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

description: Andrena (Avandrena) melacanoides spec. nov.
Figures 9A–F; 10A–F.
HOLOTYPE: SPAIN: Cádiz, Parque Natural Los Alcornocales, Las Algamitas, Finca Murtas, 36.3273 oN, - 5.5986 oW, 18.iii.2023, ♀, leg. T.J. Wood, OÖLM (BOLD accession number WPATW986-23).
PARATYPES: SPAIN: same information as holotype, 2♂, 1♀, OÖLM/ TJWC; Cádiz, Parque Natural Los Alcornocales, Las Algamitas, immediately north, 18.iii.2023, 1♂, leg. T.J. Wood, TJWC; Cádiz, Tarifa, 1 km N, grazing fields, 19.iii.2023, 4♂, 6♀, leg. T.J. Wood, OÖLM/ TJWC; Loja, Charco del negro (Granada), 9.v.1989, 1♂, leg. A. Jiménez, TJWC.
Description. Female. Body length: 7.5– 8 mm (Figure 9A). Head: Dark, 1.4 times wider than long (Figure 9B). Clypeus very weakly domed, more or less flattened, densely and shallowly punctate, punctures separated by 0.5–1 puncture diameters, underlying surface shagreened and weakly shining. Process of labrum rounded rectangular, 3–4 times broader than long, anterior margin straight to weakly emarginate. Gena slightly exceeding width of compound eye; ocelloccipital distance equalling diameter of lateral ocellus. Foveae dorsally occupying ⅔ of space between compound eye and lateral ocellus, ventrally slightly narrowing, reaching upper level of antennal insertions; foveae filled with dark brown to black hairs. Face and scape medially covered with pale whitish plumose hairs, becoming intermixed with black hairs laterally, on frons, and along inner margins of compound eyes. Gena ventrally with predominantly pale hairs, becoming predominantly black dorsolaterally, vertex with long black to light brown hairs, hairs clearly exceeding length of scape. Antennae basally dark, A5–12 ventrally lightened by presence of grey scales; A3 exceeding A4+5, shorter than A4+5+6.
Mesosoma: Scutum and scutellum finely shagreened, weakly shining, with very slight hints of metallic greasy purple reflections (Figure 9D) laterally; surface irregularly punctate, punctures separated by 1–3 puncture diameters. Pronotum rounded, surface with granular shagreen, weakly shining (Figure 9C). Mesepisternum and dorsolateral parts of propodeum with fine granular reticulation, weakly shining, surface almost smooth; propodeal triangle weakly differentiated, laterally delineated by weakly differentiated rim, internal surface very slightly depressed, with granular reticulation matching remaining parts of propodeum, hence blending together (Figure 9E). Mesepisternum with pubescence variable, typically with long plumose pale whitish hairs, with intermixed black plumose hairs, black hairs typically representing <30% of hairs but sometimes up to 60%, hairs exceeding scape in length. Scutum and scutellum with shorter intermixed plumose light brown and black hairs. Propodeal corbicula incomplete, corbicular fringe composed of long light brown plumose hairs with occasional intermixed black hairs, internal surface with abundant simple light brown hairs. Legs dark, apical tarsal segments lightened dark brown, pubescence light brown. Flocculus complete, strongly produced, composed of whitish hairs; femoral and tibial scopae composed of simple hairs, predominantly whitish, dorsal fringe of tibial scopae becoming darker brown. Hind tarsal claws with inner tooth. Wings hyaline, stigma and venation dark orange, nervulus weakly antefurcal.
Metasoma: Tergal discs dark, apical rims narrowly lightened hyaline-brown (Figure 9F). Terga very weakly shagreened, shining; surface with scattered hair-bearing punctures, punctures separated by 3–4 puncture diameters. Tergal discs with long upstanding pale hairs, longest on T1, becoming shorter on subsequent terga, T2–4 with very weak apical hairbands, not obscuring underlying surface. Apical fringe of T5 and hairs flanking pygidial plate dark brown. Pygidial plate rounded triangular, lateral margin impunctate and dull, medially with dense granular reticulation, weakly shining.
Male. Body length: 7–7.5 mm (Figure 10A). Head: Dark, 1.4 times wider than long (Figure 10B). Clypeus weakly domed, densely and shallowly punctate, punctures separated by 0.5–1 puncture diameters, underlying surface shagreened and dull to weakly shining. Process of labrum rounded trapezoidal, 2 times wider than long, anterior margin weakly emarginate. Gena exceeding width of compound eye; ocelloccipital distance 1.5 times diameter of lateral ocellus. Face and scape medially covered with long white plumose hairs, becoming intermixed with black hairs laterally, on frons, and along inner margins of compound eyes. Gena ventrally with predominantly white hairs, becoming predominantly black dorsolaterally, vertex with long black to white hairs, hairs clearly exceeding length of scape. Antennae basally dark, A5–13 ventrally lightened by presence of grey scales; A3 slightly exceeding A4+5, clearly shorter than A4+5+6.
Mesosoma: Scutum and scutellum with dense granular shagreen, dull, becoming slightly weaker medially, here weakly shining; surface weakly and obscurely punctate, punctures separated by 1–3 puncture diameters (Figure 10C). Pronotum rounded. Mesepisternum and propodeum structurally as in female (Figure 10D). Mesepisternum with very long white plumose hairs, with occasional scattered shorter black hairs. Scutum and scutellum with long white plumose hairs, with shorter black plumose hairs intermixed, particularly on scutellum. Legs dark, apical tarsal segments lightened dark brown, pubescence white. Hind tarsal claws with inner tooth. Wings hyaline, stigma and venation dark orange, nervulus interstitial to antefurcal.
Metasoma: Terga structurally as in female, covered with sparse long whitish hairs, with weak hints of apical hairbands laterally on T2–4 (Figure 10E). T6 laterally with long white plumose hairs, medially and T7 with long dark brown hairs overlying pygidial plate of T7. S8 columnar, ventrally with dense fan of brown hairs, apical process slightly broadened and thickened. Genital capsule slightly elongate, gonocoxae apically produced into long narrow rounded teeth (Figure 10F). Gonostyli strongly broadened and triangular apically, inner margin strongly raised, surface covered with light brown hairs. Penis valves basally slightly broadened, with slight hyaline extensions at level of gonocoxal teeth, occupying ½ space between gonostyli, narrowing apically.
Diagnosis. Andrena melacanoides can be recognised as an Avandrena due to its short and broad head with short and broad foveae; recognition of the spineless Avandrena is always more challenging, since the subgenus is partially defined on the presence of this character, and A. melacanoides lacks spines on the hind face of the hind femorae. It is best diagnosed against the most morphologically similar species which is A. melacana Warncke, 1967 as both species show a propodeum and propodeal triangle with smooth granular reticulation, without any raised reticulation or rugae (contrast A. juliae and A. erodiorum which have the propodeum with conspicuously raised sculpture), intermixed pale and black hairs on the face and mesepisternum, a broad process of the labrum, and facial foveae that occupy ⅔ of the space between the compound eye and lateral ocellus.
Andrena melacanoides was previously reported from southern Spain as A. melacana (Wood & Ortiz-Sánchez 2022; Wood 2023b), but examination of the type series in the ZMHB collection (Figure 11; see Remarks for lectotype designation) shows that the two species cannot be conspecific. True female A. melacana have the pronotum laterally with a conspicuous longitudinal shining impression (Figure 11D), whereas in A. melacanoides females the pronotum is evenly rounded and dull (Figure 10C). More subtly, the fore margin of the clypeus is comparatively more strongly upturned in A. melacana and only very weakly upturned in A. melacanoides, and the shagreenation of the terga of A. melacana is slightly stronger compared to A. melacanoides (Figures 9F and 11F; comparative material required). Based on examined specimens from Spain and North Africa, no intermediate individuals could be found, and the known distributions do not overlap as all Moroccan female specimens show the clear longitudinal ridge on the pronotum. Separation of males is more challenging, as the two species appear to be almost identical. In direct comparison, based on a limited number of specimens, the gonocoxal teeth of A. melaleuca are broader compared to A. melacanoides, and the tergal discs of A. melaleuca are comparatively more strongly shagreened than in A. melacanoides (Figures 10F and 12E–F). Additional specimens are required to establish whether additional characters to differentiate these species can be found.
Remarks. Resolving the name of the comparison species A. melacana is more challenging than it appears. Friese (1922: 216) described A. melaleuca [nec. Pérez, 1895] based on “ ♀ von Algerien und Tunis ”. Friese notes “olim A. obscura 1921”, a name he was using but which he never published. Warncke (1967: 201) correctly recognised that the name A. melaleuca was preoccupied, and created the replacement name A. melacana. Examination of material in the ZMHB and DEI collections produced three potentially syntypic specimens of A. melacana, two females (Figure 11) and one male (Figure 12). A male and female specimen in the ZMHB collection are both marked with labels “ Andrena obscura ” in Friese’s handwriting. However, only the male bears a type label (Figure 12A), whereas the publication of Friese (1922) indicates that the species was described in the female sex only. This failure to mention the male specimen is likely a lapsus by Friese when drafting the paper. In any case, the female in the ZMHB collection is selected as a lectotype, by present designation. The locus typicus is also ambiguous, because labels are marked with a printed “ Tunis merid.”, but Friese has written “Alg” [=Algers] on the side of the label (Figure 11A). It is therefore impossible to establish whether these specimens come from Algeria or Tunisia. For the sake of convenience, it is assumed that they come from Tunisia.
In this context, the specimens reported from southern Spain by Wood & Ortiz-Sánchez (2022) as A. melacana probably all belong to A. melacanoides, though this must be confirmed through re-examination of all specimens. Andrena melacanoides is broadly oligolectic on Geraniaceae, and possibly narrowly oligolectic on Erodium (Wood 2023b, as A. melacana).
Etymology. From the name melacana combined with the suffix -oides, indicating close proximity.
Distribution. Southern Spain (Cádiz and Granada, probably also Albacete and Málaga, see Wood & Ortiz-Sánchez (2022) for additional Spanish specimens reported as A. melacana).
Other material examined (Andrena melacana) ALGERIA: Hammam Bou Hadjar, 1–30.iv.1910, 2♀, leg. O. Schmiedeknecht, SMFD; Hammam Bou Hadjar, 8.iv.1910, 1♂, 1♀, leg. O. Schmiedeknecht, OÖLM; MOROCCO: 20 km N Tafraoute, 1220 m, 14.iv.2017, 1♀, leg. A. Müller, AMC; 12 km E of Ifrane, 9.v.1997, 1♀, leg. J. Halada, OÖLM; TUNISIA: Tunis merid., 1♂, 1♀, ZMHB (female lectotype, by present designation); Tunis merid., 1♀, DEI (syntype); Tunis, 2♀, leg. O. Schmiedeknecht, OÖLM; Tunis, 6.iv.1927, 1♀, leg. R. Meyer, OÖLM; Gov. Monastir, Skanes, 5 m, 1.iv.2018, 1♀, leg. H. Zettel, TJWC; 10 km NE Testour, 25.iii.1976, 1♀, leg. P. Robinson, OÖLM.
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 17-21, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5483.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/13209307