Xylocopa (Koptortosoma) pubescens Spinola, 1838

Boustani, Mira, Rasmont, Pierre, Dathe, Holger H., Ghisbain, Guillaume, Kasparek, Max, Michez, Denis, Müller, Andreas, Pauly, Alain, Risch, Stefan, Straka, Jakub, Terzo, Michael, Achter, Xavier Van, Wood, Thomas J. & Nemer, Nabil, 2021, The bees of Lebanon (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila), Zootaxa 4976 (1), pp. 1-146 : 79

Xylocopa (Koptortosoma) pubescens Spinola, 1838 *

Distribution: WEST PALAEARCTIC: North Africa, north-eastern Mediterranean and east to Iran ( Terzo & Rasmont 2014).

Local distribution fig. 15.4

Material Examined.

BDFGM material. Pauly 2013: One specimen from Beyrouth [Beirut], det. Pauly A., no date or collector details .

Author material. Specimens from USEK collection with no labels, 2♀ .

Beirut: AUB Campus , 19.III.1960, 1♂, leg. Ibrahim, coll . AUB.Additional 26♀ and 18♂, from 13 records, collected between 7.VI.1978 and 26.VII.2019, from AUB Campus and Achrafieh .

Bekaa: AUB Farm [Hauch Sneid], 15.VI.1962, 1♂, leg. Yeganiantz L., coll . AUB. Additional 3♀ and 3♂ from 4 records collected between 1970 and 4.XI.2018, from AUB Farm and Anjar .

Mount Lebanon: Fanar, 9.IX.1969, 2♀, coll. USEK; Deirkoubel [Deir Qoubel], 10.XII.2004, coll. AUB, 1♂, leg. Ezzedine S., Merhbi K., coll. AUB; Jounieh, Kaslik, 28.IV.2017, 1♂, leg. Mhanna K., coll. USEK. Additional 4♀ and 13♂ from 5 records, collected between 26.VI.2019 and 5.VIII.2019, from Mansourieh, Sin El Fil and Kaslik (Jounieh) .

Flower records. Asteraceae : Echinops viscosus ; Fabaceae : Parkinsonia aculeata ; Verbenaceae : Duranta erecta .

This species is found in coastal areas and the drier habitats in the Bekaa. It has been found mainly foraging on nonnative decorative plants on the coastal area, in the few remaining urban gardens.

Figures

FIGURE 15. Local distribution maps of material examined and literature of 1 Xylocopa iris, 2 Xylocopa olivieri, 3 Xylocopa parviceps, 4 Xylocopa pubescens, 5 Xylocopa rufa, 6 Xylocopa valga, 7 Xylocopa varentzowi, 8 Xylocopa violacea, 9 Ceratina acuta, 10 Ceratina bispinosa, 11 Ceratina cucurbitina, 12 Ceratina dentiventris, 13 Ceratina mandibularis, 14 Exoneuridia libanensis, 15 Eucera cypria, 16 Eucera gaullei.