Trachusa taurica, Kasparek, 2020

Kasparek, Max, 2020, Revision of the Palaearctic Trachusa interrupta species complex (Apoidea: Anthidiini) with description of four new species, Zootaxa 4728 (1), pp. 1-48 : 36-39

Trachusa taurica sp. n.

( Figs 7 , 9 , 11 , 36–37 )

Material (N=21). HOLOTYPE. Male. TURKEY: Mersin prov.: Namrun [=Çamlıyayla], 1200 m, 16.vi.–3.vii.1979, C. Holzschuh & F. Ressl leg. (cMS) .— PARATYPES (4): 7♀ 2♂ same data as holotype (cMS) .

Other material examined: TURKEY: 1♂ Adana prov., Zeytinbeli env. (36°50‘05‘‘N 34°45‘38‘‘E), 132 m, 03.vii.2011, F. Stahlavsky leg. (cJS) .— 1♂ Adana prov., Hamidiye env. ( Astragallus steppe, lime stone, 37°33‘N 34°50‘E), 28.vi.2011, J. Straka & P. Jansta leg. (cJS) ; 1♂ N of Akseki , 19.vi.1998, Ma. Halada leg. ; 1♂ Marash [Kahramanmaraş], Seidenstücker leg. ( OLL) ; 1♂ Marasch [Kahramanmaraş], v.1928, E. Pfeiffer leg. ( ZSM) ; 1♀ 1♂ Gülek, Taurus , H. Kolle leg. ( ZMB) ; 1♂ Asia Minor, 29.vi.1952, Seidenstücker ( OLL) ; 2♀ Hasanbeyli, Mt. Amanus , 1000 m, 14.v.1989, K. Warncke leg. ( OLL) .— SYRIA: Djebel Akrab , 1883, ‘ Dr. F. Leuthner Djebel Arab 83 N. Syrien‘ [Note: Djebel Akrab = Jebel Aqra = Mount Casius; situated at the time of collection in Syria, but now situated in the Turkish-Syrian border area, i.e. the locality may actually be situated in Turkey] .

Taxonomic note. Warncke identified material belonging to the interrupta group as a new species and labelled it as Anthidium taurica (holotype and paratypes) but did not publish it before he died. This material is deposited in OLL. Dubitzky (2007) examined it and included it in his description of Trachusa heinzi . However, he did not recognise that the remaining material belonged to two undescribed species and attributed it to and labelled it as ‘ Anthidium interruptum ’.

Description. Female: Yellow bands on T1–T2 interrupted medially, separated by a wide gap; band on T3 gradually tapering medially (uninterrupted or interrupted by a narrow gap) ( Fig. 36A ); scutellum with broad yellow anterolateral L-shaped stripe; scutellum and axillae together with four yellow spots ( Fig. 36A ); pronotal lobe black; mid-femur with yellow stripe almost extending to distal end; inner side of hind tibia black.

Male: Antenna long, average length of Sg4–Sg6 between 0.47 and 0.54 mm ( Fig. 38 ); yellow bands on T1–T2 interrupted, others uninterrupted ( Fig. 36C ); scutum black or black with some remnants of a lateral stripe near tegula ( Fig. 36C ); inner side of hind tibia black.

Differential Diagnosis. The species is characterised by relatively long antennae, somewhat longer than in T. heinzi , but significantly longer than in T. integra and T. anatolica and significantly shorter than in T. grandicornis ( Fig. 38 ). In addition to antennal length, the male is distinguished from T. grandicornis by the interrupted yellow band on T2 (Type D or E in Fig. 1 ), which is never interrupted in T. grandicornis (Type C). Trachusa heinzi has, among other features, a pronotal projection (absent in T. taurica ) and the band on T2 which is uninterrupted or the lateral bands are contiguous (Type C or D).

The female shares with T. grandicornis and T. anatolica the dark pronotal lobes, which are yellow in T. heinzi . The inner hind tibiae have black maculations (as in T. heinzi and T. grandicornis , but such maculation is normally absent in T. anatolica ). The genae have rich yellow colouration in T. heinzi , T. anatolica and T. grandicornis , while it is confined to a relatively small spot in T. taurica and T. interrupta .

The female of T. taurica has a yellow stripe on the mid-femora which extends over almost the entire femur lengths and the inner sides of the hind tibiae are black, while in most T. interrupta , the mid-femora have only small yellow maculation and the inner hind tibiae are entirely yellow. However, these characters do not always hold true, but the widely separated distribution areas may be used for species attribution.

In the morphometric DFA ( Fig. 14 ), males of T. taurica form a cluster very close to T. heinzi , a species which is, however, otherwise well distinguished by other morphological and colouration features. The three species T. grandicornis , T. taurica and T. heinzi form by their long antennae a group of long-horned species. The confusion matrix ( Table 4 ) shows that 90.91% of all males and only 50.0% of the females are correctly attributed. Females are thus morphologically less differentiated.

Derivatio nominis. The name refers to the Taurus Mountains which forms the northern boundary of the species’ distribution. The name was coined by K. Warncke and used on various labels, although the name was also attached to specimens which have been attributed to T. heinzi and T. grandicornis . Klaus Warncke passed away before he could publish a description of taurica .

Distribution. The distribution area is confined to the eastern Mediterranean region of Turkey including the Turkish-Syrian border area. It is found in the Turkish provinces of Kahramanmaraş, Mersin, Adana, and Antalya and in Syria or the Hatay province of Turkey.

Biology. Collected on the wing between mid-May and early July.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Pattern of tergal bands used to classify the male of the taxa of Trachusa interrupta (s.l.). The letters A, B, C, … are used in the analyses. Light maculations are shown in black on the drawing.

FIGURE 7. Comparison of the pattern of the yellow colouration among females of T. taurica sp. n., T. grandicornis sp. n., T. anatolica sp. n., and T. heinzi.

FIGURE 9. Comparison of the average length of the segments of the male antennae of species of the Trachusa interrupta complex in Turkey. The number gives the average length of segments 4-6. The upper drawing also shows the way segments were numbered.

FIGURE 11. Pattern of the yellow bands on T1–T3 in the female of T. grandicornis sp. n. in comparison with T. anatolica sp. n., T. interrupta and T. taurica sp. n.

FIGURE 14. Discriminant Function Analysis (DFA) for 15 morphometric parameters of six species of the Trachusa interrupta complex (the two north African species T. varia and T. maghrebensis are left out not to overload the diagram). A: females, B: males.

FIGURE 36. Trachusa taurica sp. n. A–B. Female paratype in dorsal and lateral views; C–D. male holotype in dorsal and lateral views. Note the interrupted yellow bands on T1 and T2, and the long antennae of the male.

FIGURE 37. Head of Trachusa taurica sp. n. (A. Female paratype; B. male holotype).

FIGURE 38. Antennal length of the male in the Trachusa interrupta complex in Turkey (T. integra is left out not to overload the graph).