Megachile (Chalicodoma) albocristata Smith, 1853

Maharramov, M. M., Fateryga, A. V. & Proshchalykin, M. Yu., 2021, Megachilid bees (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan: tribes Lithurgini, Dioxyini, and Megachilini, Far Eastern Entomologist 428, pp. 12-24 : 15-16

Megachile (Chalicodoma) albocristata Smith, 1853

MATERIAL EXAMINED. 18 – 25.VI 2020, 1 ♀, MM [FSCV]; 40 – 13.VI 2019, 1 ♀,

DISTRIBUTION. Western and Southern Europe, Russia (European part), Georgia,

* Azerbaijan, Turkey, Iran.

REMARKS. Females of this species are remarkably polymorphic in the color of the pilosity: typical form has tufts of whitish setae on each lateral side of the propodeum and on the terga 1–3, while some populations (e. g., from Dagestan) have also a tuft of whitish setae on the mesepisternum and complete bands of whitish setae on the terga 1–5 (Fateryga &

Proshchalykin, 2020). The examined female specimens from Nakhchivan AR differ from the typical form of M. albocristata (e. g., from the Crimea) by an even darker pilosity: they are almost completely black. In addition, both females and the male examined have smaller body size in comparison with the material from both the Crimea and Dagestan.