Andrena (Aciandrena) varicornis Pérez, 1895

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 : 26

Andrena (Aciandrena) varicornis Pérez, 1895

( Fig. 44 )

Distribution: Algeria, Egypt, southern Israel, Morocco, Tunisia, West Bank ( Wood et al. 2020b).

Flight period: February–April.

Flower records: Brassicaceae : Sisymbrium irio .

Material examined: ISRAEL: Har Horesha , Rt. 171, 930 m, 2.iv.2014, L. Friedman (2♀) ; Holot Mash’abbim Nature Reserve [Holot Mash’abbim], 30.999°N 34.7578°E, 18.ii.2022, G. Pisanty (1♂) ; Nahal Sayif , 14.iv.2007, Y. Hollander (1♀) ; Nahal Zin , 15.iv.2007, I. Lalzar (1♀) ; Sde Boker , 22.iii.1963, J. Kugler (1♂) ; Shivta , 17.iii.1977, A. Freidberg (2♀, 1♂) ; Shivta junction, 30.941°N 34.597°E, 10.iii.2017, G. Pisanty (1♂) ; Yeruham [Bir Rekhme], 21.iii.1958, L. Fishelsohn (1♀) ; WEST BANK: Nabi Musa Road , 22.ii.2014, A. Gotlieb, on Sisymbrium irio (1♀) ( SMNHTAU) .

Remarks. The integumental colour of terga 2–5 in Israeli A. varicornis females varies from the typical brown to reddish (specimens from Har Horesha, Nahal Sayif, Nabi Musa Road)—a variant hitherto unknown from North African populations ( Fig. 44 ).

Figures

FIGURES 44–49. Andrena (Aciandrena) varicornis Pérez. 44. female habitus. Andrena (Aciandrena) xera sp. nov., holotype. 45. female habitus, 46. female head, 47. female head and mesosoma, 48. female propodeal triangle, 49. female metasoma.