Andrena (Notandrena) nitidiuscula Schenck, 1853

Wood, Thomas James, Cross, Ian & Baldock, David W., 2020, Updates to the bee fauna of Portugal with the description of three new Iberian Andrena species (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila), Zootaxa 4790 (2), pp. 201-228 : 213

Andrena (Notandrena) nitidiuscula Schenck, 1853

Distribution and notes: The true distribution of A. nitidiuscula is unclear. Historically, the two taxa A. nitidiuscula and A. fulvicornis were considered synonymous and distribution maps often combined both taxa (e.g. Gusenleitner & Schwarz 2002). However, they were separated by Schmid-Egger & Doczkal (1995), a position that is supported by more recent genetic work ( Benon & Praz 2016), see also Schwenninger (2013) for designation of Lectotype. Andrena fulvicornis is bivoltine, flying in the spring and the summer, whereas A. nitidiuscula is univoltine and flies only in the summer. Andrena nitidiuscula is the more northerly of the taxa, reaching southern Britain ( Else and Edwards 2018), with A. fulvicornis the more southerly taxa which is confirmed as far north as southern Germany and Switzerland ( Schmid-Egger & Doczkal 1995; Benon & Praz 2016). Until now, all material that we had examined from Portugal conformed to A. fulvicornis , but this record confirms that both taxa are present.

New data: PORTUGAL: Beira Litoral , Aguada , Ribiero Agueda, Talhada, 24.vii.2018, 1♀, det. Wood, leg. M. & E. Howe.

Other material examined: Senckenberg, Frankfurt ( Andrena fulvicornis ): no collection details, 1♀, (Neotype, designated by Schwenninger in 2012); ( Andrena nitidiuscula ): no collection details, 1♀, (Lectotype, designated by Schwenninger in 2013).