Pseudoanthidium royoi (Dusmet, 1915)

Kasparek, Max, 2024, New species, new synonyms, and resurrected taxa: A review of West and Central Palaearctic members of the genus Pseudoanthidium (Apoidea: Megachilidae), Zootaxa 5541 (1), pp. 1-50 : 25-26

Pseudoanthidium royoi (Dusmet, 1915) stat. resurrect & comb. nov.

( Figs 13 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24)

Anthidium royoi Dusmet, 1915 . Male, female, Morocco.

Royanthidium royoi (Dusmet, 1915) .— Pasteels (1969).

non- Anthidium melanurum Klug, 1832 .—Synonymy by Warncke (1980).

Material examined: MOROCCO: 1♀, 1♂, Essaouira (31°29’30’’N, - 09°45’01’’E), 18 m, 28.iv.2015, V. Soon leg. ( TUZ: TUZ036633 , -6647; TUZ037-38 ) .

Other material: MOROCCO: 1 ♀, 2♂, Mogador Island (31.49°N - 09.78°E), May 1907 (Dusmet 1915) .

Genetic barcode information. The DNA sequence of the barcoding gene of a female and a male was obtained from material collected from a location close to the type locality in Morocco ( ABABY004-23 , ABABY005-23). They were assigned to BOLD:ACF9972, the same BIN as for P. melanurum .

In a species ID tree as inferred from the barcoding gene, P. royoi emerged as s distinct group, sister to A. melanurum (Fig. 14). The ML bootstrap value for the node separating these two groups (based on 1000 bootstrap replicates) was 100% (Fig. 14). For P. royoi , the intraspecfic distance was 0% (identical haplotypes), while it was 0.07% for P. melanurum . The mean genetic distance between these two species was 2.27%, the barcode gap 2.18%.

Description. Female ( Fig. 13a ). 11.5 mm (12 mm for type specimen (Dusmet 1915)).— Head: Clypeus with strongly protruding apical ridge; ridge lip-like, black, with six strong tubercles; punctation of clypeus basally scattered, denser and finer toward the apex ( Fig. 20 ); mandible short, dark orange, with four obtuse black teeth; clypeus and lower paraocular area orange-red; broad orange-red preoccipital band reaching the middle of the eye; golden-red pubescence especially on frons, preoccipital area and gena.— Antenna: sg1 (scape) and sg3–sg6 orange-red, sg2 black, sg7 orange-brown bicoloured, sg8–sg13 brown.— Mesosoma : Scutum with dense, fine punctation with thin interstices ( Fig. 13d ); mesepisternum with minute orange spot; pronotal lobe orange-red with high anterior lamella; scutellum slightly swollen, widely rounded in dorsal view with a shallow median emargination of apical margin; axilla protruding laterally; axilla and scutellum posterolaterally orange-red.— Metasoma: T1–T4 with broad, lateral orange-red bands that come closer in the middle distally; T5 with inconspicuous, dark median stripe; T6 orange-red, with broad shoulders in dorsal view, and a bi-lobed median protrusion ( Fig. 22 ); scopa yellow.— Legs: Orange-red.

Male ( Fig. 13b ). 11.5 mm (10–11 mm for type specimens (Dusmet 1915)).— Head: Clypeus and lower paraocular area dark yellow; orange-red preoccipital band, broader behind the eye than in the middle ( Fig. 21 ); mandible short, black at base and reddish medially; three black teeth (strong apical tooth and two smaller blunt teeth); punctation of clypeus fine, scattered at base and dense apically; apical margin black and crenulated.— Antenna: Scape (sg1) orange-red, sg2 black, sg3–sg5 orange-red, sg6–sg13 black.— Mesosoma : Shape of scutum as in the female; scutellum black, axilla with minute orange-red spot; pronotal lobal dark brown with high lamella as in female.— Metasoma: T1–T5 similar to the female with broad orange-red lateral bands, closer to the middle posteriorly than anteriorly; T6 orange-red with inconspicuous longitudinal dark midline; T6 laterally bulged; apical margin with a strong, semi-transparent brownish lamella on each side of the middle; T7 orange-red with a deep median emargination (as deep as broad); lateral margin angular ( Figs 23 , 24). S1 with a strong median longitudinal carina; apical margin of S4 shallowly emarginate; S6 with truncate apex, lateral margin sharp-edged; central part shining, with hairs laterally ( Fig. 13e ).— Genitalia: Gonostyli broadly paddle-shaped, somewhat twisted; penis valve strong with acute, arcuate apex ( Fig. 13e ).

Differential diagnosis. Pseudoanthidium royoi is structurally very similar to P. melanurum , but is distinguished by its colour, colouring pattern and morphometric features. Pseudoanthidium royoi is significantly more robust and larger than P. melanurum . No size overlap was found in the length of the marginal cell of the wing, which was used as an indicator for body size ( Fig. 15 ). All body maculations are orange-red instead of yellow, and hairs are golden-yellow instead of dirty-white. The female is further characterized by a broad orange-yellow preoccipital band reaching almost to the lower end of the eye, while A. melanurum has only yellow spots behind the upper end of the eye. The males are further distinguished by a broad orange-red preoccipitial band extending between the upper end of the eye (only yellow spots in A. melanurum ). The antennal scape is light orange-yellow in male P. royoi , while it is black in P. melanurum . Furthermore, the two species are distinguished by the DNA sequence of the barcoding gene.

Taxonomic note. Dusmet (1915) described Anthidium royoi based on a female and two males from the island of Mogador in south-western Morocco. He compared these specimens with striking orange-red maculations with Rhodanthidium sticticum (Fabricius, 1787) . Therefore, it is surprising that Warncke (1980) noted that he could not recognize differences between A. royoi and the black and yellow A. melanurum , and regarded A. royoi as junior synonym of A. melanurum . Kasparek (2022) noted that it is difficult to recognise a similarity between this taxon and A. melanurum from Dusmet’s description. New material from Morocco has now made it possible to recognise Anthidium royoi as a valid taxon and to transfer it to Pseudoanthidium .

Distribution. Endemic to Morocco ( Fig. 26a ). Only known from the Moroccan Atlantic island of Mogador 1.5 km off the coast of Essaouira (31°29′N, - 9°47′E), from where it was collected in 1907 (Dusmet 1915) and the nearby mainland of Essaoiura (31°29’30’’N, - 09°45’01’’E), where V. Soon rediscovered it in 2015, more than 100 years later.

Pseudoanthidium melanurum sensu stricto (i.e. based on records other than P. royoi ) has so far not been recorded in Morocco. Paglianio’s (1994) mention of a personal record lacks supporting detail, and the reference to the Marrakesh-Safi administrative region by Lhomme et al. (2020) is based on Dusmet (1915) (e.g. P. royoi ). The location of a historical record of P. melanurum (as A. dilobum Pérez, 1895 ) reported from Algeria has been questioned by Warncke (1980). The nearest population of P. melanurum thus seems to be in Iberia, with P. royoi appearing to represent an isolated population.

Figures

FIGURE 13. Pseudoanthidium royoi (Dusmet, 1915) (a.–e. from Morocco). a. Habitus dorsal, female; b. Habitus dorsal, male; c. Habitus lateral, male; d. Dorsal side of mesosoma, male; e. Apical sterna of the male.

FIGURE 15. Comparison of body size of Pseudoanthidium royoi and P. melanurum, as expressed by the marginal cell length of the wing. Pseudoanthidium melanurum: female N= 21, male N= 31; P. royoi N=1 for each sex.

FIGURE 20. Face of the female of Palaearctic species of Pseudoanthidium (continued on the following page).

FIGURE 21. Faces of the male of Palaearctic species of the genus Pseudoanthidium.

FIGURE 22. Apical terga of females of Palaearctic Pseudoanthidium species.

FIGURE 23. Apical terga of males of Palaearctic Pseudoanthidium species.

FIGURE 26. Distribution of selected species of Pseudoanthidium. a. Pseudoanthidium microrubrum sp. nov., P. octodentatum, and P. royoi stat. resurrect. Since the collection site of P. octodentatum in Algeria is not known, a random location was selected; b. Pseudoanthidium ivanovi stat. resurrect., P. obscuratum, and P. tajikistanicum sp. nov.