Andrena (Vellandrena) etesiaca Warncke, 1975

Pisanty, Gideon & Wood, Thomas James, 2024, The early-diverging subgenera of the bee genus Andrena (Hymenoptera: Andrenidae) in the Old World, Zootaxa 5474 (5), pp. 451-488 : 483

Andrena (Vellandrena) etesiaca Warncke, 1975 stat. nov.

( Figs. 91–93 , 101, 103, 105, 107 )

Andrena (Truncandrena) bassana ssp. etesiaca Warncke, 1975: 44 , ♀ ♂ [ Turkey: OLML].

Andrena (Truncandrena) bassana ssp. etesiaca Warncke : Gusenleitner & Schwarz 2002: 116–117.

Distribution: Central Turkey ( Hazir et al. 2014).

Flight period: May–June ( Warncke 1974; Hazir et al. 2014).

Flower records: None.

Pollen preferences: Unknown. Based on the highly similar female morphology, we assume that the species is polylectic, by analogy to A. bassana .

Genetic sequences available: None.

MATERIAL EXAMINED: HOLOTYPE: TURKEY • ♀; Sultanahani [Sultanhanı]; 22 May 1970; K. Warncke leg.; OLML .— PARATYPES: TURKEY • 2♂; Amasia [Amasya]; 1860; OLML .

Remarks. Warncke (1975) described this taxon as a subspecies of A. bassana occurring in Turkey. Unfortunately, we could not locate any females for study other than the holotype, and the distinguishing female characters mentioned by Warncke (finer body punctation, more strongly depressed tergal marginal zones) did not seem convincing. However, Erwin Scheuchl has examined additional A. etesiaca females from Turkey, and found that they clearly differ from A. bassana sensu stricto by possessing an impunctate midline raised like a keel on the apical margin of the clypeus, as well as weaker tergal hair bands (E. Scheuchl, personal communication). The males of A. etesiaca exhibit much clearer differences from A. bassana s.s., as they have a partly yellow clypeus, a narrower gena and stronger and denser tergal punctation. Our measurements also indicate that compared to A. bassana s.s., flagellomere 1 of A. etesiaca is slightly shorter in both sexes. We do not know of any records of Vellandrena from central and northern Syria or from Lebanon, despite recent collecting efforts in the latter country ( Boustani et al. 2021). The distributions of A. bassana s.s. and A. b. etesiaca therefore appear to be disjunct, and together with the distinct morphological differences in males, we consider this information sufficient to elevate A. b. etesiaca to species status.

Figures

FIGURES 89–99. Andrena (Vellandrena) bassana Warncke, female (89–90, 94–99) and A. (Vellandrena) etesiaca Warncke stat. nov., female holotype (91–93): 89, vertex and mesosoma; 90, 93, metasoma; 91, vertex; 92, mesosoma; 94, head; 95, flocculus and scopa; 96, habitus; 97, propodeal triangle; 98, propodeal corbicula; 99, forewing venation. Figures 91–93 courtesy of OLML, downloaded from https://www.europeana.eu/item/11603/ZOBODAT_LANDOOE_ AUSTRIA_6952193.

FIGURES 100–107. Andrena (Vellandrena) bassana Warncke, male (100, 102, 104, 106) and A. (Vellandrena) etesiaca Warncke stat. nov., male paratype (101, 103, 105, 107): 100–101, head; 102–103, vertex and mesosoma; 104–105, metasoma; 106–107, habitus.