Sphecodes crassanus Warncke, 1992

Özbek, Hikmet, Bogusch, Petr & Straka, Jakub, 2015, A contribution to the kleptoparasitic bees of Turkey: Part I., the genus Sphecodes Latreille (Hymenoptera: Halictidae), Turkish Journal of Zoology 39 (6), pp. 1095-1109 : 1098-1099

3.6. Sphecodes crassanus Warncke, 1992

Distribution: Mainly South Europe; Portugal, Spain, France (+ Corsica), Italy (+ Sardinia and Sicily), Greece ( Warncke, 1992), Switzerland ( Amiet et al., 1999), Algeria ( Bogusch and Straka, 2012).

Material examined: Aydın: Davutlar National Park , 30. VI.1997, ♂, leg. H. Özbek. Erzurum: Oltu , 14.IX.1978, ♀, leg. H. Özbek ; Subatık , 1300 m, 13.VIII.2004, ♂, leg. H. Özbek ; Pasinler , 08.VIII.1997, ♂, leg. S. Aşar ; Uzundere , 20.IX.2000, ♀, leg. Ö. Çalmaşur. Hatay: Reyhanlı , 28. V.1991, ♂, leg. H. Özbek. New for the Turkish fauna and the Asian continent as well.

Remark: S. crassanus was described from Spain by Warncke (1992) and detected from neighboring countries, France, Portugal, and Italy. This is the first record from Turkey (Figure). Currently Erzurum ( Turkey) is the easternmost distribution record of this species.

Biology: Bogusch and Straka (2012) claimed that S. crassanus is a poorly known species of open warm habitats with unknown host and its biology is probably similar to that of S. alternatus . Medium-sized species of the genus Halictus Latreille might be the hosts of this species.

3.7. Sphecodes crassus Thomson, 1870

Distribution: Europe including British Isles, north to 64°N, Sweden, Finland, and Norway; Asian Russia to far East Russia and Japan, Mongolia ( Astafurova and Proshchalykin, 2014, 2015); Turkey, Iran, and North Africa ( Warncke, 1992; Ascher and Pickering, 2015). In Turkey: Ardahan, Bayburt, Erzincan, Hakkari, Kayseri ( Warncke, 1992).

Material examined: Artvin: Yusufeli, Kınalıçam , 21.05. 2002, 600 m, ♀, leg. H. Özbek.

Biology: Bogusch and Straka (2012) mentioned that S. crassus is a common species that usually occurs in semiopen biotopes with shrubs, steppes, and forest margins. They indicated that smaller species of Halictidae could be the hosts of this species. Lasioglossum pauxillum (Schenck) and L. punctatissimum (Schenck) were mentioned as confirmed hosts ( Westrich, 1989; Vegter, 1993; Sick et al., 1994). Lasioglossum quadrinotatulum (Schenck) , L. nitidiusculum (Kirby) , and L. prasinum (Smith) were recorded as likely hosts ( Alfken, 1912; Stoeckhert, 1933; Vegter 1993).

3.8. Sphecodes cristatus Hagens, 1882

Distribution: Europe to 54°N, including Sweden (not present in Portugal, Spain, and the British Isles). Distribution range extends to Turkey, South Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, China, Mongolia, and East Russia ( Warncke, 1992; Ascher and Pickering, 2015; Astafurova and Proshchalykin, 2015). In Turkey: Ardahan, Bayburt, Nevşehir, Niğde ( Warncke, 1992).

Material: Hakkari: Akçalı , 21.06.2010, ♀, leg. P. Tyrner (in P. Tyrner coll.) . Kars: Sarıkamış, Karakurt , 1500 m, 40.07543°N, 42.20941°E, 16–23.VIII.2002, ♀ (Malaise trap) .

Biology: Lasioglossom nigripes (Lepeletier) is the host of S. cristatus ( Blüthgen, 1934) .