Sphecodes rufiventris ( Panzer, 1798 )

Bogusch, Petr & Straka, Jakub, 2012, Review and identification of the cuckoo bees of central Europe (Hymenoptera: Halictidae: Sphecodes), Zootaxa 3311, pp. 1-41 : 17

Sphecodes rufiventris ( Panzer, 1798)

Described as: Tiphia rufiventris Panzer, 1798: 4 .

Synonyms: Sphecodes subovalis Schenck, 1853: 223 –224. Sphecodes brevis Hagens, 1875: 317 –318.

Sphecodes singularis Meyer, 1920: 130 .

Sphecodes combinatus Blüthgen, 1927: 37 –39.

Sphecodes tadschicus Blüthgen, 1935: 366 .

Sphecodes subovalis austrinus Erlandsson, 1979: 123 . Sphecodes subovalis austrinus var. balcanicus Erlandsson, 1979: 123 . Sphecodes rufiventris hethiticus Warncke, 1992: 28 .

Distribution. Europe up to 57°N, absent from Scandinavia and Britain, in the east the distribution area goes to Ural River, present in North Africa: Morocco, Algeria ( Warncke 1992).

Biology. Species of warmer open or shrubby habitats (forest steppes), common on loess walls. In central Europe quite rare, more abundant only at xerothermes. The only known host is Halictus maculatus , recorded by Stoeckhert (1933) and Blüthgen (1934). We have only observed S. rufiventris in association with this species.