Pseudoanthidium tenellum, (MOCSARY, 1880)

Litman, Jessica R., Fateryga, Alexander V., Griswold, Terry L., Aubert, Matthieu, Proshchalykin, Maxim Yu., Divelec, Romain Le, Burrows, Skyler & Praz, Christophe J., 2021, Paraphyly and low levels of genetic divergence in morphologically distinct taxa: revision of the Pseudoanthidium scapulare complex of carder bees (Apoidea: Megachilidae: Anthidiini), Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society CLXVI (CLXVI), pp. 1-51 : 27-30

PSEUDOANTHIDIUM TENELLUM ( MOCSÁRY, 1880)

( FIGS 2A, 10C, 11D, 12D, 13D, 19, 20, 21A, C, E)

Anthidium tenellum Mocsáry, 1880: 48–50 , ♀ ♂. Type locality: in Latin ‘ Hungaria centrali et meridionali’ [central and southern Hungary], in Hungarian ‘ Budapest mellett a Gellérthegyen , Siófoknál és Grebenácz körül’ [next to Budapest, on Gellérthegyen, near Siófok and around Grebenácz, Hungary]. Lectotype, ♀, designated by B. Tkalců 1984, published here, ‘ Grebenác 1878’ [now Serbia], ‘ Anthidium tenellum Mocs. det. Mocsáry’, ‘497/202.’, ‘ Lectotypus Anthidium tenellum Mocs. (Tkalců, 1984) ’, [red label] (blank), ‘ Hungarian Natural History Museum Hymenoptera Coll. Budapest’ [blue label] (HNHM) ( Fig. 19).

Anthidium eversmanni Radoszkowski, 1886: 54–55 , ♂, synon. nov. Type locality: ‘Orenbourg’ [ Russia: Orenburg Prov., Orenburg]. Lectotype, ♂, by present designation: ‘Coll. Radosz.’, ‘ floripetum ♂. Evers.’, ‘ eversmanni ’, ‘Zool. Mus. Berlin’, ‘ Lectotypus ♂ Anthidium eversmanni Radoszkowski, 1886 design.

28 J. R. LITMAN ET AL.

Fateryga et Proshchalykin 2020’ [red label] (ZMHB) ( Fig. 20).

Material examined: 15 females, 60 males (see Supporting Information, Table S1 for specimen data).

Distribution: Austria, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, China ( Xinjiang), Crimea, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Romania, Russia (European part, Urals,Western Siberia), Serbia, Slovakia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan ( Fig. 6D). The reference in Tkalců (1975) to a distribution for this species in southern Europe and northern Africa, and with a collection locality in Ain Zaatout, Algeria, is probably an error.

Host-plant associations: Asteraceae Hungary Centaurea scabiosa subsp. sadleriana (Janka) Asch. & Graebn.( Mocsáry, 1880) Tajikistan Pulicaria salviifolia Bunge (male visits) ( Popov, 1967); Plumbaginaceae Crimea Limonium scoparium (Pall. ex Willd.) Stankov (male visit) (personal observation, A. V. Fateryga).

Remarks: Pseudoanthidium tenellum was described in the same publication as P. nanum ( Mocsáry, 1880) . For the reasons cited in the Remarks section for P. nanum , we propose the use of 1880 as the official publication date of the name P. tenellum , in other words, P. tenellum ( Mocsáry, 1880) .

A lectotype is designated for P. eversmanni ( Radoszkowski, 1886) (ZMHB) . This taxon was determined to be a junior synonym of P. tenellum ( Fig. 20).

Diagnosis female: The female of P. tenellum may be distinguished from other members of this complex by the following combination of characters: punctation on terga comparatively coarse, as large or larger than punctation on mesonotum; largest punctures on black part of scutellum greater in diameter than the largest punctures on T 2; maculations on European specimens creamy white to pale yellow but lemon yellow in Central Asian specimens ( Fig. 21A, C, E).

The female of P. tenellum is similar to P. cribratum and P. rozeni ; for more information concerning the differentiation of these three species, see the section entitled ‘Diagnosis female’ for P. rozeni . In their zone of overlap, differentiating females of P. tenellum from those of P. cribratum and, in some cases, from those of P. stigmaticorne may be challenging.

Diagnosis male: The male of P. tenellum may be distinguished from other members of this complex by the following combination of characters: gonostylus over 1.5 times wider at widest point than at base ( Fig. 10C); notch at apex of gonostylus less deep than opening of notch is wide ( Fig. 10C); exterior and interior margin of gonostylus regularly curved ( Fig. 10C); notch at apex of gonostylus more or less centred ( Fig. 10C); lateral comb on S5 mitten-shaped ( Fig. 11D); posterior, premarginal brush on S3 with hairs unhooked at tips ( Fig. 12D); hairless zone on S3 between posterior premarginal brush of hairs and anterior zone of dense, velvety pilosity slightly shiny to matte and trapezoidal, without median extension anteriorly along midline ( Fig. 12D); posterior margin of S2 strongly depressed, overhung by long fringe across entire width ( Fig. 13D); hairs on ventral surface of trochanter 3 shaggy and uneven, not velvety. T6 and T7 predominantly orange or yellow.

The male of P. tenellum is most similar to P. rozeni ; for more information concerning the differentiation of these two species, see the section entitled ‘Diagnosis male’ for P. rozeni .

Geographic variation: Populations in Europe, as well as in Siberia, are characterized by pale yellow to cream-coloured markings on the head, thorax and metasoma. Moreover, the posterior half of T5, as well as the entirety of T6 and T7, are a translucent orange in males. Populations from Central Asia, including Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Xinjiang, on the other hand, have lemon-yellow coloured markings on the head, thorax and metasoma. In these same populations, the posterior half of T5, as well as T6 and T7, are yellow. The population we examined from Kazakhstan is intermediate, with lemon-yellow coloured markings on the head, thorax and metasoma, similar to those of Central Asian specimens, but with the posterior half of T5, as well as T6 and T7 orange, similar to those of European specimens. The lateral comb on S5 is mitten-shaped and the apical notch of the gonostylus is V-shaped and wider than deep in most populations of P. tenellum .