Osmia (Helicosmia) inflatipes Müller & Wood, 2025, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Müller, Andreas
name: Wood, Thomas J.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Megachilidae
Osmia
Osmia inflatipes

description: Osmia (Helicosmia) inflatipes sp. nov.
Holotype. GREECE: Thessaly: Platania / Volos, 9.4.2005, ♂ (leg. K. Standfuss). Holotype deposited in the Entomological Collection of ETH Zurich.
Diagnosis. Osmia inflatipes belongs morphologically to the group around Osmia (Helicosmia) leaiana (Kirby, 1802), as shown by the following combination of characters in the male sex (Fig. 40): i) lower half of basal area of propodeum polished and almost without shagreenation; ii) marginal zones of terga 1–2 with narrow unpunctured zone along tergal margins; iii) tergum 6 laterally angular but without tooth or projecting edge, resulting in a more or less straight connection between lateral corner and median part of tergal margin; iv) sternum 4 medioapically rounded, its preapical zone with rather dense and half erect to almost appressed yellowish pilosity; and v) gonoforceps apically weakly curved inwards, its inner side only slightly concave (Fig. 43). The males of Osmia inflatipes (Fig. 40) differ from the group around O. leaiana and all other European and North African Osmia (Helicosmia) species by the unusual shape and proportions of the leg segments, which is illustrated by the following characters: i) femur and tibia of hind leg strongly inflated with the femur being only about 1.75× and the tibia about 2× as long as maximally wide (Fig. 41); ii) basitarsus of fore leg only about 2×, of middle leg about 2.25× and of hind leg about 2.5× as long as maximally wide (Fig. 42); and iii) distance between base of tibia and apex of tarsal segment 5 (including claws) of hind leg shorter than metasoma. The female of O. inflatipes is unknown.
Description. MALE (Fig. 40): Body length 9 mm. Head: Head 0.93× as long as wide. Distance between posterior margin of lateral ocellus and preoccipital margin 1.8× as long as ocellar diameter. Maximum width of genal area 0.9× as long as maximum width of compound eye. Second segment of labial palpus 2.1× as long as first segment and 0.75× as long as compound eye. Mandible two-toothed and black. Apical margin of clypeus weakly rounded except for narrow median part, which is very shallowly emarginate and medially provided with almost imperceivable minute tooth. Frons, paraocular area, supraclypeal area, clypeus and hypostomal area covered with dense and predominantly erect to semierect pilosity, which is white on lower and yellowish on upper half of face. Punctation of frons very dense with only linear interspaces. Antenna dark brown to black. Antennal segment 3 0.85× as long as wide and 0.75× as long as segment 4; segments 4–12 slightly longer than wide and segment 13 1.6× as long as wide. Ventral side of antennal segments 6–12 slightly convex. Mesosoma: Parapsidal punctiform. Punctation of scutum, scutellum and mesepisternum very dense with only linear interspaces, punctures slightly larger than those on frons. Basal area of propodeum in upper half with narrow zone that is longitudinally carinate and not separated by distinct transverse carina from adjacent lower half, which is polished and unpunctured. Posterior surface of propodeum adjacent to basal area densely punctured with predominantly polished interspaces. Tegula dark brown. Scutum, scutellum and mesepisternum covered with long and erect pilosity, which is yellowish except for hairs on lower half of mesepisternum, which are white. Tibial spur of fore leg yellowish, its apex extended into long and well stepped tip, which is more than 2× as long as basally wide. Tibial spurs of middle and hind leg brown, long, slender and almost straight. Femur and tibia of hind leg strongly inflated with femur being about 1.75× and tibia about 2× as long as maximally wide (Fig. 41). Basitarsus of fore leg about 2×, of middle leg about 2.25× and of hind leg about 2.5× as long as maximally wide (Fig. 42). Distance between base of tibia and apex of tarsal segment 5 (including claws) of hind leg shorter than metasoma. Pilosity on inner side of basitarsus of hind leg yellowish-brown. Veins of fore and hind wing brown to dark brown. Stigma of fore wing brown in centre and dark brown along margins. Metasoma: Punctation of tergal discs moderately dense with interspaces varying in size between diameter of half a puncture or less on lateral tergal sides and diameter of up to two or three punctures on median parts of terga 2–4, punctures slightly smaller than those on scutum. Marginal zones of terga 1–5 polished and largely unpunctured. Terga 3–5 with loose yellowish hair bands, which do not hide cuticular surface and reach apical margin on tergum 3 or slightly surpass apical margin on terga 4–5. Tergum 6 mediopreapically weakly impressed and laterally angular but not protruding, its apical margin medially with small half-elliptical incision. Apical margin of tergum 7 evenly rounded and medially with semicircular incision, whose inner margin is rather densely beset with yellowish hairs (Fig. 43). Sternum 1 weakly convex, its apical margin straight and ciliated with short whitish hairs. Sternum 2 mediopreapically weakly swollen, its apical margin evenly rounded and medially very slightly impressed. Sternum 3 with deep triangular incision, which is lined with yellowish hairs that are directed inwards and do not reach apical tergal margin; maximal width of incision about half as wide as horizontal sternal width. Sternum 4 medioapically rounded, its preapical zone with rather dense and semierect to almost appressed yellowish pilosity, which covers almost half of horizontal sternal width. Apical margin of sternum 5 almost straight and ciliated with short whitish hairs. Genitalia as in Fig. 43.
Distribution. Eastern Thessaly in Greece.
Etymology. The species epithet refers to the diagnostic character of the male, i.e. the inflated femur and tibia of the hind legs (lat. “inflatus” = inflated, lat. “pes” = foot).
description: Published as part of Müller, Andreas & Wood, Thomas J., 2025, Still undescribed bees in Europe-description of nine new European osmiine bee species (Hymenoptera, Megachilidae), pp. 83-102 in Zootaxa 5631 (1) on pages 100-101, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5631.1.3, http://zenodo.org/record/15326665