Andrena wollastoni, COCKERELL, 1922

Kratochwil, Ockerell Anselm, 2018, Type specimens of Andrena wollastoni C, 1922 (Hymenoptera, Anthophila): deposition, evaluation and designation of a lectotype, Linzer biologische Beiträge 50 (1), pp. 337-351 : 344-346

2. Andrena wollastoni specimens collected by T. V. Wollaston and deposited in the

OUMNH

One male and two females from Madeira Archipelago, collected by Wollaston ( Figs 4a , 5a, 6a), are deposited in the OUMNH ( SAUNDERS 1903). SAUNDERS (1903) states, ‘The specimens are, of course, old and more or less faded; the smaller ones are often gummed on cards, which renders determination doubtful, and as it would be dangerous to remove specimens of this age, I have not attempted to found any new species on them... In spite of the poor condition of Wollaston’s specimens, it is important to record, as far as possible, the forms which existed over half a century ago in an island so liable to accidential immigration as Madeira.’

The specimens were determined as A. minutula by Saunders ( Figs 4b , 6b). Not mentioned by SAUNDERS (1903) is the fact that one male ( Figs 4a, 4b ) and one female (Fig. 5; label identical to Fig. 4b ) were collected from Porto Santo; one other female (Figs 6a, 6b) was collected from Madeira Island. Both Porto Santo specimens have to be assigned to A. dourada (see KRATOCHWIL & SCHEUCHL 2013).

Cockerell had knowledge of the publication of SAUNDERS (1903) and he probably had seen the Andrena specimens of the OUMNH collected by Wollaston because he described in 1921 Prosopis maderensis sp.n., today Hylaeus (Paraprosopis) maderensis (female specimen), located near the Andrena specimens in the Wollaston collection ( COCKERELL, 1921). This female was labelled by SAUNDERS (1903) as ‘ Prosopis ater ’ (marked as ‘ Prosopis n.sp. allied to signata ’). Hylaeus ater ( SAUNDERS, 1903) is restricted to the Canary Islands.

The male and two females of A. wollastoni are not mentioned in COCKERELL (1922) therefore, they do not belong to the type series.

a) Male: The whole specimen ( Fig. 4a ) is mounted on a squared cardboard (with the time yellowed), wings spread out, in good condition; the cardboard is colour-coded with blue indicating the female specimen comes from Porto Santo ( MACHADO 2006); this information was not recorded by SAUNDERS (1903). There are no other labels from Wollaston with locality data or numbers. A later label ( Fig. 4b ) was added to each specimen after the 1903 publication by Saunders, ‘ Andrena minutula Kirby’ handwritten, ‘Named 1903 by Ed. Saunders, Trans. Ent. Soc., 1903, p. 207-218.’ printed.

b) Female: The whole specimen (Fig. 5) is mounted on a square cardboard (yellowed with the time), wings spread out, in good condition; the cardboard is colour-coded blue, indicating that the female specimen was collected from Porto Santo ( MACHADO 2006). This information was not recorded by SAUNDERS (1903). There are no other labels from Wollaston with locality data or numbers. A later label (identical to Fig. 4b ) was added to each specimen after the 1903 publication by Saunders: ‘ Andrena minutula Kirby’ handwritten, ‘Named 1903 by Ed. Saunders, Trans. Ent. Soc., 1903, p. 207-218.’ printed.

c) Female, pinned, in good condition (Fig. 6a); the lacking coloured label indicates that it was collected from Madeira Island. A later label (Fig. 6b) was added to each specimen after the 1903 publication by Saunders, ‘ Andrena minutula Kirby’ handwritten, ‘Named 1903 by Ed. Saunders, Trans. Ent. Soc., 1903, p. 207-218.’ printed .

The two specimens from Porto Santo were also card-mounted in the same way as specimens of the NHMUK. It is remarkable that Saunders did not publish the locality where the specimens were collected.

According to our taxonomical study the former A. wollastoni specimens from Porto Santo belong to a species of its own: A. dourada KRATOCHWIL & SCHEUCHL, 2013. The OUMNH specimens can be depicted as a male and a female of A. dourada . In the paraocular area of A. dourada there are yellowish-white hairs from the malar area and overtop and no brownish hairs, in contrast to A. wollastoni with brownish hairs. The tibial scopa is characterised by yellowish-white hairs, but in the case of A. wollastoni , more than the half of the scopa and the basal area bear brownish hairs (KRATOCHWIL & SCHEUCHL 2013). An analysis of the scopa by macro photos proved the affiliation to A. dourada .

The specimens are in good condition; this is in contradiction to the description given by SAUNDERS (1903), also cited by MACHADO (2006) (‘poor condition’). With high probability, the specimens were collected during the second visit of the Madeira Archipelago from November 1848 to June 1949 (Madeira, Porto Santo, Desertas). Wollaston visited in December 1848 and in April 1849 Porto Santo (together, more than a month) ( MACHADO 2006). These are probably the first collected specimens of A. dourada .

Below the Wollaston specimens, three labels were mounted with the following contents:

a) Blue handwritten label ‘new sp.?’. It was written by Frederick Smith (1805-1879), the first hymenopterist who examined the collection in the OUMNH and worked on the specimens (Fig. 7). In 1849, he was first assistant, later senior assistent at the British Museum of Natural History. During the 28 years of his period of service, he described 25 genera and 702 species and subspecies ( HARIS 2016). More than 40 years before the description of Cockerell, Smith realised the existence of a new species, but he did not carry out a description the species status.

b) Label ‘ minutula K.’, handwritten with ink on paper similar to the square cardboard of the specimens (yellowed with the time) (Fig. 7). A graphological analysis suggested that it is the handwriting of Saunders.

c) Printed label ‘ Andrena (Micrandrena) sp. Not conspecific with A. (M.) minutula (K.) both sexes differing in all diagnostic features of surface sculpturing, ♂ genitalia & accessory sclerites missing. C. O’Toole, 2003’.

Figures

Fig. 4: Andrena dourada KRATOCHWIL & SCHEUCHL, 2013, male (OUMNH), collected by Wollaston from Porto Santo; (a) card-mounted specimen, (b) labels. Fig. 5: A. dourada, female (OUMNH), collected by Wollaston from Porto Santo; label identical to Fig. 4b. Fig. 6: A. wollastoni COCKERELL, 1922, female (OUMNH), collected by Wollaston from Madeira Island; (a) specimen, (b) labels. Fig. 7: Three labels below the specimens collected by Wollaston. All photos by J. Hogan (OUMNH).