Andrena (Melandrena) gravida Imhoff, 1832

Wood, Thomas J. & Monfared, Alireza, 2022, A revision of the Andrena (Hymenoptera: Andrenidae) fauna of Iran, with the description of 16 new species, European Journal of Taxonomy 843, pp. 1-136 : 124-125

7. Andrena (Melandrena) gravida Imhoff, 1832

Material examined

TURKEY • 1 ♂; Hakkâri Şivelan ; 18 May 1975; K. Warncke leg.; OÖLM • 1 ♂; Hakkâri, 10 km SW of Yüksekova ; 10 Jun. 1981; K. Warncke leg.; OÖLM • 1 ♀; Hakkâri, 25 km NE of Hakkâri ; 2200 m a.s.l.; 30 May 1980; K. Warncke leg.; OÖLM • 2 ♀♀; Hakkâri, 25 km NW of Yüksekova ; 2200 m a.s.l.; 30 May 1980; K. Warncke leg.; OÖLM • 1 ♂; Hakkâri, S. Varegös/Mt Sat ; 1700 m a.s.l.; 15 Jun. 1984; K. Warncke leg.; OÖLM • 3 ♂♂; Hakkâri, S. Varegös/Mt Sat ; 1800 m a.s.l.; 17 Jun. 1984; K. Warncke leg.; OÖLM • 2 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀; Karakurt / Arastal ; 22 May 1975; K. Warncke leg.; OÖLM • 2 ♂♂; Kars, 10 km E of Karakurt ; 1500 m a.s.l.; 28 May 1983; K. Warncke leg.; OÖLM • 53 ♂♂, 1 ♀; Kars, 20 km W of Sarikamis [ Sarıkamış ]; 2150 m a.s.l.; K. Warncke and M. Schwarz leg.; OÖLM .

Literature records

Allahverdi et al. (2016).

Reason for exclusion

Andrena gravida is a species primarily of deciduous woodland in Europe to western Turkey ( Gusenleitner & Schwarz 2002). Additionally, the taxon is present in eastern Turkey (Kars and Hakkâri provinces) based on previously unidentified specimens examined by the lead author that were collected by Klaus Warncke and Maximillian Schwarz (Linz). However, it is easy to confuse with other members of the former subgenus Zonandrena (= Melandrena Pérez, 1890, see Pisanty et al. 2022b) such as A. gazella , which is present in Iran. The records presented by Allahverdi et al. (2016) also include specimens collected from late July, which is inconsistent with the ecology of A. gravida , which is univoltine and flies in the spring only, with the latest recorded date for examined Turkish specimens being June 17 th. Given the presence of this taxon in eastern Turkey, it may well be present in northwestern Iran, but this remains to be confirmed.