Revision of the mining bee subgenus Andrena (Longandrena) (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Andrenidae)

Abstract

All three hitherto described species of the Palearctic subgenus Andrena (Longandrena Osytshnjuk, 1993), are revised and redescribed. This subgenus is characterized by an unusually long glossa, a rare character among short-tongued bees. A revised diagnosis of this subgenus is given. A key to the species of A. (Longandrena) is provided, and all diagnostic morphological features are illustrated in detail. The Central Asian species Andrena longiceps Morawitz 1895 is recorded for the first time from Iran. The distribution map of the subgenus is also presented.

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

“…Comparison with photographs of the type of A. nitidicollis (Astafurova et al 2022) shows that the Iranian specimen is conspecific due to the combination of its completely smooth scutum (completely shagreened in A. pavonia, partially shagreened in A. xera), its truncate labral process that lacks an apical notch (deeply notched in A. palmyriae), scutum with sparse punctures centrally, separated by > 2 puncture diameters (separated by 1-2 puncture diameters in A. schwarzi), broad facial foveae that occupy almost the entire space between the compound eye and the lateral ocellus (occupying ½ to ¾ of this space in all other species), and finally and most importantly, the relatively strongly and deeply punctate lateral parts of T3-4, punctures separated by 1-2 puncture diameters (punctures weaker, sparser, or absent in European Journal of Taxonomy 843: 1-136 (2022) all other species). Its presence in Iran reminiscent of A. longiceps, which has a predominantly Central Asian distribution, but which was recently recorded in Iran for the first time (Radchenko et al 2021).…”

“…Southern Europe to Russia (European part, Urals), Turkey, the Caucasus, Iran, and Turkmenistan . Morawitz, 1894 Literature records Radchenko et al (2021).…”

“…Whilst this is still a huge fauna when compared to most countries in the Mediterranean basin (Lhomme et al 2020;Boustani et al 2021), the true species richness is likely to be much higher once detailed revisionary studies will have been conducted. Indeed, as more studies focus on Iranian material, new species for science or for the country are frequently described, discovered, or elevated (e.g., Kasparek 2021;Litman et al 2021;Radchenko et al 2021;Wood 2021a).…”

A first revision of the Andrena of Iraq (Hymenoptera, Andrenidae), with the description of two new species from Iraqi Kurdistan and additional records from surrounding countries

“…In contrast, the published Andrena fauna of the country of Iraq is extremely small, with only 17 species mentioned across various literature sources ( Morice 1921a , 1921b ; Derwesh 1965 ; Warncke 1969 ; Khalaf and Al-Omar 1974 ; Moalif 1994 ; Gusenleitner and Schwarz 2002 ; Scheuchl and Willner 2016 ; Augul 2018 ; Amin and Mawlood 2019 ; Ascher and Pickering 2023 ), some of which primarily cite previous publications without adding any new information, or which never present detailed specimen records at all. The Iraqi Andrena fauna has very rarely received dedicated attention, most frequently with species listed without supporting specimens or mentioned museum depositories, in strong contrast to neighbouring Turkey (e.g., Warncke 1965 , 1974 , 1975 ; Scheuchl and Gusenleitner 2009 ; Scheuchl and Hazir 2012 ; Hazir et al 2014 ; Wood 2023 ) and to a lesser extent Iran and Syria (e.g., Popov 1967 ; Khodarahmi Ghahnavieh and Monfared 2019 ; Wood et al 2020 ; Wood 2020 ; Radchenko et al 2021 ; Wood and Monfared 2022 ).…”