Andrena (Proxiandrena) alutacea Stoeckhert, 1942

Wood, Thomas James, Cross, Ian & Baldock, David W., 2020, Updates to the bee fauna of Portugal with the description of three new Iberian Andrena species (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila), Zootaxa 4790 (2), pp. 201-228 : 219

Andrena (Proxiandrena) alutacea Stoeckhert, 1942

Distribution: Southern Germany eastwards to Turkey ( Schmid-Egger 2005).

Notes: Andrena alutacea was included in the list of Baldock et al. (2018) on the basis of misidentifications of Andrena ampla Warncke, 1967 . In Europe, A. alutacea is a more easterly taxon found from central Europe eastwards whereas A. ampla is a more westerly taxon, found from Switzerland to Morocco ( Schmid-Egger 2005). Andrena proxima (Kirby, 1802) is found throughout Europe, but seems to have a clear allopatric distribution with A. ampla (e.g. Falk et al. 2019) and is probably absent from Iberia ( Schmid-Egger et al. 2005, TJW unpublished data). In Switzerland, A. alutacea is a relatively late flying bee with most records from June onwards compared to A. proxima that peaks in May (C. Praz in litt). In comparison, in Portugal all Proxiandrena records come from March-early May, with a clear peak in April. Following Schmid-Egger (2005), and in the absence of any molecular data to the contrary (C. Praz in. litt.), A. ampla is the only Proxiandrena taxon in Iberia, and Andrena alutacea is therefore removed from the Portuguese list.

Other material examined: Andrena ampla : SPAIN: Alberche , v.1908, 1♀, leg. Arias, OÖLM (holotype).