Andrena (Taeniandrena) laevicorpus, Wood, 2023

Wood, Thomas James, 2023, New Old World Andrena species, with a focus on Turkey (Hymenoptera: Andrenidae), Zootaxa 5266 (1), pp. 1-72 : 41-44

Andrena (Taeniandrena) laevicorpus spec. nov.

HOLOTYPE: CYPRUS: W of Polis [ Polis Chrysochous ], 1000 m, E of Cedar Valley [inferred 35.0208 oN, 32.3920 oE], 8.iii.2014, 1♀, leg. M. Snižek, OÖLM. BOLD accession number HYMAA340-22.

PARATYPES: CYPRUS: W of Polis [ Polis Chrysochous], 1000 m , E of Cedar Valley , 8.iii.2014, 3♁, leg. M. Snižek, OÖLM ; Moni , 13 m [south of water treatment facility], 4.iv.2022, 1♀, leg. R. Santerre, TJWC ; Halevga [Alevkaya, Karaagaç], 30.iii.1953, 1♀, leg. P.A. Buxton, NHMUK ; Avdimou , 7 m, 31.iii.2022, 1♀, leg. R. Santerre, TJWC ; Alassa , 298 m, 19.iv.2022, 1♁, leg. R. Santerre, TJWC ; 2 km W Kato Pyrgos , 25.v.1988, 1♀, leg. T. Osten, OÖLM .

Description: Female: Body length: 10–11 mm ( Figure 23A ). Head: Dark, 1.25 times wider than long ( Figure 23B ). Clypeus flattened medially, strongly and densely punctured, punctures separated by 0.5–1 puncture diameter, slightly raised impunctate longitudinal line present medially; underlying surface weakly shagreened, shining. Process of labrum trapezoidal, short, 3 times wider than long, narrowly but shallowly emarginate medially. Gena equalling width of compound eye; ocelloccipital distance equalling 1.5 times diameter of lateral ocellus. Foveae broad, occupying three quarters distance between ocellus and compound eye, slightly narrowed ventrally, filled with yellowish hairs. Face, gena, vertex, and scape with whitish to yellowish brown hairs, lighter ventrally, browner dorsally. Antennae dark, A3 slightly exceeding A4+5, shorter than A4+5+6. Mesosoma: Scutum very densely punctate, punctures surrounding parapsidal lines confluent, elsewhere separated by 0.5–1 puncture diameters, underlying surface shagreened, weakly shining ( Figure 23C ). Scutellum densely punctured over majority of area, punctures separated by 0.5 puncture diameters except for two medial impunctate areas, here underlying surface polished and shining. Pronotum without humeral angle, evenly rounded. Mesepisternum and dorsolateral parts of propodeum with network of raised rugosity, propodeal triangle also entirely covered with fine rugosity, poorly differentiated from remaining propodeum. Mesepisternum with pale hairs, scutum and scutellum with short goldenbrown hairs, propodeal corbicula incomplete, with weakly plumose yellow-brownish hairs, internal surface with many long simple golden hairs. Legs basally dark, tarsi and hind tibiae lightened orange, pubescence goldenbrown. Flocculus and femoral scopa brownish, tibial scopa golden. Hind tarsal claws with inner tooth. Wings hyaline, stigma and venation orange, nervulus postfurcal. Metasoma: Terga dark, apical rim of marginal areas narrowly lightened hyaline-brown; T1 finely punctate, punctures separated by 1 puncture diameter, T2–4 very densely punctate, punctures separated by <0.5 puncture diameters, underlying surface shining ( Figure 23D ). T2–4 with wide whitish-yellowish apical hairbands obscuring underlying surface, more or less complete on T2, complete on T3–4. Apical fringe of T5 and hairs flanking pygidial plate golden orange, pygidial plate narrowly triangular, apically rounded, surface flat and featureless.

Male: Body length: 8–9 mm ( Figure 24A ). Head: Dark, 1.3 times wider than long ( Figure 24B ). Clypeus flattened medially, strongly and densely punctured, punctures separated by 0.5–1 puncture diameter, slightly raised impunctate longitudinal line present medially; underlying surface shining. Process of labrum trapezoidal, twice as wide as long, slightly emarginate medially. Gena equalling width of compound eye; ocelloccipital distance equalling 1.5 times diameter of lateral ocellus. Face, gena, vertex, and scape covered in golden-brown hairs. Antennae dark, A3 = 0.8 times A4. Mesosoma: Scutum densely punctured, punctures surrounding parapsidal lines separated by 0.5 puncture diameters, elsewhere separated by 1 puncture diameter; underlying surface strongly shagreened, dull. Scutellum, mesepisternum, and propodeum as in female. Mesosoma covered in long golden-brown hairs, none exceeding length of scape. Legs basally dark, hind tarsi lightened orange; hind tibiae at least partly lightened orange. Wings as in female. Metasoma: Terga structurally as in female ( Figure 24C ). Genital capsule simple, gonocoxae slightly produced apically, gonostyli apically spatulate, penis valves narrow basally, slightly narrowing apically ( Figure 24D ).

Diagnosis: Andrena laevicorpus can be swiftly recognised as part of the subgenus Taeniandrena due to its strongly flattened clypeus in both sexes ( Figures 23B , 24B ). It can be placed in the group of genetically unrelated species that were previously lumped under A. ovatula (see Praz et al. 2022) due to their lack of distinguishing features, namely their small body size, more or less complete hairbands on T2–4, male A3 more or less the same length as A4 ( Figure 24B ), and simple male genital capsule ( Figure 24D , gonocoxa apically rounded, penis valves not enlarged). In the female sex, A. laevicorpus can be recognised by its golden terminal fringe ( Figure 23D ; dark brown in true A. ovatula which does not occur in the eastern Mediterranean), very densely punctate terga, punctures on the disc of T2 separated by <0.5 puncture diameters, underlying surface shiny, and very densely punctate scutum, punctures around the parapsidal lines confluent, separated by 0.5–1 puncture diameter medially ( Figure 23C ). It is very similar to A. afzeliella (Kirby, 1802) and A. taedium spec. nov. (see below) that both occur in the eastern Mediterranean, though the exact range limits are not yet clear. Andrena laevicorpus can be separated from both taxa by the strength of the tergal and scutal punctures, these being weaker and slightly sparser (separated by>0.5 puncture diameters), and the underlying tergal surface is weakly shagreened and thus somewhat dull, and the shinier clypeus, this being shagreened and dull in the two comparison species. Confident separation requires comparative material, ideally with barcoded specimens as the three taxa are well-separated genetically (see Praz et al. 2022).

Males have A3 0.8 times as long as A4 ( Figure 24B ), which also places them very close to A. afzeliella and A. taedium . Male A. laevicorpus can be separated from A. afzeliella because the penis valves are only very weakly broadened basally ( Figure 24D ; more clearly broadened basally in A. afzeliella ). Robust separation from A. taedium is not clear due to the low number of available barcoded specimens, but in the barcoded A. taedium male A3=A4, and the nervulus is more or less interstitial, whereas in A. laevicorpus A3 = 0.8 times longer than A4 and the nervulus is postfurcal. These types of characters may however be variable (see comments in Praz et al. 2022), and so association with females should be made or specimens should be barcoded. At the present time, A. laevicorpus is known only from Cyprus, and A. taedium does not appear to be present on this island, so they are provisionally considered to have an allopatric distribution.

Remarks: This is the taxon identified by Praz et al. (2022) as ‘ sp. nov. 1 ’, with specimen ‘2086’ (=HYMAA340- 22) designated as the holotype. Specimens collected in April 2022 were visiting Onobrychis venosa (Fabaceae) . All specimens were collected in the spring (March–May), and so the species may be univoltine, whereas A. taedium appears to be bivoltine (see below).

Etymology: The name is combination of the Latin nouns laevis (smooth) and corpus (body) in reference to the shiny terga. It is a noun in apposition.

Distribution: Cyprus.

Figures

FIGURE 23. Andrena (Taeniandrena) laevicorpus spec. nov. female.A. Habitus, lateral view, B. Face, frontal view, C. Scutum, dorsal view, D. Terga, dorsal view.

FIGURE 24. Andrena (Taeniandrena) laevicorpus spec. nov. male. A. Habitus, lateral view, B. Face, frontal view, C. Terga, dorsal view, D. Genital capsule, dorsal view.