Osmia (Hoplosmia) spinulosa ( Kirby 1802 )

Müller, Andreas, 2018, Palaearctic Osmia bees of the subgenus Hoplosmia (Megachilidae, Osmiini): biology, taxonomy and key to species, Zootaxa 4415 (2), pp. 297-329 : 309-311

Osmia (Hoplosmia) spinulosa ( Kirby 1802)

Apis spinulosa Kirby 1802: 261 . Type material: Lectotype ♂, by designation of Tkalců (1974a), (United Kingdom), Natural History Museum London. Type species of Hoplosmia Thomson.

Osmia euchreiformis Radoszkowski 1882: 77 . Type material: Holotype ♂, “Echmiadzin” (Armenia), Museum für Naturkunde Berlin. Synonymy in Tkalců (1974a).

Literature records. SPAIN: Girona (Ceballos 1956). ANDORRA: Andorra-la-Vella ( Zanden 1958). ITALY: Pagliano (1994). CROATIA: Józan (2009). MACEDONIA: Gorica near Ohrid (Zanden 1984). ROMANIA: Ban- Calefariu (2009). TURKEY: Aydin, Agri ( Özbek & Zanden 1992). UNITED KINGDOM: southern England (Falk & Lewington 2015). FRANCE: Benoist (1931). BELGIUM: Pauly (1999). NETHERLANDS: Peeters et al. (2012). LUXEMBOURG: Rasmont et al. (1995). GERMANY: Scheuchl & Schwenninger (2015). POLAND: Bogdanowicz et al. (2004). CZECH REPUBLIQUE: Straka et al. (2007). SLOVAKIA: Straka et al. (2007). SWITZERLAND: Amiet et al. (2004). LIECHTENSTEIN: Bieri (2002). AUSTRIA: Gusenleitner et al. (2012). SLOVENIA: Gogala (1999). HUNGARY: Józan (2011). NORWAY: Aust-Agder, Telemark, Vestfold, Ostfold, Oslo (F. Ødegaard, http://artsdatabanken.no/Pages/148154). SWEDEN: Blekinge, Öland, Gotland, Bohuslän ( Janzon et al. 1991). UKRAINE: Romasenko (1995). RUSSIA: Chishmy near Ufa ( Tkalců 1974a); southern European Russia ( Osychnyuk et al. 1978).

New records. SPAIN: Girona : 30 km NW Ripoll, 1750 m, 22.7.2011 (leg. J. Halada) ; Lleida: Cataluña, Balaguer, Canal d'Urgell , 41°47'01"N 0°49'48"E, 6.8.2009 (leg. J. Smit) . ANDORRA : La Massana, 20.7.1999 (leg. J. Smit) . ITALY: Sardinia: Muravera , 2.7.2000 (leg. J. Halada) . BULGARIA: Slantschev Brjag , 7.1966 (leg. Z. Padr) ; Primorsko env., 6.8.1988 (leg. P. Tyrner) ; 30 km W Sofia, 12.8.1993 (leg. M. Halada) ; Trakia , Plovdiv, 20.7.1996 (leg. A. Zaykov) ; Rodopi, Galabovo, 1.8.1997 (leg. Z. Pedr); Stara Zagora, 5.7.2000 (leg. M. Snizek) . MOLDOVA: Lozova , 15.7.2009 (leg. A. Lozan) . TURKEY: Eskisehir: Inönü , 800 m, 1.8.1991 (leg. K. Warncke) ; Konya: Güneysinir, Güragaç, 28.7.2000 (leg. M. Kesdek) ; Nevsehir: Göreme , 1100 m, 25.8.1991 (leg. K. Warncke) ; Erzurum: Agziacik , 20.7.2003 (leg. J.G. Rozen, H. Özbek) . RUSSIA: Altai: Chemal , 21.7.2007 (leg. S. Belokobylskij) ; Tigirek , 11.7.2012 (leg. M. Shcherbakov) ; Khakassia: Shira lake , 28.6.2011 (leg. K. Tomkovich) . KAZAKHSTAN: Alma Ata, Medeo, 27.6.1995 (leg. J. Halada) ; Dshungarskij-Alatau, Rudnitschnij, 44°40'20''N 78°55'38''E, 1200m, 25.7.2002 (leg. M. Kuhlmann). KYRGYZSTAN: Afleatum env., 41.6°N / 71.6°E, 1– 3.6.1995 (leg. M. Mücka) ; southern shore of Issy-Kul lake, Teplokljutschinka , 1650 m, 19.6.1995 (leg. W. Dolin) ; Ala Archa, Uzum-Bulat, 5.2000 (leg. V. Gurko); Ala Archa, Kashka-Suu, 1650 m, 7.2000 (leg. V. Gurko); Alai mountain range, Katla, Karakol , 7.2000 (leg. V. Gurko) ; Tchatkal mountain range, Khodza-Ata , 41°50'N 71°56'E, 5.7.2000 (leg. Makogonova): Ferghan mountain range, Alash-Too mountains, Alash forest, 8.2000 (leg. V. Gurko) ; Osh, Gultcha Ravine , 50 km SSW Gultcha, 39°52'17''N 73°21'26''E, 2530 m, 7.7.2000 (leg. M. Engel) .

Distribution. From southern Europe (northern Spain, Andorra, southern France, Italy including Sardinia and Sicilia) over southeastern Europe ( Croatia, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova) to eastern Turkey and the Caucasus ( Armenia); from western Europe (southernmost United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Netherlands) over central Europe ( Luxembourg, Germany, Poland, Czech Republique, Slovakia, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Slovenia, Hungary), northern Europe (southernmost Norway, southernmost Sweden) and eastern Europe ( Ukraine, Russia) to central Asia ( Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan) and the Russian Khakassia republic of eastern Siberia. The species seems to be absent from most of the Iberian Peninsula as well as from Greece. There is a single male from Crete (Pass near Pinakino, 19.4.1986, leg. W. Vöth, Oberösterreichisches Landesmuseum Linz), which might have been mislabelled as no other specimens have ever been recorded from this well explored Greek island. The westernmost record is from Pembrokeshire in southwestern Wales, the northernmost from Oslo province in southern Norway, the southernmost from Güragaç in southern Konya province of Turkey and the easternmost from Shira lake in the Khakassia republic of Russia.

Pollen hosts. Oligolectic on Asteraceae ( Westrich 1989; Müller 1994). Among the Asteraceae , species of the Asteroideae (e.g. Anthemis, Aster , Buphthalmum , Inula , Senecio ), Carduoideae (e.g. Carduus , Centaurea , Cirsium ) and Cichorioideae (e.g. Cichorium , Crepis , Hieracium , Leontodon , Picris , Tragopogon ) are exploited for pollen. On the Asteroideae , which is probably the most important pollen host taxon among the Asteraceae subfamilies ( Fig. 1 ), the females take up pollen from the surface of the capitulum directly into their scopa by rapidly moving the metasoma up and down (“abdominal drumming” sensu Cane 2017). On Carduoideae und Cichorioideae , they use their hind legs to direct the pollen-bearing flower structures under the seesawing metasoma. To provision one brood cell, the entire pollen content of about four flower heads of Buphthalmum salicifolium is needed ( Müller et al. 2006).

Nesting biology. Nesting site: The nests are built in empty snail shells of small to medium size ( Fig. 5, 6 ) e.g. Cepaea , Cernuella , Fruticicola , Helicella , Pomatias, Xerolenta , Zebrina and occasionally also young shells of Helix ( Müller 1994) . Nest architecture: The nests contain 1–3, mostly 2 brood cells, which are separated from each other by partitions consisting of leaf pulp, e.g. from Potentilla or Sanguisorba ( Müller 1994) . There is no basal wall that seals the innermost brood cell against the rear end of the nest. The shells are sealed at their opening with an additional wall of leaf pulp. There is an empty vestibule of varying length between nest plug and outermost cell partition. The latter probably acts as main barrier against predators or parasites as it is distinctly more robust than the other cell partitions and the nest plug, needing more than 30 flights with leaf pulp for its construction. Nesting cycle: On average, about 30 foraging bouts are needed to provision one brood cell, which takes about 12.5 h under good weather conditions ( Müller 1994). After having sealed the shell, the female crawls upside down under her nest and turns it with her legs so that the shell opening is directed tightly towards the ground ( Fig. 6 ), which might possibly provide some protection against inclement weather. Under good conditions, a female constructs up to 20 brood cells during her flight period, which lasts maximally 10–11 weeks. Interestingly, the females regularly control their nests up to four weeks after they have sealed them to repair holes and cracks in the nest plug with newly collected leaf pulp. Osmia spinulosa overwinters as a prepupa in a self-spun cocoon within the brood cell. It has one generation per year. However, it seems to be a parsivoltine species since about half of all larvae that emerged from the brood cells were found to undergo metamorphosis only after the second hibernation. Brood parasites: The megachilid bee species Stelis odontopyga develops as cleptoparasite in the nests of O. spinulosa ( Noskiewicz 1925; Blüthgen 1926). Additional confirmed brood parasites are Chrysura cuprea (Rossi) and C. trimaculata (Förster) (Chrysididae) , Anthrax aethiops (Fabricius) (Bombyliidae) , Melittobia acasta (Walker) (Eulophidae) , Pteromalus apum (Retzius) and P. venustus Statz (Pteromalidae) ( Kunz 1994; Müller 1994; BWARS 2013).

Behaviour. Male mating behaviour: The males occupy small home ranges, to which they adhere during their entire flight period, which lasts maximally 5–6 weeks ( Müller 1994). Within these home ranges, they search for females by patrolling Asteraceae flower heads along more or less fixed circular flight routes in a rapid flight, which is interrupted by short resting periods on the ground. Home ranges and flight routes are never defended against conspecifics but instead often widely overlap. Sleeping places: The males sleep singly or in small groups within empty snail shells as do females that have not yet started their nesting activities ( Müller 1994). Nesting females pass the night or periods of bad weather within their nests.

Figures

FIGURES 1–4. Flower-visiting females of Osmia (Hoplosmia). 1: Osmia spinulosa on Buphthalmum salicifolium (Asteroideae). 2: Osmia spinigera on Centaurea spec. (Carduoideae; photo H. Wiesbauer). 3: Osmia bidentata on Centaurea spec.(Carduoideae; photo A. Gogala).4: Osmia pinguison Inula spec.(Asteroideae).

FIGURES 5–10. Nesting behaviour of Osmia (Hoplosmia). 5: Female of Osmia spinulosa entering her nest in an empty shell of Xerolenta obvia. 6: Female of Osmia spinulosa turning her nest in an empty shell of Zebrina detrita in a protected position. 7: Opened nest of Osmia pinguis inan empty snail shell containing three brood cells.8: Females of Osmia distinguenda at their nests in small rock cavities (photo G. Pisanty). 9: Opened nest of Osmia ligurica in a preexisting burrow in a dead stem of Scolymushispanicus (photo G. LeGoff).10: Female of Osmia ligurica at the entranceof her nest in a hollow plant stem (photo H. Wiesbauer).