Andrena (Holandrena) forsterella Osytshnjuk, 1978

Pisanty, Gideon, Scheuchl, Erwin, Martin, Teresa, Cardinal, Sophie & Wood, Thomas James, 2022, Twenty-five new species of mining bees (Hymenoptera: Andrenidae: Andrena) from Israel and the Levant, Zootaxa 5185 (1), pp. 1-109 : 45-46

Andrena (Holandrena) forsterella Osytshnjuk, 1978

Distribution: Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Iran, Italy, Lebanon, Macedonia, Turkey ( Gusenleitner & Schwarz 2002; Wood et al. 2020a); newly recorded from Israel.

Flight period: May–June ( Israel), up to August in more northern latitudes ( Schönitzer et al. 1995).

Flower records: None.

Material examined: ISRAEL: Beit Uziel [Bet Uzi’el], 27.v.2011, N. Meltzer (1♂) ; Jerusalem, Mt. Scopus , 26.v.1940 (1♀) ; Revadim , 28.v.2011, A. Golan (1♂) ; 30.v.2011, A. Golan (1♂); 4.vi.2011, A. Golan (1♂); 7.vi.2011, A. Golan (1♂); Merom Golan , 33°08’N 35°46’E, 1.vi.2008, I. Gerlitz (1♀) ( SMNHTAU) .

Remarks. This species has often been confused with Andrena wilhelmi Schuberth , which has an earlier flight period, and is also present in Israel ( Pisanty et al. 2018).