Nomioides (Nomioides) squamiger Saunders, 1908

Straka, Jakub, Batelka, Jan & Pauly, Alain, 2017, Bees of the Socotra Archipelago (Hymenoptera: Anthophila), their biogeography and association with parasites, Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae (Acta. Ent. Mus. Natl. Pragae) 57, pp. 183-219 : 206

Nomioides (Nomioides) squamiger Saunders, 1908

( Figs 82–85 )

Nomioides facilis (Smith, 1853) : PESENKO (1983): 134 (misidentification); PESENKO & PAULY (2005): 180, 207 (misidentification); PESENKO & PAULY (2009): 224 (recorded from Socotra by mistake).

Nomioides squamiger Saunders, 1908 : PESENKO & PAULY (2005): 209 (recorded from Socotra); PESENKO & PAULY (2009): 232 (recorded from Socotra).

Nomioides rotundiceps Handlirsch, 1888 : PESENKO & PAULY (2009): 218 (recorded from Socotra by mistake).

Material examined. Socotra: Wadi Ayhaft , 200 m, 12°36.5′N, 53°58.9′E, 1 ♀, 7.–8.xi.2010, J. Bezděk lgt .; Dixam plateau, Firmihin (canyon), 490 m, 12°28.6′N, 54°01.1′E, 22 JJ 41 ♀♀, 15.–16.xi.2010, J. Batelka lgt. on flowers of Ochradenus sp .; Dixam plateau, Firmihin ( Dracaena forest), 490 m, 12°28.6′N, 54°01.1′E, 1 J 6 ♀♀, 15.–16. xi.2010, J. Hájek lgt., 2JJ 2♀♀, J. Bezděk lgt ; Dixam plateau, Wadi Dirhor, open woodland with Boswellia ameero trees, 340 m, 12°28.0′N, 54°00.5′E, 2 ♀♀, 15.vi.2012 et 22.vi.2012, J. Hájek lgt. (all in NMPC) .

Remarks. Identification of Nomioides (s. str.) in Socotra is slightly confusing in previous publications. PESENKO & PAULY (2005: 207) reported N. facilis from Socotra, but simultaneously, they noted that: ‘ Socotra is also particular with the endemic Nomioides subg. Erythronomioides Pesenko, 1983 . Another species found on the island has been formerly identified as N. facilis (see PESENKO 1983), but it is instead N. squamiger by its geographical position and the identity of the specimens checked.’ ( PESENKO & PAULY 2005: 209). In the taxonomic part of the same paper, they however reported N. facilis from Socotra ( PESENKO & PAULY 2005: 180), while N. squamiger has been reported from North Africa, Israel, and the Arabian Peninsula only. In their study published four years later, they again reported from Socotra both N. facilis ( PESENKO & PAULY 2009: 224) and N. squamiger ( PESENKO & PAULY 2009: 232) from a single female. In the same paper they moreover reported that: ‘The first information on Nomioidinae from the Arabian Peninsula and its adjacent islands was published by BLÜTHGEN (1925), who described N. socotranus and recorded N. rotundiceps Handlirsch, 1888 , from the Island of Socotra.’ ( PESENKO & PAULY 2009: 218). In BLÜTHGEN (1925), however, no such Socotran record of Nomioides rotundiceps was published. Three voucher specimens from Firmihin (see Material examined), were identified by one of us (AP) as N. squamiger , therefore we use this name for this species that was apparently previously reported from Socotra as N. rotundiceps or N. facilis by mistake.

Distribution. North Africa, Israel, Arabian Peninsula, and Socotra: Hadibo Plain ( PESENKO 1983, PESENKO & PAULY 2009).

Figures

Figs 78–85. 78–81 – Nomioides socotranus Blüthgen, 1925. 78 – female, dorsal view; 79 – female, lateral view; 80 – female, frons; 81 – male, frons. 82–85 – Nomioides squamiger Saunders, 1908. 82 – female, dorsal view; 83 – male, dorsal view; 84 – female, lateral view; 85 – male, lateral view.