Merodon puniceus Vujić, Radenković, and Pérez-Ba˜nón, 2011

Merodon sp. nova 4: Ståhls et al. 2009: 1436–1437. Merodon puniceus Radenković et al. 2011: 48 .

Type locality. Greece: Lesvos .

Type specimens examined. Holotype: ♂, Greece: Lesvos, Agiassos, 14.x. 2005, 760 m, C. Perez-Banón ˜(MAUA 0023677) . Paratypes: Greece: Lesvos: 1♀, Agiassos, 8.x. 2005, 760 m, C. Perez-Banón ˜(MAUA 0023663) ; 1♂, Polichnitos, 24.x.2008, 37 m, A. Vujić (FSUNS 04448) ; 1♂, River Almiropotamos, 1.7 km WWN Vatera, from fennel, 8.x.2008, 55 m, M. Hull (WML 1771) .

Additional material. Greece: Lesvos, Agiassos : 1♀, vi.2005, C. Perez-Banón ˜, S. Rojo, G. Ståhls (FSUNS); 2♀♀, 10.iv.2007, T. Petanidou (CEUA); 1♂, 23.iv.2007, C. Perez-Banón ˜(CEUA); 1♀, 27.iv.2007, T. Petanidou (CEUA) . Turkey: 1♂, Mountain near Izmir, 16.ix.2013, A. Vujić (FSUNS AL29) ; Bozdag Mountain: 2♂♂, Sart to Bozdag 1, 16.ix.2013, 1320 m, A. Vujić (FSUNS AJ8, AJ13) ; 4♂♂, Bozdag 2, after Allahdiyen, 12.x.2014, 1070 m, A. Vujić, S. Šimić, S. Radenković (FSUNS 08675, 08677, 08682, 08687) ; 1♂, Bozdag 3, 12.x.2014, 1229 m, A. Vujić, S. Šimić, S. Radenković (FSUNS 08668) .

https://doi.org/10.4039/tce.2019.72 Published online by Cambridge University Press

Diagnosis. Differs from Merodon dobrogensis by the infuscation of the wings (much darker in M. puniceus and lighter in M. dobrogensis; see Figs. 19–20), by morphometric characters of wing and male genitalia (Figs. 2, 7), distribution in western Anatolia and Lesvos Island (Figs. 21–22). The two species differ also based on COI and COI ND4 tree topologies (Figs. 11–12).

Natural history. Preferred environment: forest; small, open areas in Castanea Miller ( Fagaceae) and evergreen Quercus Linnaeus and Pinus Linnaeus ( Pinaceae) forests. Flowers visited: Prospero autumnale, Foeniculum vulgare Miller ( Apiaceae). Flight period: spring (April–June) and autumn (September–October). Larva unknown (Speight 2018).