Megachile (Pseudomegachile) farinosa Smith 1853

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 : 296

Megachile (Pseudomegachile) farinosa Smith 1853

Megachile farinosa Smith 1853: 154 , ♀, “ Bagdad ” [ Irak]. Lectotype ♀, by present designation (see below), BMNH. Megachile derasa Gerstäcker 1869: 361 , ♀ ♂, “Naxos” [ Island of Naxos , Greece]. Lectotype ♀, by present designation (see below), ZMHB .

Distribution: Israel north of the Dead Sea, East Mediterranean ( Cyprus, Greece, Turkey), Middle East, Iran, Rhodos according to Pasteels 1970.

Note: The populations from the southern Jordan Valley (Dead Sea area) of Israel are morphologically slightly divergent: the integument of the mandible and the antennae are dark in both female and male, and the preapical carina of T6 of the male is nearly entire, with few inconspicuous teeth; in these and other characters (see key), these populations approach M. cinnamomea and thus bridge an otherwise clear morphological gap between typical M. farinosa and typical M. cinnamomea . Possibly these morphological divergences indicate some level of past introgression between M. farinosa and M. cinnamomea ; nowadays however, these populations are found in sympatry with typical M. cinnamomea . To our knowledge, these populations are not found in sympatry with typical populations of M. farinosa , and for now we consider these populations as being conspecific with M. farinosa . Interestingly, the region of the Jordan Valley unites two distinct biogeographic zones (Mediterranean in the North and desert in the South) and has been shown to present a morphological cline between two other species of Megachile (Soltani et al. 2016) .

Pollen hosts: We collected numerous females on Vitex (Verbenaceae) in Iran, Greece, and Israel.

Nesting biology: unknown.

Material examined: Type material: Lectotype ♀ of Megachile farinosa , designated here: a well-preserved female, labelled as follows: 1. 107; 2. “ Bagdad ” [Bagdad, Irak]; 3. “ Turkey ”; 4. farinosa Sm. Type; 5. Type B.M. TYPE HYM. 17.a.2141; 6. Lectotype Chalicodoma farinosa (Smith) des. Zanden 1992; 7. “ Turkey in Asia (Bagdad): pre 1850: leg & pres. W.K. Loftus Esq. B.M. 1850–105”; 8. “NHMUK 010813961”. This designation has not been published and is accepted here. The lectotype is deposited in BMNH. Lectotype ♀ of Megachile derasa , designated here: a well-preserved female, labelled as follows: 1. “Naxos, Krüger” [Island of Naxos, Greece]; 2. “type”; 3. “ M. flavipes det. Friese 1897”; 4. “ M. farinosa Smith det JD Alfken 1932” [handwritten by Alfken]; 5. “ Lectotype M. derasa des. B. Tkalců”. This designation has not been published and is accepted here. The lectotype is deposited in ZMHB.

Additional material: CYPRUS: 15km SE Pafos, Kouklia 34.72N 32.55E, 20.6.2013, C. Schmid-Egger leg. ; 8km N Pafos, Mavrokolympos Res. 34.85N 32.40E, 20.6.2013, C. Schmid-Egger leg. ; GREECE: Hellas Kamena Vourla , 16.7.1968, Z. Pádr leg. ; Itomi, Messenia , 24.7.1931, Troll leg. ; Kamgna Vourla , 16.7.1968, Z. Pádr leg. ; Lakonia, Mani, Kotronas 36°37'06 N 22°29' 17E, 29.6.2009, C. Praz leg. ; Olympia , 23.7.1931, Troll leg. ; Pelop. 20km E Sparta Ag. Anagiri, 5.7.1996, Ma. Halada leg. ; IRAN: Fars, Ghirokarzin, Rikan , 8.7.2011, A. Monfared & D. Nemati leg. ; Fars, Kazerun, Bidzard , 18.5.2010, 4.6.2010, R. Khodaparast leg. ; Fars, Qir , 24.8.2013, Sh. Falamarzi leg. ; Fars, Qir, Rikan , 2.7.2013, Sh. Falamarzi leg. ; Road 55 Narejoon, Babamaidan 30°17'27 N 51°29' 40E, 2.6.2009, Sedivy, Praz & Monfared leg. ; ISRAEL AND PALESTINE [see note above]: Dead Sea En Zeelim 5km N Massada 31°23’/35°20, 7.5.1996, C. Schmid-Egger leg. ; Moza , 16.6.1970, Bytinski-Salz leg. ; Nahal Hazezon 900m S Mizpe Shalem 31°33’32’’N / 35°23’52’’E - 364m, 5.5.2012, A. Dorchin leg. ; SYRIA: Homs, Palmyra Env. , 6.6.2000, K. Denes leg. ; km 70 Dayr az Zawr-Palmira , 11.6.2006, W. Schlaefle leg. ; NW Aleppo, Afrin , 23.6.2000, M. Halada leg. ; Palmira , 13.6.2006, W. Schlaefle leg. ; Palmira ( Arak ), 12.6.2006, W. Schlaefle leg. ; Raqqa, Rasafah , 16– 17.6.1998, M. Hradsky leg. ; TURKEY: 10 km W Alanya, Konakli , 36 58 N, 31 89 E (shrubland), 1.8.2009, C. Schmid-Egger leg. ; 140km SWW Antalya, Xanthos 36°22N29°19E, 12.7.1998, C. Schmid-Egger leg. ; 18km N Denizli, Pamukkale 37°56N 29°08E, 14.7.1998, C. Schmid-Egger leg. ; 28km SEE Fethiye, Saklikent 36°34N 29°26E, 12.7.1998, C. Schmid-Egger leg. ; 48km NW Silifke Köselerli W bank Göksu River , 19.7.1998, C. Schmid-Egger leg. ; S-Türkei Taurus / Mut 2.2km N Mut / Ortakoy Str. Rand u. Bachbett , 11.7.1996, Brechtel & Ehrmann leg. ; Silifke , E.6.1963, W. Schlaefle leg.