Andrena (Aciandrena) fulica Warncke, 1974

Wood, Thomas James, Michez, Denis, Cejas, Diego, Lhomme, Patrick & Rasmont, Pierre, 2020, An update and revision of the Andrena fauna of Morocco (Hymenoptera, Apoidea, Andrenidae) with the description of eleven new North African species, ZooKeys 974, pp. 31-92 : 31

Andrena (Aciandrena) fulica Warncke, 1974 Figures 99-104

Andrena (Aciandrena) astrella ssp. fulica Warncke, 1974: p44

Andrena (Aciandrena) astrella Warncke, 1975: 305. syn. nov.

Material examined, males only, black faced and therefore nominally A. fulica .

Tunisia: Tunis, 1898, 1♂, leg. O. Schmiedeknecht (paratype A. fulica ), OÖLM; Morocco: Fès-Meknès, Ifrane environs, 9.v.1997, 1♂, leg. K. Deneš, OÖLM (illustrated Figs 99 , 100 ); Spain: Benidorm, 20.iv.1982, 1♂, NMNL.

Material examined, males only, yellow face and therefore nominally A. astrella .

Morocco: Fès-Meknès, Ifrane environs, 9.v.1997, 1♂, leg. K. Deneš, OÖLM (illustrated Figs 101 , 102 ); Portugal: Algarve, Altura, near Monte Gordo, 24.iv.2016, 1♂, leg. Wood, TJW Colln.; Algarve, Pêra, Praia Grande, 2.iv.2015, 2♂, leg. Wood, TJW Colln.; Spain: Rivas [Madrid], 1♂, leg. Dusmet (paratype A. astrella ), OÖLM; 40 km W Malaga, Yunquera, 800 m, 29.iv.2003, 2♂, leg. J. Halada, OÖLM; 50 km W Almería, Berja, 21.iv.2003, 10♂, leg. J. Halada, OÖLM; Alicante, Elche, 23.iv.1982, 1♂, NMNL; Altea, 10 km N Benidorm, 15.iv.1982, 1♂, NMNL; Benidorm, 20.iv.1982, 1♂, NMNL; Ávila, Hoyos del Espino, 1400 m, 19.v.1995, 1♂, leg. H. & J.E. Wiering, NMNL; Ávila, Hoyocasero, 1350 m, 2 km W, 10.v.1995, 1♂, leg. H. & J.E. Wiering, NMNL; 80 km SW Valencia, Muela de Cortes reserve, 14.v.2003, 2♂, leg. J. Halada, OÖLM; E-Sierra Nevada, near Alboloduy, 7.v.2003, 3♂, leg. J. Halada, OÖLM; Sierra Alhamilla, 5 km E Nijar, 20.iv.2003, 1♂, leg. J. Halada, OÖLM; Sierra Alhamilla, Lucainena, 25.iv.2003, 10♂, leg. J. Halada, OÖLM; Sierra de Nevada, Ohanes env., 5.v.2003, 5♂, leg. J. Halada, OÖLM; S-Sierra Nevada, env. Lanjaron, 4.v.2003, 5♂, leg. J. Halada, OÖLM (illustrated Figs 103 , 104 ).

Distribution and remarks.

Andrena fulica (Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia) and A. astrella (Spain and Portugal) were both described by Warncke, with A. fulica described as A. astrella ssp. fulica (Warncke, 1974) despite being formally published before A. astrella ( Warncke 1975b), this problem arising due to differences in publishing speed between the two journals, with the paper on Iberian Andrena originally submitted in 1971. The most recent global treatment listed them as distinct ( Gusenleitner and Schwarz 2002).

The two species can be rapidly recognised within the Aciandrena because they have punctured tergites with the punctures extending onto the tergal margins, a character that is unique within this subgenus. According to Warncke (1974), Andrena fulica is characterised as having finer tergal punctation and, importantly, a black clypeus in the male sex (Fig. 99 ), whereas in A. astrella the male clypeus is yellow (Figs 101 , 103 ). The description of A. fulica by Warncke (1974) is extremely short, just two sentences for the female and two short sentences for the male which read: '♂ wie beim ♀ feiner punktiert. Clypeus dunkel gefärbt!’.

Inspection of Aciandrena males from Ifrane in Morocco (9.v.1997) revealed the two colour forms in sympatry, though unfortunately only two specimens in total (one A. fulica , one A. astrella ) were collected during this sampling making an assessment of variation impossible. Additionally, specimens from Benidorm in Spain (20.iv.1982) also showed the two colour forms in sympatry. Across all Iberian material studied, 46/47 (97.8%) males showed a consistently yellow clypeus. Inspection of the genitalia showed no obvious differences between the two Ifrane specimens (Figs 100 , 102 ), and neither specimen shows obvious differences from the genitalia of Spanish specimens (Fig. 104 ).

Aciandrena do not always show consistent clypeal colouration. In the recently described A. (Aciandrena) abruptifovea Wood, 2020, a series of six males from the same type locality site collected on the same day vary considerably in colouration from a clypeus with 80% yellow coverage, to 40%, to entirely black ( Wood et al. 2020b). Given the extremely similar genitalia and the fact that both colour forms can be found together in both Iberia and North Africa, we synonymise A. astrella with A. fulica , with A. fulica taking priority as senior synonym as it was published first.

Figures

Figures 99 - 104. Andrena (Aciandrena) fulica Warncke, 1974 99 male face 100 male genitalia. Andrena (Aciandrena) fulica astrella Warncke, 1975 (Morocco) 101 male face 102 male genitalia (Spain) 103 male face 104 male genitalia.