Andrena montana Warncke 1973

Praz, Christophe, Mueller, Andreas & Genoud, David, 2019, Hidden diversity in European bees: Andrenaamieti sp. n., a new Alpine bee species related to Andrenabicolor (Fabricius, 1775) (Hymenoptera, Apoidea, Andrenidae), Alpine Entomology 3, pp. 11-38 : 22

Andrena montana Warncke 1973 Figs 13, 19, 21, 36, 38, 41, 61.

Andrena montana Warncke 1973: 33, ♀♂, "Bozen/Italien [Bolzano, Italy]" Holotype ♀, OLML, paratypes ♀♀♂♂.

Material examined.

Holotype female (OLML); additional material: 31 males, 29 females originating from France, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Greece and Macedonia (Suppl. material 1).

Distribution.

Alps from "Alpes Maritimes" in Southeastern France to Switzerland, Northern Italy and southern Germany (Fig. 3); Apennines; Balkans (Greece, Macedonia). The species is expected to also occur in the western Austrian alps. One mention from Albania ( Warncke 1973) in fact refers to A. ruficrus .

Phenology.

Andrena montana has only one generation per year from mid-June to August (Fig. 6).

Habitat.

Andrena montana has been found from 1500 m to 2750m (Fig. 6) and is more often observed above the tree line than any other Alpine species of the bicolor-group. Pollen-collecting females were observed in flower-rich alpine grasslands (Fig. 10). A few males were observed to patrol on areas with bare soil sparsely covered by vegetation; the soil was not particularly sandy but rather made of gravel mixed with sand and clay.

Pollen host preferences.

Andrena montana collected the pollen on 12 plant families (Table 3). Flowers of the Campanulaceae , Helianthemum ( Cistaceae ) and Caryophyllaceae were the most important pollen hosts (Fig. 13); their pollen contributed 73.4% to the total pollen volume, whereas the pollen of all other taxa was represented by less than 10% each.