Andrena (Cnemidandrena) tridentata (Kirby, 1802)

Wood, Thomas James, Praz, Christophe, Selis, Marco, Flaminio, Simone, Mei, Maurizio, Cornalba, Maurizio, Rosa, Paolo, Divelec, Romain Le & Michez, Denis, 2023, Revisions to the Andrena fauna of Italy, with the description of a new species (Hymenoptera: Andrenidae), Fragmenta entomologica 55 (2), pp. 271-310 : 287-288

Andrena (Cnemidandrena) tridentata (Kirby, 1802)

Remarks. Listed by Comba (2019) [species 56] citing Dylewska (1987), noting that the presence of this species in Italy should be confirmed. True A. tridentata is an exceptionally rare species known confidently from only the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and European Russia ( Gusenleitner & Schwarz 2002; Amiet et al. 2010). Dylewska (1987) reports a female from “N-Italien” in the ZMHB from Roveredo. However, this almost certainly refers to Roveredo in Graubünden in Switzerland, from which canton Nadig collected the only known Swiss specimens of A. tridentata . Indeed, searches in the ZMHB collection revealed this specimen, which was indeed collected by Nadig from Switzerland ( Fig. 8 ).

Dylewska also reports 11 female A. tridentata from the NMW collection. Examination of this collection produced seven female A. tridentata from “Velden” in the collection of the Swiss naturalist Eduard Heinrich Graeffe (1833–1916). Given that Graeffe lived in Trieste between 1875–1898 and collected in this area, it would seem logical that Velden refers to Velden am Wörthersee in Carinthia, some 100 km north of Trieste. In the 2014 European Red List assessment, Erwin Scheuchl noted that the provenance of these specimens was unclear, and that specimens could potentially have come from Velden in the Netherlands. Given what is known about the life of Graeffe, and the presence of A. tridentata in south-eastern Switzerland, it seems most likely that these specimens come from Velden am Wörthersee. We therefore consider A. tridentata to have been present in southern Austria historically.

Finally, in the NMW collection there was also a single male [no locality given] determined by Dylewska as A. tridentata , but this was A. nigriceps (Kirby, 1802) . In this context, there are no verified specimens of A. tridentata known from Italy, and although it was likely present in the north close to the borders with Switzerland and Austria, this cannot be positively demonstrated, and the species is now extinct from Europe. The historical presence or not of this species is therefore unverifiable, and it is not included on the Italian list.

Material examined.

AUSTRIA: 7♀, Velden [Velden am Wörthersee], [28/6, no year], coll. Graeffe ( NMW) . RUSSIA: 1♀, БАССР [Bashkiria / Bashkortostan], Иглино [ Iglino ], 12 Aug 1954, leg. Nikoforuk ( OÖLM) . SWITZERLAND: 1♀, Roveredo , 23 Jul 1927, leg. Ad. Nadig ( ZMHB) . UNITED KINGDOM: 1♀, Livermere [Great Livermere], West Suffolk, 2 Aug 1912; leg. C.G. Nurse ( OÖLM) ; 1♀, Tuddenham, W. Suffolk, 12 Aug 1909, leg. C.G. Nurse ( OÖLM) .

Figures

Fig. 8 - Andrena tridentata (Kirby, 1802), female. A, label details; B, profile; C, face, frontal view; D, terga, dorsal view.