Andrena (Avandrena) avara caligata Warncke, 1974

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 : 278

Andrena (Avandrena) avara caligata Warncke, 1974

Remarks. Listed by Comba (2019) [species 18, as A. avara Warncke, 1967 ] citing Ascher & Pickering (2015) with the comment that the species must be confirmed for Italy. Andrena avara is also indicated as present in Sicily based on the distribution maps of Warncke ( Gusenleitner & Schwarz 2002). Examination of material from Sicily confirms the presence of A. avara caligata , though the collection of fresh specimens would be beneficial to establish its continued presence. Andrena avara s. l. represents a species complex (see Wood 2023a) of six species, and based on analysis of DNA barcodes (TJW, unpublished data), A. avara caligata will be elevated to species status in the near future (present also in Tunisia and Libya).

Material examined.

ITALY: SICILY: 1♀, above Trapani , 200 m, 16 Apr 1965, leg. K.M. Guichard ( OÖLM) ; 1♀, Zafferana (CT), 800 m, 25 Apr 1965, leg. K.M. Guichard ( OÖLM) .