Megachile (Pseudomegachile) nigripes Spinola

Dorchin, Achik & Praz, Christophe J., 2018, Taxonomic revision of the Western Palaearctic bees of the subgenus Pseudomegachile (Hymenoptera, Apiformes, Megachilidae, Megachile), Zootaxa 4524 (3), pp. 251-307 : 282-283

Megachile (Pseudomegachile) nigripes Spinola

Megachile nigripes Spinola 1838: 529 , ♀ ♂, [ Egypt]. See Casolari & Casolari-Moreno 1980 for a list of possible syntypes.

Megachile nilotica Pérez 1897: 5 , ♀, “ Egypte ” [ Egypt]. Lectotype ♀, by present designation (see below) MNHN. Synonymy in Alfken 1933: 57.

Megachile mucorea Friese 1898: 200 , ♀ ♂, “Aegyptus” [ Egypt]; at least one presumed syntype ♂ is preserved in ZMHB; additional syntypes in “the Museum of Budapest and Wien” according to original description. Synonymy in Alfken 1933: 57.

Distribution: Northern Africa from Morocco to Egypt, Israel. Pollen hosts: An important host in Egypt appears to be Trifolium alexandrinum L. ( Fabaceae ) (Rozen &

Kamel 2007).

Nesting biology: Rozen & Kamel (2007) described very large nesting aggregations of this species in Egypt. Nests were located in tunnels dug by the females in “adobe” (hard, dry, mud walls). The cells, oriented almost vertically in the oblique tunnels, were elongate and not arranged linearly; the cell walls probably consisted of the excavated mud wall and the inside of the cell was uneven but appeared to have been lined with dark coating that was “water retardant but not truly waterproof”, possibly consisting of “very fine soil particles bound together by partly dried nectar”. Megachile nigripes is the host of the cleptoparasite Radoszkowskiana rufiventris ( Spinola 1838) .

Material examined: Type material: lectotype ♀ of M. nilotica , designated here: a well-preserved female labelled as follows: 1. “ Egypte ”; 2. Col. Pérez Mus. Paris. 3. “ Holotype M. nilotica des Baker 1990 ”. This female is preserved in MNHN. Since the original description does not indicate the number of specimens, and since several females are preserved in the collection of Pérez, this specimen is recognized here as a lectotype. One presumed syntype ♂ of M. mucorea (ZMHB).

Additional material: ALGERIA: Hoggar Pista Tit Tamanrasset su Accacia , 15– 30.4.1950, A. Giordani Soika leg. ; Hoggar Tamanrasset Staz N H 18, 15– 30.4.1950, A. Giordani Soika leg. ; Hoggar Tamanrasset 1500m 60km E, 31.3.1989, M. Schwarz leg. EGYPT: Kairo und Umgebung , 3.1935, A. Nadig leg. ; Cairo, 1.4.1978, 20.5.1974, F. D. Parker leg. ; El-Huseiniya 30°51.867N 32°03.767E, 18.5.2008, J. G. Rozen, S. M. Kamel leg. ; Tel el Kebir 30°32.255N 31°55.846E, 13.5.2008, J. G. Rozen, S. M. Kamel leg. ; Tel el Kebir 30°32''02 N 31°49'' 48E, 18.5.2004, J. G. Rozen leg. ; Sharkia, Houssania, Bahr Elbaker 30°55N 32°07E 2m from Nest , 3.5.2011, M. Shebl & S. Kamel leg. ; Sharkia, Houssania, Bahr Elbaker 30°55N 32°07E 2m from Nest , 3.5.2011, M. Shebl & S. Kamel leg. ISRAEL AND PALESTINE: Ein Radian , 3.7.1965, Kugler leg. ; 13km S Paran ( Giv‘ot Loven ), 25.5.1991, K. Warncke leg. MOROCCO: 15km S Assa , 17– 18.4.1995, Mi Halada leg.