Andrena ( Micrandrena ) minutula ( Kirby, 1802 )

Pisanty, Gideon, Santerre, Rémi, Martin, Teresa, Cardinal, Sophie & Wood, Thomas J., 2025, Integrated taxonomic revision of the mining bee subgenus Andrena (Micrandrena) (Hymenoptera: Andrenidae) in the Levant and Cyprus, Arthropod Systematics & Phylogeny 83, pp. 573-655 : 573-655

3.1.6.2. Andrena ( Micrandrena) minutula ( Kirby, 1802)

Andrena dargia Warncke, 1965: 65–66, ♀ [ Greece: OLML] syn. nov.

Remarks.

Material of Andrena chananaea sp. nov. from Lebanon was confused with A. minutula ( Wood et al. 2020; Boustani et al. 2021), as the two species are impossible to differentiate in the female sex. Other records of A. minutula from the Levant are extremely old ( Magretti 1890; Zavattari 1905), and during this time most of the species concepts of Micrandrena did not yet exist, so it is impossible to know what these records truly refer to. The distribution maps in the worldwide Andrena checklist of Gusenleitner & Schwarz (2002), which were drawn by Warncke, mention A. minutula also from Cyprus (as subspecies A. m. dargia , cited in Varnava et al. 2020). Nevertheless, our examination of thousands of specimens, together with generous DNA barcoding, could not find any material corresponding to A. minutula in our entire study region. We therefore exclude this taxon entirely from the Levant and Cyprus.

Warncke (1965) described Andrena dargia from Greece, closely related to A. minutula . Later in his life he seemed to have regarded it as a subspecies of the latter ( Gusenleitner & Schwarz 2002), but he never published the revised status. It has now been possible to generate molecular barcodes from across Greece, including from southern regions, geographically overlaying the locus typicus of A. dargia in Delphi. These sequences indeed fall within the broad West Palaearcitc molecular concept of A. minutula . Morphologically, the type specimen of A. dargia conforms to the species concept of A. minutula ; the scutum is densely punctate with punctures separated by 0.5–1 puncture diameters, the terga are at most obscurely punctate, the tergal margins are only very slightly depressed, the tergal margins laterally have thin apical hair fringes, the propodeal triangle is entirely rugose, the facial foveae are not noticeably broadened or narrowed, the head is not noticeably broadened or elongate, and the clypeus is dull and moderately punctate. In this context, it is appropriate to treat A. dargia as a junior synonym of A. minutula syn. nov.

Material examined.

HOLOTYPE ( A. dargia Warncke ): GREECE ● 1 ♀; Delphi; 11 Apr. 1963; Kl. Warncke leg.; OLML . – non-type material: GREECE ● 1 ♀; Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, Drama, Volakas, 2.6 km S of Volakas ; 41.2933°N 24.0065°E; 1150 m a. s. l.; 24 May 2023; T. Wood leg.; BOLD accession no. WPATW 1299-23 ; TJWC ● 1 ♀; Kefalonia [Cephalonia], Ainos Mt., summit ; 1600 m a. s. l.; 17 Jun. 2016; L. Friedman leg.; BOLD accession no. ANDGP 023-25 ; SMNHTAU 252333 ● 1 ♀; Megapolis [Megalopolis] (Peloponn. Arkadia); 11 Apr. 1988; H. Teunissen leg.; BOLD accession no. BGENL 1421-24 ; RMNH RMNH.INS.1266077 ● 1 ♀; Rte Sparti-Tripolis, Pelop .; 12 Apr. 1988; H. Teunissen leg.; BOLD accession no. BGENL 1422-24 ; RMNH RMNH.INS.1266079 ● 1 ♀; Taygetos Mts , 1200 m, Peloponnese; 20 May 1987; H. Teunissen leg.; BOLD accession no. BGENL 1420-24 ; RMNH RMNH.INS.1266076 . – MOROCCO ● 1 ♀; Drâa-Tafilalet, Ouarzazate, Sour, 1 km N ; 31.1321°N – 7.5946°W; 13 Apr. 2022; T. Wood leg.; BOLD accession no. WPATW 596-22 ; TJWC ● 1 ♀; Fès-Meknès, Ifrane, R 707, 8 km SE of Ifrane ; 33.47°N – 5.04°W; 1800 m a. s. l.; 24 May 2022; T. Wood leg.; BOLD accession no. WPATW 595-22 ; TJWC ● 1 ♀; Souss-Massa, Tafraoute, Iguissle ( 3 km E Tanalt) ; 29.7730°N – 9.1233°W; c. 1500 m a. s. l.; 21 Mar. 2022; T. Wood leg.; BOLD accession no. WPATW 512-22 ; TJWC . – SPAIN ● 1 ♀; Aldeanueva de Atienza; 41.1658°N – 3.0980°W; m a. s. l.; 9 Jul. 2021; T. Wood leg.; BOLD accession no. WPATW 328-21 ; TJWC ● 1 ♀; PN Sierra de las Nieves, mountain peak S of Pinsapo Escalereta ; 36.6621°N – 5.0362°W; 30 May 2021; T. Wood leg.; BOLD accession no. WPATW 238-21 ; TJWC .