Andrena (Truncandrena) pareklisiae Mavromoustakis, 1957

Wood, Thomas James, 2023, New Old World Andrena species, with a focus on Turkey (Hymenoptera: Andrenidae), Zootaxa 5266 (1), pp. 1-72 : 59

Andrena (Truncandrena) pareklisiae Mavromoustakis, 1957

Andrena (Truncandrena) medeninensis usura Warncke, 1967 syn. nov.

Remarks: Warncke took a broad approach to the taxon Andrena medeninensis Pérez, 1895 that was described from Tunisia (the town of Medenine). He gave it a distribution across the Mediterranean and described multiple subspecies for somewhat differentiated populations ( Warncke 1967; Warncke 1974), including a subspecies for Turkey that was called usura.

This subspecies is widely distributed in the eastern Mediterranean, but in cooler Levantine habitats, and is thus disconnected from populations of A. medeninensis s. str. in North Africa. Genetic work is ongoing on this complex, and at least one subspecies of A. medeninensis s.l. will be elevated in an upcoming revision (TJW, in prep.). Concerning the eastern population, A. medeninensis usura has been confused and reported from the island of Cyprus ( Varnava et al. 2020), from which A. pareklisiae was described by Mavromoustakis (1957). The difference between these taxa is unclear in the literature, as Warncke (1967) made no reference to it in his description of A. medeninensis usura . Examination of a female paratype of A. pareklisiae and the female holotype of A. medeninensis usura reveals that they are conspecific, and A. medeninensis usura is synonymised syn. nov. with A. pareklisiae . This taxon therefore has a broader Levantine distribution that previously recognised, extending eastwards to Iran. In Lebanon, it is present at high altitude sites.

Distribution: Cyprus, Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Iran ( Varnava et al. 2020; Wood et al. 2020a; Wood & Monfared 2022, previous records as A. medeninensis usura ).

Material examined: CYPRUS: Famagusta, 9.iii.1932, 1♀, leg. E.E. Green, OÖLM (determined as A. medeninensis usura by K. Warncke); Lania [Laneia], 11.iv.1953, 1♀, leg. G.A. Mavromoustakis, OÖLM (paratype of A. pareklisiae ) ; TURKEY: Ayvalik , 13.iv.1965, 1♀, leg. K. Warncke, OÖLM (holotype of A. medeninensis usura ) .

Descriptions of newly discovered sexes of Andrena species described from a single sex