (punctures separated by 1–2 puncture diameters in A. pavonia , with shining interspaces).

Remarks. The large series of specimens allows further assessment of the diagnostic criteria proposed by Wood (2021) for the female sex in the original description of this species based on a single specimen. The emarginate process of the labrum remains a key character; though not every specimen displayed a process of the labrum that was a deeply and strongly emarginate as in the holotype, every examined female showed at least some degree of emargination. Likewise, the scutum was always predominantly shiny, and the nervulus of the forewing was always more or less interstitial.

Distribution: Syria (Wood 2021).

Material examined: SYRIA: 110 km E of Palmyra , 350 m, 22.iv.1992, 20♁, 40♀, leg. K. Warncke, OÖLM .

Figures

FIGURE 36. Andrena (?Aciandrena) palmyriae Wood, 2021 male.A. Habitus, lateral view, B. Face, frontal view, C. Antennae detail, D. Scutum, dorsal view, E. Terga, dorsal view, F. Genital capsule, dorsal view.