Xylocopa ( Copoxyla ) iris (Christ, 1791)

Boustani, Mira, Rasmont, Pierre, Dathe, Holger H., Ghisbain, Guillaume, Kasparek, Max, Michez, Denis, Müller, Andreas, Pauly, Alain, Risch, Stefan, Straka, Jakub, Terzo, Michael, Achter, Xavier Van, Wood, Thomas J. & Nemer, Nabil, 2021, The bees of Lebanon (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila), Zootaxa 4976 (1), pp. 1-146 : 78

Xylocopa ( Copoxyla) iris (Christ, 1791) ( fig. 21.1 )

= Xylocopa cyanescens Brullé, 1832

Distribution: PALAEARCTIC: Mediterranean basin and Southern Europe, and further east to Tajikistan ( Terzo & Rasmont 2014, Ascher & Pickering 2021).

Local distribution fig. 15.1

Literature. Maidl (1912): Listed under Xylocopa cyanescens

Beirut (labelled as Syria at time of the record), leg. Leuthner V, det. Maidl F.

Material examined. Bekaa: AUB Farm [Haush Sneid], IV.1979, 1♀, leg. Boghos D., coll . AUB.

Mount Lebanon: Bhamdoun, 1.V.1975, 1♂, coll. AUB ; Jabal Moussa Biosphere Reserve , Peony Trail, 1440 m, 21.VIII.2018, 1♀, leg. Nemer N. ; Marej Barja , Kaleet El Besten, 358 m, 26.IV.2019, 1♀, leg. Boustani M., all coll. MBOU ; Al Barouk , Shouf Biosphere Reserve, 1690 m, 4.VII.2019, 1♂, leg. Van Achter X., coll. XVA .

N. Lebanon: Tannourine El Tahta, Wadi ain Al Raha , 1187 m, 2. VIII .2017, 1♀, leg. Boustani M.; Hadath El Jebbeh, Road to Wadi Al Fouar , 1553 m, 19. VII .2018, 1♂, leg. Boustani M., Jabbour J.; Hadath El Jebbeh, Al Fouar , 1529 m, 7.VI.2019, 1♂, leg. Boustani M., Mouawad G.; Tannourine El Tahta, Mar Boutros , 1207 m, 25.IV.2019, 1♀, leg. Boustani M.; 1182 m, 25.IV.2019, 1♀, leg. Rasmont P.; 1207 m, 5.V.2019, 2♂, 1♀, leg. Boustani M., all coll. MBOU .

Flower records. Asteraceae : Echinops gaillardotii ; Boraginaceae : Anchusa hybrida ; Fabaceae : Vicia tenuifolia ; Iridaceae : Gladiolus segetum ; Lamiaceae : Stachys distans .

Terzo (2021) reports flower preferences for Asteraceae , Fabaceae and Lamiaceae , all three of which are found in our observations, he also reports a strong preference for Eryngium campestre (Apiaceae) .

Figures

FIGURE 15. Local distribution maps of material examined and literature of 1 Xylocopa iris, 2 Xylocopa olivieri, 3 Xylocopa parviceps, 4 Xylocopa pubescens, 5 Xylocopa rufa, 6 Xylocopa valga, 7 Xylocopa varentzowi, 8 Xylocopa violacea, 9 Ceratina acuta, 10 Ceratina bispinosa, 11 Ceratina cucurbitina, 12 Ceratina dentiventris, 13 Ceratina mandibularis, 14 Exoneuridia libanensis, 15 Eucera cypria, 16 Eucera gaullei.

FIGURE 21. 1 Xylocopa iris♀, 2 Xylocopa olivieri♂, 3 Xylocopa parviceps♂, 4 Xylocopa valga♂, 5 Ceratina bispinosa♂, 6 Nomada lucidula♂. All pictures by Pierre Rasmont.