Osmia (Hemiosmia) difficilis Morawitz, 1875

Boustani, Mira, Rasmont, Pierre, Dathe, Holger H., Ghisbain, Guillaume, Kasparek, Max, Michez, Denis, Müller, Andreas, Pauly, Alain, Risch, Stefan, Straka, Jakub, Terzo, Michael, Achter, Xavier Van, Wood, Thomas J. & Nemer, Nabil, 2021, The bees of Lebanon (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila), Zootaxa 4976 (1), pp. 1-146 : 57-58

Osmia (Hemiosmia) difficilis Morawitz, 1875 ( fig. 19.2 )

Distribution: PALAEARCTIC: Northern and eastern Mediterranean and eastwards to Kyrgyzstan, Russia ( Müller 2020).

Local distribution fig. 13.8

Literature. in Müller (2020) Records from North Lebanon, Bcharre, Dahr El Adib, from 2017, listed with Material Examined below.

Material examined. N. Lebanon: Arz Tannourine, Bifurcation trails 3 and 4, 1798 m, 25.V.2017, 1♂, leg. Boustani M. ; Jord Tannourine, Jabal Al Mnaitra, 2455 m, 28.V.2017, 6♂, leg. Boustani M., Rasmont P.; Jord Tannourine, Jabal Al Mnaitra, 2471 m, 28.V.2017, 4♂, leg. Boustani M.; Arz Tannourine, Trail 4, 1765 m, 22.VI.2017, 1♀, leg. Sader H., Arz Bcharre, Reforestation Area , 2347 m, 27.VI.2017, 1♂, leg. Boustani M. ; Bcharre, Dahr El Adib,

2407 m, 8.VI.2017, 4♀, 5♂, leg. Boustani M.; 2441 m, 8.VI.2017, 2♂, leg. Boustani M.; Fehta, El Biara, 1662 m, 28.VI.2017, 1♀, leg. Boustani M.; Bcharre, Plateau Qornet Es Sawda, 2909 m, 12.VII.2018, 2♀, leg. Boustani M., Jabbour J.; 1.VIII.2018, 2♀, leg. Boustani M.; Arz Tannourine, Trail 4, 1781 m, 1♂, leg. Boustani M.; Bcharre, Plateau Qornet Es Sawda, 2909 m, 30.VII.2019, 1♀, 2♂, leg. Boustani M., all coll. MBOU; Bcharre, Plateau Qornet Es Sawda , 2679 m, 2.VII.2019, 1♂, leg. Gekière A.; Jord Tannourine, 2296 m, 30.VI.2019, 1♀, 2♂, leg. Gekière A., all coll. UMONS; 1♂, leg. Van Achter X.; Bcharre , 1900 m, 24.VII.2019, 1♀, leg. Van Achter X., all coll. XVA .

Flower records. Boraginaceae : Onosma sericea ; Fabaceae : Astragalus angustifolius , Astragalus emarginatus , Astragalus coluteoides , Astragalus cruentiflorus , Astragalus gummifer , Onobrychis cornuta , Vicia canescens , Vicia tenuifolia ; Lamiaceae : Lamium striatum .

Preference for Fabaceae and especially Astragalus flowers also observed by Müller (2020).

Figures

FIGURE 13. Local distribution maps of material examined and literature of 1 Lasioglossum truncaticolle, 2 Lasioglossum villosulum, 3 Heriades truncorum, 4 Hoplitis pallicornis, 5 Osmia aurulenta, 6 Osmia bicornis, 7 Osmia caerulescens, 8 Osmia difficilis, 9 Osmia dimidiata, 10 Osmia distinguenda, 11 Osmia melanogaster, 12 Osmia mustelina, 13 Osmia niveata, 14 Osmia scutellaris, 15 Osmia submicans, 16 Protosmia longiceps.

FIGURE 19. 1 Osmia andrenoides♂, 2 Osmia difficilis♂, 3 Osmia dilaticornis♀, 4 Osmia versicolor♂, 5 Anthidium manicatum♀, 6 Anthidium manicatum♂. All pictures by Pierre Rasmont.