Revisions to the Andrena fauna of north-western Africa with a focus on Morocco (Hymenoptera: Andrenidae)
Author
Wood, Thomas James
University of Mons, Research Institute for Biosciences, Laboratory of Zoology, Place du Parc 20, 7000 Mons, Belgium.
thomasjames.wood@umons.ac.be
text
European Journal of Taxonomy
2023
2023-12-21
916
1
1
85
https://europeanjournaloftaxonomy.eu/index.php/ejt/article/download/2381/10463
journal article
10.5852/ejt.2023.916.2381
2118-9773
10453460
0DC587F6-9DAA-4F6E-BA2A-AD528990BA24
Andrena
(
Taeniandrena
)
poupillieri
Dours, 1872
Andrena
(
Taeniandrena
)
poupillieri
Dours, 1872: 430
,
♀
(
Algeria
: OÖLM).
Andrena
(
Taeniandrena
)
lecerfi
Benoist, 1961: 92
,
♀
(
Morocco
: MNHN;
Fig. 17A–D
).
Syn. nov.
Material examined
(illustrative)
ALGERIA
•
♀
,
neotype
of
A. poupillieri
;
Tizi-Ouzou
,
Tigzirt
;
6 m
a.s.l.
;
31 Mar. 2017
;
H. Ikhlef
leg.;
OÖLM
.
MOROCCO
•
♀
,
holotype
of
A. lecerfi
(
Fig. 17A–D
);
Grand Atlas
,
Tenfecht
(
Takeljount
);
1000–1200 m
a.s.l.
;
28 Apr.–9 Jun. 1927
;
Le Cerf
and
Talbot
leg.;
MNHN
•
10 ♀♀
;
High Atlas
,
5 km
S
of
Tizi-n-Test
(
Marrakech-Taroudant
Rd);
5 Apr. 1983
;
G.R. Else
leg.;
NHMUK
•
2 ♀♀
;
Fès-Meknès
,
Azrou
,
4 km
NW
of
Bou Anguer
;
1900 m
a.s.l.
;
17 May 2022
;
T.J. Wood
leg.;
TJWC
•
4 ♀♀
;
Marrakech-Safi
,
1 km
E
of
Oukaimeden
, steppe;
2500 m
a.s.l.
;
11 Jul. 2022
;
T.J. Wood
leg.;
TJWC
.
SPAIN
•
1 ♂
;
Málaga
,
San Pedro de Alcántara
;
15 Mar. 1986
;
C. v. Achterberg
leg.;
RMNH
•
1 ♀
;
Mallorca
,
Serrel Inca
;
13 Apr. 2021
;
J. Diaz Calafat
leg.;
TJWC
.
TUNISIA
•
1 ♀
;
Sidi Zine
,
SW
of
El Kef
;
28 Apr. 2012
;
C. Sevidy
and
A. Müller
leg.;
AMC
.
Remarks
The subgenus
Taeniandrena
has recently undergone extensive revisions in the West Palaearctic (
Wood
et al
. 2021
;
Praz
et al
. 2022
;
Wood 2023
). Many cryptic taxa that were either undescribed or lumped together under polyphyletic species concepts have now had their status clarified.
Wood (2023)
presented genetic data supporting the existence of a predominantly North African taxon and designated a barcoded
neotype
from
Algeria
to fix the name
A. poupillieri
to this lineage. Examination of material from
Morocco
has shown that this taxon is common and widespread in the Atlas Mountains. Importantly, no evidence has been found to support the presence of
A. ovatula
(
Kirby, 1802
)
sensu stricto
in North Africa.
Andrena lecerfi
(
Fig. 17
) was described from the High Atlas (though the exact locality mentioned on the labels cannot be located) and was treated as
A. ovatula
ssp.
poupillieri
by
Warncke (1967)
. As
Gusenleitner & Schwarz (2002)
used a broad concept of
A. ovatula
,
A. lecerfi
is listed as a simple synonym of that taxon. Since the
holotype
morphologically corresponds to
A. poupillieri
(dark terminal fringe and dark hairs on the basitibial plate, complete apical hairband on T3, comparatively weak punctation on the disc of T2) and it was described from the High Atlas, where only
A. poupillieri
has been found to date (see barcoding results above,
Fig. 4
), it is important to formally recognise it as a synonym of
A. poupillieri
and not
A. ovatula
, the latter taxon considered to be absent from
Morocco
.
Fig. 17.
Andrena
(
Taeniandrena
)
poupillieri
Dours, 1872
(holotype of
Andrena
(
Taeniandrena
)
lecerfi
Benoist, 1961
), ♀ (MNHN).
A
. Label details.
B
. Lateral habitus.
C
. Face, frontal view.
D
. Terga, dorsal view.
Distribution
Morocco
,
Algeria
,
Tunisia
,
Spain
(mainland and
Balearic Islands
) (
Wood 2023
).