An update and revision of the Andrena fauna of Morocco (Hymenoptera, Apoidea, Andrenidae) with the description of eleven new North African species

Abstract

Morocco has a diverse bee fauna, but one that has also been relatively understudied in recent years. Here a revision of the species-rich genus Andrena is presented that reveals eleven new species for science and substantially improves our understanding of North African Andrena. From Morocco, Andrena (Aciandrena) semiadesus Wood, sp. nov., Andrena (Aciandrena) triangulivalvis Wood sp. nov., Andrena (Campylogaster) sparsipunctata Wood sp. nov., Andrena (Carandrena) hebescens Wood sp. nov., Andrena (Cnemidandrena) niveofacies Wood sp. nov., Andrena (incertae sedis) tenebricorpus Wood sp. nov., Andrena (Notandrena) acutidentis Wood sp. nov., Andrena (Poliandrena) breviceps Wood sp. nov., and Andrena (Poliandrena) farinosoides Wood sp. nov. are described and their ecology is discussed. Andrena (Aciandrena) astrella Warncke, 1975 is synonymised with Andrena (Aciandrena) fulica Warncke, 1974 syn. nov. The unknown female of Andrena (Nobandrena) ounifa Warncke, 1974, and the unknown male of Andrena (Poliandrena) guichardi Warncke, 1980 are described. Andrena (incertae sedis) gafsensis Wood sp. nov. from Tunisia is described due to its similarity to Andrena tenebricorpus. Andrena (Poecilandrena) nigriclypeus Wood sp. nov. from Algeria is also described as it was collected within 10 km of the Moroccan border. A further 18 species are recorded in Morocco for the first time. Andrena (Melandrena) nitida (Müller, 1776) and Andrena (Notandrena) nitidiuscula Schenck, 1853 are removed from the Moroccan list due to historic problems in the application of these names to Mediterranean taxa.

A revision of the Andrena (Hymenoptera: Andrenidae) fauna of Iran, with the description of 16 new species

“…Unclear because of the historical synonymy by Warncke with A. nitidiuscula Schenck, 1853 (see Schmid-Egger & Doczkal 1995;. Andrena fulvicornis has a more southerly distribution in hotter and more Mediterranean areas, and is found across the Mediterranean basin to the Middle East (Wood et al 2020b).…”

“…This material is almost certainly referable to the subspecies sischkai that is known from high mountains in the Balkan Peninsula, eastern Turkey, and the North Caucasus. It, along with the other 'subspecies' of A. simillima, is likely to represent a good taxon (Wood et al 2020b;Wood 2021b;, but a revision is required.…”

“…Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Israel and the West Bank, Jordan, Syria, Iran Wood et al 2020b).…”

“…This huge genus , the second most speciose behind Lasioglossum Curtis, 1833, contains around 1600 species when including recent taxonomic updates (TJW, unpublished data). Indeed, Andrena is one of the three most rapidly speciating genera of bees (Bossert et al 2022), and may become the most rapidly speciating genus as new species are being described or elevated at pace, particularly in the Old World Mediterranean basin (e.g., Scheuchl 2010;Scheuchl & Hazir 2012;Schwenninger 2015;Pisanty et al 2016Pisanty et al , 2018Pisanty et al , 2022aWood , 2021aWood , 2021bWood et al 2020a;2020b.…”

Revisions to the Andrena fauna of north-western Africa with a focus on Morocco (Hymenoptera: Andrenidae)

“…Morocco is a large country in north-western Africa with a diversified bee fauna approaching 1000 species (Lhomme et al 2020). In common with other West Palaearctic countries, this species-rich bee fauna contains a large Andrena element, with 180 species listed in the most recent revision.…”