Sphecodes alternatus Smith, 1853

Bogusch, Petr & Straka, Jakub, 2012, Review and identification of the cuckoo bees of central Europe (Hymenoptera: Halictidae: Sphecodes), Zootaxa 3311, pp. 1-41 : 8

Sphecodes alternatus Smith, 1853

Descibed as: Sphecodes alternatus Smith, 1853: 36 .

Synonyms: Sphecodes gibbus var. similis subvar. scariosus Sichel, 1865: 444.

Sphecodes punctiventris Hagens, 1882: 219 .

Sphecodes gracilior Morawitz, 1894: 78 .

Sphecodes antigae Tournier, 1901: 258 –260.

Sphecodes reticulatus var. algeriensis Alfken, 1914: 195 . Sphecodes alternatus lindbergi Pittioni, 1950: 61 –62. Subspecies: S. a. gracilior Morawitz, 1894: 78 .

S. a. algeriensis Alfken, 1914: 195.

Distribution. South of Europe, reaching central Europe to Switzerland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Ukraine, in the east through Turkey to Turkestan, present also in North Africa ( Warncke 1992, Amiet et al. 1999).

Biology. Species of warm sites, especially sand dunes; quite common in various warm biotopes in southern Europe. In central Europe it is rare. Abundant in extensive sandy sites such as military training areas or larger sand quarries. Hosts unconfirmed. It was observed in association with Halictus compressus (Walckener) in Hungary (own observations); H. langobardicus Blüthgen is another likely host. Blüthgen (1934) recorded H. patellatus F. Morawitz as the likely host.