Andrena (Notandrena) fulvicornis Schenck, 1853

Wood, Thomas James, Michez, Denis, Cejas, Diego, Lhomme, Patrick & Rasmont, Pierre, 2020, An update and revision of the Andrena fauna of Morocco (Hymenoptera, Apoidea, Andrenidae) with the description of eleven new North African species, ZooKeys 974, pp. 31-92 : 31

Andrena (Notandrena) fulvicornis Schenck, 1853

Material examined.

Morocco: Souss-Massa, 10 km S Taroudant, 12.iv.1995, 1♀, leg. Mi. Halada, OÖLM; Tangier-Tétouan-Al Hoceima, 3 km Wm Bni Hadifa, 800 m, 15.v.1995, 1♀, leg. Aßmuth, Sanetra & Schulz, OÖLM; Fès-Meknès, 5 km SE Azrou, 31.v.1995, 2♂, leg. Ma. Halada, OÖLM; Drâa-Tafilalet, Ait sais, 23-26.v.2019, 5♀, leg. O. Ihsane, Y. Bencharki, UMONS; Béni Mellal-Khénifra, Aoulou env., 17.v.1997, 1♀, leg. J. Halada, OÖLM; Fès-Meknès, Bhalil, 10 km NW Sefrou, 28.v.1995, 12♂, 24♀, leg. Ma. Halada, OÖLM; Rabat-Salé-Kénitra, Bouknadel, 28.v.2019, 4♀, leg. I. El Abdouni & P. Lhomme, UMONS; Fès-Meknès, Fes, 23.v.1930, 1♂, leg. Werner, OÖLM; Rabat-Salé-Kénitra, Haddada, 12.vi.2018, 1♀; 8.iv-3.vi.2019, 2♀, leg. I. El Abdouni, P. Lhomme & A. Sentil, UMONS; Fès-Meknès, Ifrane, 1670 m, 11.v.2015, 1♀; leg. K. Deneš, OÖLM; Rabat-Salé-Kénitra, Kenitra, 22.vi.1987, 1♂, leg. M. Schwarz, MSC; Fès-Meknès, Laanoucer, 15.v.2018, 1♂, leg. P. Lhomme & O. Ihsane, UMONS; Lot Journu, Abjelil, 8.v.1997, 1♂, leg. P. Průdek, OÖLM; Casablanca-Settat, Mzamza Janoubia, 6-31.v.2019, 12♂, 15♀, leg. A. Sentil, UMONS; Drâa-Tafilalet, Mzizl, 22.v.2019, 1♀, leg. O. Ihsane & Y. Bencharki, UMONS; Fès-Meknès, Oued Sebou, riv, near El-Menzel, 24-27.v.1999, 1♂, 30♀, leg. P. & V. Průdek, OÖLM; Casablanca-Settat, Oueled Sghir, 23.ii-20.vi.2018, 1♂, 2♀, 10.iii-29.vi.2019, 7♂, 10♀, leg. A. Sentil, I. El Abdouni & M. Chokri, UMONS; Drâa-Tafilalet, Sidi Boukil, 24.iv-22.v.2019, 1♂, 18♀, leg. O. Ihsane & Y. Bencharki, UMONS; Drâa-Tafilalet, Tabia, 24.v.2019, 3♀, O. Ihsane & Y. Bencharki, UMONS; Fès-Meknès, Tazzeka N.P., Bab-Bou-Idir env., 28.v.1999, 1♀, leg. P. Průdek, OÖLM.

Distribution and remarks.

Andrena fulvicornis was described by Schenck in the same publication as A. nitidiuscula ( Schenck 1853). Warncke (1967) considered the two to be synonymous under the name A. nitidiuscula nitidiuscula (though without formal synonymy, see Schmid-Egger and Doczkal 1995), the name for European populations and as separated from A. nitidiuscula nigellata Pérez, 1895 found in North Africa and the Near East ( Warncke 1967; see map in Gusenleitner and Schwarz 2002), and this position persisted in future publications ( Schmid-Egger and Doczkal 1995).

Schmid-Egger and Doczkal (1995) resurrected the name A. fulvicornis as valid on the basis of morphological differences, specifically the strength of the depressed line on the anterior part of the scutum, the density and position of punctures on the scutellum, and the colour of the hind basitarsi. There are also ecological differences, as in southern Germany A. fulvicornis is bivoltine whereas nitidiuscula is univoltine and flies only in the summer. This differentiation is also supported by more recent genetic work ( Benon and Praz 2016). Whilst this distinction was clarified in central Europe, it has not yet been applied across the Mediterranean where the broader concept of Warncke (1967) has been followed in the absence of revisionary work.

At Linz, all examined material in the Warncke Collection from Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, and Tunisia (variably identified by Warncke as A. nitidiuscula or A. nitidiuscula nigellata depending on sampling location) conformed to Andrena fulvicornis sensu Schmid-Egger and Doczkal. Overall, examination of 273 specimens of this species pair from Iberia and North Africa revealed 272 A. fulvicornis [Algeria (2), Egypt (1), Morocco (161), Portugal (57), Spain (16), Tunisia (35)] and a single specimen of A. nitidiuscula from Portugal ( Wood et al. 2020a). On this basis, A. nitidiuscula is removed from the Moroccan list and replaced by A. fulvicornis .

The identity of taxa from this complex described from North Africa previously considered as A. nitidiuscula nigellata sensu Warncke (1967) need to be investigated, specifically A. nigellata [Algeria], A. rostellata Pérez, 1903 [Algeria], A. rubrosignata Saunders, 1908 [Algeria], and A. lucens var. algira Friese, 1922 [Tunisia]. Based on the North African material examined to date, it is likely that they conform to A. fulvicornis , but this must be confirmed by type examination. The status of other names currently in synonymy with A. nitidiuscula described from parts of southern Europe including Italy ( Andrena gascheti Pérez, 1903), Spain ( Andrena divergens Pérez, 1903), and southern France ( Andrena petroselini Pérez, 1903, see Gusenleitner and Schwarz 2002) needs to be assessed as they could potentially refer to either A. nitidiuscula or A. fulvicornis . Andrena franconica [Southwestern France] Stoeckhert, 1922 and A. petroselini were considered by Stoeckhert (1930) to be synonymous with A. fulvicornis .

True A. nitidiuscula is almost certainly absent from North Africa, and indeed may be rare in hot areas of Mediterranean Europe, being restricted to areas with a cooler microclimate such as the coastline of northern Portugal ( Wood et al. 2020a). There is likely to be broad overlap between the two taxa from southern Germany ( Schmid-Egger and Doczkal 1995) to Iberia ( Wood et al. 2020a) and probably other areas of southern Europe, though A. fulvicornis is probably rare in cooler areas such as Switzerland ( Benon and Praz 2016). In northern Europe it is highly likely that only A. nitidiuscula is present, with no bivoltine behaviour in this species group ever observed in Britain for example ( Else and Edwards 2018).

Other material examined.

Senckenberg, Frankfurt ( Andrena fulvicornis ): no collection details, 1♀ (Neotype, designated Schwenninger 2012); ( Andrena nitidiuscula ): no collection details, 1♀ (Lectotype, designated Schwenninger 2013); Warncke Collection, OÖLM (all conforming to Andrena fulvicornis ): Algeria: Algiers, 2.v.1913, 1♀; Oran, 1895, 1♂, leg. Schmiedeknecht; Egypt: Kerdasa [Kirdasah], 19.v.1929, 1♂, leg. H. Priesner; Portugal: Carcavelos, 13.vi.1953, 1♀, leg. N.F. d’Andrade; Évora, 3.vii.1953, 1♀, leg. N.F. d’Andrade; Sintra, 31.v.1953, ♀, leg. N.F. d’Andrade; Spain: Aranjuez, 26.v.1912, 1♀, leg. Dusmet; Huesca, Benasque, 12.vii.1907, 1♀; Segovia, Madrona, 30.vii.1968, 1♀, leg. K. Warncke; Sierra de Arecena, Rio Odiel dei Calanas, 25.iv.1981, 1♀, M. Kühbander; Tunisia: Tunis, 1898, 1♂, leg. Schmiedeknecht; other collections ( Andrena fulvicornis ): Tunisia: 30 km N Gabes, 10.iv.1994, 33♀, leg. M. Schwarz, M. Schwarz Colln.; Zana, 6.iv.1965, 1♀, leg. R.T. Simon Thomas, NMNL, ZMA.INS.5087405