Revision of the leachella group of Megachile subgenus Eutricharaea in the Western Palaearctic (Hymenoptera, Apoidea, Megachilidae): A renewed plea for DNA barcoding type material Author Praz, Christophe J. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2649-3141 University of Neuchatel, Neuchatel, Switzerland & InfoFauna - Swiss Zoological Records Center, Neuchatel, Switzerland christophe.praz@unine.ch Author Benon, Dimitri University of Neuchatel, Neuchatel, Switzerland text Journal of Hymenoptera Research 2023 2023-02-17 95 143 198 http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/jhr.95.96796 journal article http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/jhr.95.96796 1314-2607-95-143 0AD4F90A9A41492D84C3C0AA1B8C275B DE2EC0A557FC5F3D9AD2D4435824AA7B Megachile anatolica Rebmann, 1968 Figs 7-14 Megachile anatolica Rebmann, 1968: 37, ♂ nec ♀, "Mut [Turkey, approx. 36.64°N , 33.44°E ]". Holotype ♂ (SMFD). Material examined. Type material. Holotype ♂ (SMFD) of M. anatolica (Fig. 11 ); one paratype ♀ (SMFD) examined is probably a female of M. inexspectata . Other material. 104 specimens from the following countries: Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Iran, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon , Turkey (Suppl. material 1) . Distribution. From Italy eastwards through the Levant including Lebanon, Turkey, Israel northwest of the Dead Sea, Iran; distribution in Central Asia remains to be established due to unclear relationship with M. viridicollis . Geographic variation. The species varies in the colour of the vestiture as well as in body size and in the length of the OOD. In Italy, Greece, Cyprus and western Turkey, the scopa is white (black on S6) and the OOD is large (Fig. 9 ). In the Levant the species presumably intergrades with M. leucostoma ; populations in northern Israel and northern Jordan have the scopa nearly entirely orange, as observed in eastern populations of M. leucostoma (see Praz et al. 2021 ). Moreover, the length of the OOD shows clinal variation from northern Israel (condition as in typical M. anatolica ) to Southern Israel (condition as in typical M. leucostoma ); specimens from Central Israel are intermediate ( Soltani et al. 2017 : Fig. 6 ). In Iran, the scopa is white (black on S6), but specimens are smaller and the OOD short, as in M. leachella or M. pusilla . While in some Iranian populations the clypeus margin is denticulate, as in typical M. anatolica (Fig. 10 ), in other populations (e.g., in the region of Teheran), the clypeus is as in M. pusilla (cf. Fig. 64 ), making these populations superficially identical to M. pusilla , albeit genetically closer to M. anatolica. Whether the variation observed in Iran is the result of introgression with M. leucostoma , which has not been reported in Iran but is present on the Arabian Peninsula, e.g., in the United Arab Emirates, remains to be established. Note. The relationship between M. anatolica and the Central Asian species M. viridicollis is not clear; these two taxa may eventually be treated as conspecific, in which case M. anatolica would be placed in synonymy with M. viridicollis ; see under M. viridicollis . Figures 7-14. Megachile anatolica 7 female metasoma 8 female metasomal tergum 4 9 female vertex 10 apex of female clypeus 11 dorsal view of head of holotype male 12 front view of male head with distinct tooth behind mandibular base 13 male metasomal sterna 3-5 14 male genitalia. Megachile argentata (Fabricius, 1793) Figs 1 - 3 , 15-24