Andrena ovatula (Kirby, 1802)

Praz, Christophe, Genoud, David, Vaucher, Killian, Benon, Dimitri, Monks, Joseph & Wood, Thomas J., 2022, Unexpected levels of cryptic diversity in European bees of the genus Andrena subgenus Taeniandrena (Hymenoptera, Andrenidae): implications for conservation, Journal of Hymenoptera Research 91, pp. 375-428 : 375

Andrena ovatula (Kirby, 1802)

Figs 10 , 20 , 30 , 32 , 34 , 36 , 46

Melitta ovatula Kirby, 1802: 149, ♂ [indicated as female], “Barhamiae” [Barham, Suffolk, UK]. See note below for information on the type material.

Material examined.

Type material: Only three males are preserved in the Kirby collection (NHML). These males are probably syntypes, even if the original description only mentions the female (see Perkins 1918 and note above, under Andrena afzeliella ). Both A. ovatula sensu Stöckhert (1930) and A. afzeliella occur in the United Kingdom near the type locality of A. ovatula (Fig. 7 ). We are not confident in the identification of these three males (see above under A. afzeliella ). For this reason, we submitted a request to the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (case 3878) to set aside the existing male syntypes, allowing for the designation of a neotype for A. ovatula . The female specimen proposed to be the neotype has been collected in Surrey, some 130 km southwest of the type locality of A. ovatula . It has been barcoded (specimen with number TJW0562 in Fig. 2 ) and agrees both morphologically and genetically with the species referred to as A. ovatula by the few authors who have separated A. albofasciata and A. ovatula ( Stöckhert 1930; Niemelä 1949; van der Smissen 2002, 2010). We are not aware of other available names for this species (see note above with respect to the missing type material of A. barbata and A. picipes ) .

Other material: Barcoded material includes specimens from Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom; in addition, sequences from Ireland are available on BOLD. Examined material additionally includes specimens from Andorra; see full list of examined specimens in Suppl. material 2: Table S2.

Distribution.

Widespread in north-western Europe (France, England, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany; Fig. 7 ); presence in Scandinavia unclear: Niemelä (1949: 119) mentions that this species has not been reported from Finland, but that he has examined specimens from southern Sweden in the collection D. Gaunitz (possibly in NHRS). Records from the Iberian Peninsula have been presented by Wood et al. (2021). The eastern limit of its distribution needs to be further examined. We also examined specimens from the Atlas Mountains, Morocco, which are morphologically highly similar to European populations; the identity of these specimens should be confirmed using DNA barcodes (TJ Wood, in prep.). For this reason, no records are presented from north-western Africa until more extensive barcoding has been conducted.

Pollen preferences.

Analysis of 30 pollen loads from 20 localities strongly suggest oligolecty on Fabaceae , with 99.6% of pollen collected from this family (TJW, unpublished data). This taxon is particularly associated with members of the tribe Genisteae in Atlantic-influenced environments across Western Europe, such as Cytisus , Genista , and Ulex . This association with Fabaceae shrubs may explain the particular distribution of A. ovatula , which appears to be more frequent in coastal areas than in the central parts of Europe.

Phenology.

Bivoltine, first generation in Northern Europe from the end of March until the end of May, second generation from early June until early September, approximately a month earlier than A. afzeliella (Fig. 8 ; see under A. afzeliella ).

Note.

The identity of Andrena poupillieri , a species that has been treated as a subspecies of A. ovatula , remains unclear because the Dours collection, presumably including all syntypes of this taxon, has been destroyed. Warncke (1967: 176) treated A. poupillieri as a subspecies of A. ovatula sensu lato restricted to Northern Africa, southern Spain and Crete according to the map presented by Gusenleitner and Schwarz (2002: 1143). As far as we know, he did not designate a neotype for A. poupillieri . In 1975, he described A. poupillieri incana Warncke, 1975 from the Balearic Islands (Spain), suggesting that he then considered A. poupillieri as a valid species. The identity of A. poupillieri will remain unclear until a neotype is designated. We refrain from doing so until the diversity of the northern African species of Taeniandrena has been examined more carefully. Some specimens identified as A. poupillieri in the Benoist and Warncke collections have a dark terminal fringe, contradicting Dours’ original description [ “cinquième segment et anus garnis de poils cendré roux" (T5 and T6 furnished with ashen-reddish hairs)]; specimens with dark terminal fringe, including the type of A. lecerfi Benoist, 1961, are possibly conspecific with A. ovatula sensu stricto, however Dours’ original concept of A. poupillieri may be a distinct species. We present barcodes for three specimens possibly corresponding to Dours’ original description, one with light terminal fringe (TJW024) and two with dark terminal fringe (2331 and 2333). Two of these three specimens form a clade, the third was only distantly related; neither was closely related to A. ovatula or to A. afzeliella . Future barcoding efforts for the Andrena fauna of north-western Africa are needed before the identity of A. poupillieri is settled through the designation of a neotype. Once this is achieved, the status of A. poupillieri incana should be examined; this taxon may be conspecific with A. poupillieri , or may represent another narrowly distributed species of Taeniandrena .

Diagnosis.

See under Andrena afzeliella (Table 1 ), and identification key below

Figures

Figure 2. Maximum clade credibility tree found in Bayesian analyses of sequence data of the mitochondrial gene COI, showing the phylogenetic relationships among the different species of Andrena subgenus Taeniandrena investigated in the present study. Numbers above branches represent posterior probabilities (values <0.5 are omitted). Taxa mentioned in the text are indicated by arrows or by vertical bars.

Figure 7. Distribution map of Andrena ovatula (blue dots) and A. afzeliella (red dots).

Figure 8. Phenology of Andrena ovatula (blue bars) and A. afzeliella (red bars) based on all examined specimens from Belgium, Netherlands and United Kingdom.

Figures 9 - 16. Terminal fringes of females of Taeniandrena 9 Andrena afzeliella 10 A. ovatula 11 A. antonellae sp. nov. 12 A. croceiventris 13 A. gelriae 14 A. intermedia 15 A. ovata 16 A. russula.

Figures 19 - 26. Metasomal terga 1 - 3 of females of Taeniandrena 19 Andrena afzeliella 20 A. ovatula 21 A. antonellae sp. nov. 22 A. croceiventris 23 A. gelriae 24 A. intermedia 25 A. ovata 26 A. russula.

Figures 29 - 34. 29, 30 apical fringe of hairs on femur, covering the base of basitibial plate in females 29 Andrena afzeliella 30 A. ovatula 31, 32 Female clypeus 31 A. afzeliella 32 A. ovatula 33, 34 male metasoma 33 A. afzeliella 34 A. ovatula.

Figures 35 - 44. Male antennae 35 Andrena afzeliella 36 A. ovatula 37 A. antonellae sp. nov. 38 A. croceiventris 39 A. gelriae 40 A. intermedia 41 A. ovata 42 A. russula 43 A. vocifera 44 A. wilkella.

Figures 45 - 54. Male genitalia 45 Andrena afzeliella 46 A. ovatula 47 A. antonellae sp. nov. 48 A. croceiventris 49 A. gelriae 50 A. intermedia 51 A. ovata 52 A. russula 53 A. vocifera 54 A. wilkella.