Andrena wilkella (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 wilkella (Kirby, 1802)

Figs 18 , 28 , 44 , 54 , 69

Melitta wilkella Kirby, 1802: 145, ♀, "prope Londinium" [near London, England]. Lectotype ♀ (NHML), by present designation (see below).

Material examined.

Type material: Lectotype ♀ of Melitta wilkella Kirby, 1802, by present designation, a female in good condition (NHML). This female specimen is labelled as follows: 1. “6339” [handwritten on blue paper disc, NHML accession number 1863-39]; 2. “Syntype” [printed on white paper disc]; 3. "B.M.Type/ Hym/ 17a 2921" [handwritten]; 4. " Syntype ♀ Melitta wilkella Kirby det. D. Notton 1995"; 5. “Lectotype” [printed on white paper disc]; 6. " Lectotype ♀ Andrena wilkella des. Wood and Monks, 2022" [handwritten]; 7. "NHMUK 014030682".

Other material: numerous specimens, only some of which are listed in Suppl. material 2: Table S2.

Distribution.

From northern Iberia (absent from Morocco, see Wood et al. 2021) across Europe (including Corsica and southern Italy; see Suppl. material 2: Table S2) to Turkey, the Caucasus, and Russia. Probably absent from Cyprus, though this requires confirmation.

Pollen preferences.

Chambers (1968) indicated possible polylecty in Andrena wilkella , though quantitative reanalysis of his data still showed 92.4% of collected pollen came from Fabaceae ( Wood and Roberts 2017). Other analyses clearly show that A. wilkella is oligolectic on Fabaceae ( Westrich 1989; Wood and Roberts 2017), and since Chambers was not aware of the cryptic and weakly polylectic A. afzeliella in Britain, some of the ' A. wilkella ' samples he analysed may have been from this species.

Phenology.

Considered to be univoltine ( Westrich 1989; Amiet et al. 2010), although the flight period extends from the end of April until the end of August in England (Bees, Wasps & Ants recording society 2022) or in Switzerland, suggesting a possible partial second generation.

Note.

In our genetic analysis, A. wilkella forms three clades separated by average distances comprised between 1.49 and 3.04% (Fig. 2 ). One clade included specimens from Germany, another clade specimens from Ireland, the United Kingdom, Finland, Norway and Switzerland, and the third clade specimens from Italy and from Corsica. The specimens from the first clade have not been examined; those from Italy and Corsica are morphologically similar to A. wilkella , but the tergal punctation is less distinct, breaking an otherwise good diagnostic trait of A. wilkella . The identification of such specimens is challenging and relies on the narrower tergal hairbands (see also Table 2 for the identification of the specimens from Corsica). Similar specimens with weak tergal punctation are also known from Eastern Europe. Future research is needed to determine whether these slight genetic and morphological differences point to the presence of additional cryptic diversity in A. wilkella .

Diagnosis.

See Schmid-Egger and Scheuchl (1997), Amiet et al. (2010) and the 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.

Figures 17, 18. Terminal fringes of females of Taeniandrena 17 Andrena vocifera 18 A. wilkella.

Figures 27, 28. Metasomal terga 1 - 3 of females of Taeniandrena 27 Andrena vocifera 28 A. wilkella.

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.

Figures 62 - 69. 62 - 68 Andrena ovata 62 female profile 63 female scutum and scutellum 64 female clypeus 65 male holotype of A. ovata, profile 66 male face 67 male metasoma 68 male metasomal terga 1 - 3 69 A. wilkella, male metasomal terga 1 - 3.