Trachusa maghrebensis, Kasparek, 2020

Kasparek, Max, 2020, Revision of the Palaearctic Trachusa interrupta species complex (Apoidea: Anthidiini) with description of four new species, Zootaxa 4728 (1), pp. 1-48 : 31-36

Trachusa maghrebensis sp. n.

( Figs 30–33 )

Trachusa (Paraanthidium) interrupta ( Fabricius, 1781) (partim).—Material from Algeria listed by Aguib et al. (2010) and Aguib (2014) under this name. A photograph shows the female of T. maghrebensis sp. n.

Anthidium dufourii Lepeletier, 1841 (partim).—Alfken (1916) listed material under this name with a question mark. “It can best be compared with Anthidium interruptum F. but with smaller size”. Examination of this material in ZMB showed that it belongs to T. maghrebensis sp. n.

Anthidium interruptum ( Fabricius, 1781) (partim).—Listed by Warncke including North African populations which belong to T. maghrebensis sp. n.

Anthidium interruptum Fabricius, 1781 (partim).—Material listed by Saunders (1908) under A. interruptum should be attributed to T. maghrebensis sp.n.

Material examined (9♂, 3♀). Type material. HOLOTYPE: Female. Morocco, 4 km S of Chefchaouen [= Chaouen], 21.vi.1987, M. Schwarz leg. [“ A. interruptum ssp. foliivolutor M. Schwarz det.”] (cMS).— PARATYPES (1♀, 4♂): 1♀ Tanger, 6.vii.1931, Ad. Nadig leg. (“ Anthidium manicatum v. barbarum J. D. Alfken det. 1933“) ( ZMB). 1♂, same data as holotype (cMS). 1♂ north-eastern Tunisia: Sousse pr., Friguia 30 km SW Hammanet, 14.v.2006, P. Kressl leg. (cMS). 1♂ 15 km S Teboursouk (36°25‘N 09°23‘E), 16.v.1992, M. Schwarz leg. [” A. interrupta M. Schwarz det. 1992“ / „ Trachusa (Paraanthidium) foliivolutor Ferton Straka det. 2012“] (cMS). 1♂, Tunis, coll. Graeffe [“ Anthidium interruptum Tunis / Paraanthidium luteipes Lep. det. G. A. Mavromoustakis / Anthidium interruptum Dr. Warncke det.”] ex coll. Warncke in OLL.

Other material examined: ALGERIA (all from collection Alfken in ZMB): Oued Ouchaïa [today part of Algier] , 2♂ 10.vi.1910, 1♂ 18.vi.1910, 1♂ 19.vi.1910 (“ Anthidium luteipes Alfken det.”); 1♀ Dr. J. Bequaert leg. [without date].— MOROCCO: 1♂ Middle Atlas Mt. , 10 km E Khenifra, 10–11.vi.2007 , F. Houska leg ( OLL).

Taxonomic note. Material assigned to this new species has previously been assigned as per labels to interruptum , luteipes , foliivolutor , and manicatum v. barbarum .

Description. Smallest species in complex. Yellow tergal bands broad in both sexes, if medially interrupted ends obtuse.

Female. Tergal bands interrupted and clearly separated from each other on T1–T3; bands on T4 and T5 interrupted or with deep V-shaped notch ( Figs 30A, B ); scutum with anterolateral boomerang-shaped yellow stripe, scutellum and axillae together with four yellow spots ( Fig. 30A ); yellow maculation on upper gena extending to mid-vertex ( Figs 30A , 33 ).

Male: Yellow bands on T1–T3 interrupted, T4 with V-shaped notch (rarely also T3 uninterrupted with deep median notch); scutum dark without yellow maculation ( Figs 31A, B ).

Differential Diagnosis. The female of T. maghrebensis is distinguished from all other species of the complex by the large yellow maculation on the upper genae which extends towards the middle vertex beyond the eye ( Figs 30A , 33A ). In all other species the maculation on the upper genae never reaches beyond the eyes. Both sexes are distinguished from all other species of the complex by the yellow tergal bands which are broad and interrupted on T1–T3, sometimes interrupted on T4, the lateral bands on T3 are widely separated and do not reach the middle of the tergum ( Figs 30A , 31A, B ). In the other species of the complex the band on T3 is mostly uninterrupted and if interrupted the lateral bands are contiguous or subcontiguous and narrow; the band on T4 is uninterrupted in the other species and does not have a V-shaped notch.

The male of T. maghrebensis is distinguished from the male of T. varia , the only other species occurring in NW Africa, by the yellow ground colour of the maculations (red or reddish in T. varia ), and the interrupted band on T3 (uninterrupted in T. varia ).

A DFA of 15 morphometric parameters of 613 specimens from all parts of the distribution shows that both males and females from North Africa form separate clusters and are herewith different from all other species of the group ( Fig. 34 ). A confusion matrix shows that 99.5% of all individuals are assigned correctly to one of the four groups. The difference between T. maghrebensis and the remaining species of the complex is also related to size differences: both females and males have a narrower clypeus, a smaller overall clypeal surface area and a shorter marginal cell than the other species of the complex. On the other hand, the distance between the lateral ocellus and the eye is greater in T. maghrebensis in both sexes, being a good indicator that there are differences in the body shape in addition to size differences.

Among the morphometric parameters, the antennal length was compared specifically between T. maghrebensis and its neighbouring OU, T. interrupta from Spain, to test whether there is an abrupt transition of characters. The antennal length was significantly smaller in T. maghrebensis both in females (t-test, p<0.05) and in males (p<0.001), with no overlap between the males of these two species ( Fig. 35 ). This is good evidence for T. maghrebensis being a good species. A similar comparison could not be made between T. maghrebensis and T. varia due to the absence of suitable material of the latter.

The femora of males from Algeria and Tunisia are black with the exception of some yellow at the distal apices (6 specimens examined), while specimens from Tunisia (3 specimens examined) have rich yellow colouration on the distal and inner parts of the femora. Six males examined from Algeria and Morocco have no yellow markings on the scutum and scutellum, while three specimens from Tunisia have a small yellow spot on each side of the scutellum, one also has spots on the axillae, and two specimens have a narrow yellow lateral edge on the scutum. In the female the yellow band on T4 is uninterrupted in the specimen from Algeria and interrupted in the two specimens from Morocco. T6 is entirely black in one specimen but has two large yellow maculae on two other specimens.

These differences in the colour pattern may indicate some geographic differences between western and eastern populations of North Africa but larger series of material are not available to examine whether these differences are taxonomically relevant.

Derivatio nominis. Derived from the Arabic ‘al-Magréb’ which means ‘west’ and stands for western Arabia, where the species was found.

Distribution: Mediterranean region of Northwest Africa: northern parts of Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. Material shown by Aguib (2014) from Algeria belongs to this species, and probably the material listed by Saunders (1908) from Algeria (Sidi Fredj [Sidi Feruch], El Kala [La Calle], El Tarf [Le Tarf]).

Biology. Found on the wing between early May and early July. Saunders (1908) and Aguib (2014) found the species visiting Echium and Scabiosa .

Figures

FIGURE 30. Trachusa maghrebensis sp. n. Female holotype. A, C. Habitus from dorsal and lateral; B. head in frontal view; D. apical terga.

FIGURE 31. Trachusa maghrebensis sp. n. Male paratypes.A. Tergal pattern of a male from Teboursouk, Tunisia; B, C. habitus from dorsal and latertal ofa male from Chechaounen (Morocco).

FIGURE 32. Trachusa maghrebensis sp. n. A. Head of female (holotype); B. head of male (paratype).

FIGURE 33. Comparison of the head colour patterns in the female of the Trachusa interrupta species complex. The light pattern over black ground colour is red or reddish in T. varia and yellow in all other species. The dark colour on figure shows the light colour on the bee.

FIGURE 34. Discriminant Function Analysis of 15 morphometric parameters of the Trachusa interrupta complex. Specimens of Trachusa maghrebensis sp. n. were tested against specimens from all other parts of the distribution range (Trachusa interrupta s.l.), separately for males and females. Ntotal=613.

FIGURE 35. Comparison of antennal lengths between Trachusa maghrebensis sp. n. and T. interrupta from Spain. The differences in the male antennal length are significant and show that they are distinct taxa despite some similarities in the colour pattern.