Andrena tehranica WOOD, 2024, spec. nov.
Creators: name: WOOD, T. J.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Andrenidae
Andrena
Andrena tehranica

description: Andrena (incertae sedis) tehranica spec. nov.
Figures 83A–C; E; 84A–D.
HOLOTYPE: IRAN: Tehran province [actually Mazandaran province], 6 km N Gačsar [Gachsar, inferred 36.1875 oN, 51.3072 oE, inferred altitude c. 2200 m], 29.v–1.vi.2002, ♂, leg. J. Prochazka, OÖLM.
Description: Female: Unknown.
Male: Body length 7 mm (Figure 83A). Head: Dark, 1.1 times wider than long (Figure 83C). Clypeus weakly domed, more or less flattened over majority of area medially; surface irregularly punctate, laterally punctures separated by 1 puncture diameter, medially becoming sparser, here separated by 2–4 puncture diameters, underlying surface smooth and shining. Process of labrum rounded rectangular, 2 times wider than long, apical margin slightly impressed. Mouthparts with labial and maxillary palpi elongate, maxillary palpi with six segments, labial palpi with four segments. Gena broad, 2 times width of compound eye, posterior margin produced into strong carina in dorsal half, carina extending to upper margin of compound eye, thus head strongly angular in dorsal view (Figure 83E); ocelloccipital distance equal to diameter of lateral ocellus. Face, gena, vertex, and scape covered in dark black hairs, longest equalling length of scape. Antennae dark, A3 equalling A4+5, A4 subquadrate, slightly shorter than broad, A5–13 rectangular longer than wide (Figure 83B).
Mesosoma: Scutum and scutellum uniformly covered in granular shagreen, weakly shining, surface with large, irregular, hair-bearing punctures, punctures separated by 1–3 puncture diameters (Figure 84A). Pronotum with strong humeral angle. Mesepisternum with granular shagreen, weakly shining, shagreen overlain by weakly raised irregular reticulation. Propodeum uniformly covered with fine granular shagreen, dull to weakly shining; propodeal triangle obscure, almost undifferentiated from dorsolateral parts of propodeum, with weak short rugae basally (Figure 84B). Mesepisternum and propodeum with long black hairs and occasional scattered white hairs, clearly exceeding length of scape; scutum and scutellum with shorter black and scattered white hairs. Legs dark, pubescence black to dark brown, with sparse fringe of white hairs on ventral margin of hind tibiae. Hind tarsal claws with inner tooth. Wings hyaline, stigma and venation dark orange-brown, nervulus strongly antefurcal.
Metasoma: Terga dark, marginal areas obscurely lightened hyaline-brown apically; tergal discs finely microreticulate, weakly shining, obscurely punctured, punctures separated by 2–3 puncture diameters (Figure 84C). Tergal discs with scattered short light to dark brown hair, not forming apical hairbands. T6–7 with long dark brown hairs overlying pygidial plate of T7. S8 columnar, apex slightly broadened, rounded; ventral surface with lateral fan of brown hairs. Genital capsule slightly elongate, gonocoxae produced into apically rounded teeth, gonostyli apically broadened and flattened, inner margin distinctly upturned (Figure 84D). Penis valves moderately broad, occupying half space between gonostyli, narrowing and strongly constricted subapically.
Diagnosis. Andrena tehranica can be recognised as part of the currently undescribed subgenus best referred to as the crocusella -group of species (Pisanty et al. 2022a;b) due to the head with broadened gena (clearly broader than the width of the compound eye), the elongate and falciform mandibles (clearly crossing apically), labial palpi elongate, propodeum with extensive fine granular reticulation (Figure 84B), with the propodeal triangle barely indicated, oviform metasoma, and genital capsule with the penis valves relatively broad (though importantly lacking lateral projections, Figure 84D).
Ten species are currently known in this group (Pisanty et al. 2022a), four of which (A. karia Wood, 2021, A. krausiella Gusenleitner, 1998, A. menahemella Scheuchl & Pisanty, 2016, and A. sibthorpi Mavromoustakis, 1952) have red-marked terga. Within the remaining species with dark terga, A. tehranica can immediately be placed near to A. hyacinthina Mavromoustakis, 1958 because the penis valves lack conspicuous lateral pointed projections, the maxillary and labial palpi have six and four segments, respectively, and the gena is conspicuously carinate posteriorly, this carination extending to the upper margin of the compound eye so that in dorsal view the head has an extremely unusual angular form (Figures 82E–F); in the males of all other species, the gena is posteriorly rounded. Andrena tehranica can be separated due to its relatively more elongate face (only 1.1 times wider than long compared to 1.2 times wider than long in A. hyacinthina), the inner margins of the compound eyes which are more or less parallel and only very weakly diverge ventrally (Figure 83C; in A. hyacinthina with the inner margins of the compound eyes strongly diverging ventrally, Figure 83D), the smaller body size (7 mm vs 9–10 mm in A. hyacinthina), the darker body pubescence which is predominantly black with scattered white hairs on the scutum, scutellum, and the ventral margin of the hind tibiae (Figure 83E; in A. hyacinthina with pubescence predominantly pale, whitish to light brownish, with only a few scattered dark hairs on the frons, Figure 83F), and the most strongly antefurcal nervulus (nervulus weakly antefurcal in A. hyacinthina). There are essentially no differences in the genital capsule, with both species lacking lateral pointed projections on the penis valves. The two species are currently not known to occur in sympatry, as A. hyacinthina is currently known only from Cyprus, the Levant, and southern Turkey, and has not been found further east than 36 oE (roughly Gaziantep in southern Turkey; Gusenleitner & Schwarz 2002).
Etymology. Taken from the capital city of Iran, near to which this specimen was captured.
Distribution. Northern Iran (province of Mazandaran) in the Elburz mountains. Andrena hyacinthina is a specialist of Bellevalia (formerly Hyacinthus; Asparagaceae), and searches for A. tehranica should be made on similar plant species.
description: Published as part of WOOD, T. J., 2024, Further revisions to the Palaearctic Andrena fauna (Hymenoptera: Andrenidae), pp. 1-150 in Zootaxa 5483 (1) on pages 139-142, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5483.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/13209307