Andrena (Truncandrena) mizorhina Warncke, 1975

Pisanty, Gideon, Scheuchl, Erwin, Martin, Teresa, Cardinal, Sophie & Wood, Thomas James, 2022, Twenty-five new species of mining bees (Hymenoptera: Andrenidae: Andrena) from Israel and the Levant, Zootaxa 5185 (1), pp. 1-109 : 75

Andrena (Truncandrena) mizorhina Warncke, 1975 stat. nov.

Andrena doursana mizorhina Warncke, 1975

Distribution: Israel, Lebanon, Turkey, West Bank ( Wood et al. 2020a).

Flight period: February–April.

Flower records: None.

Material examined: HOLOTYPE: TURKEY: Adana, 7.v.[no year] (♀) ( OLML) ; PARATYPE: ISRAEL: Ramla [Ramleh] (1♂) ( OLML) ; non-type material: ISRAEL: Ben Shemen , 1.iii.1986, E. Shney-Dor (1♂) ; ‘ En Hemed [Aquabella], 15.iii.1969, H. Bytinski-Salz (1♂) ; Holot Nizzanim Nature Reserve [Holot Nizzanim NR], 10 m, 31.742°N 34.606°E, 10.iii.2021, A. Dorchin (2♂) ; Katzrin [Golan, Qazrin], 10.iv.1988, R. Leys (3♀, 2♂) ; Lakhish , 18.ii.2013, T. Shapira, pan trap (1♂) ; 6.iii.2013, T. Shapira, pan trap (1♀); Pura Nature Reserve , 18.iii.2010, A. Freidberg (1♂) ; Tiberias , 26.iii.1996, H. Wolf (4♀, 2♂) ; WEST BANK: Kedumim [Qedumim], 24.iii.2015, L. Friedman (1♀) ( NHMUK, OLML, RMNH, SMNHTAU, TJW) .

Remarks. The identity of this taxon has been confused. Material from the Levant was originally reported as A. doursana derbentina Morawitz ( Warncke 1969) . Warncke later removed A. derbentina (a non-Mediterranean taxon described from the Caucasus) from combination with A. doursana and described Levant material as A. doursana mizorhina ( Warncke 1975) . The reason for this confusion is that female material is highly challenging if not impossible to separate; the key differences are in the male sex. Males of A. mizorhina have an entirely dark clypeus, whereas the clypeus is at least partially yellow-marked in A. derbentina , A. doursana Dufour , and the various subspecies of A. doursana described by Warncke from North Africa that require separate investigation as to their specific status. Andrena mizorhina males also lack the medioapical spine on the clypeus characteristic of A. mucronata Morawitz. They do not vary in the structure and colouration of their clypeus, and do not intrograde into the other known forms, and we therefore we treat them as a valid taxon. They are also geographically isolated from other similar species, which are restricted to the Caucasus ( A. derbentina ) or western Egypt westwards ( A. doursana s.s., A. doursana agadira Warncke , A. doursana bengasia Warncke , and A. doursana citreola Warncke ). Andrena mucronata does occur in sympatry with A. mizorhina in Israel, but we have confirmed the separation of the two species by DNA barcoding ( Table 2 ). Because female identification is challenging, the range of A. mizorhina is established mostly based on male material, and records from females only should be treated with caution. It is regrettable that a female specimen was selected as the holotype of this species, with no associated males collected nearby; the possibility that the holotype belongs to A. mucronata cannot be totally excluded.