Abstract
The aequata-group of the subgenus Eucera s. str. Scopoli from the Eastern Mediterranean region, Bulgaria, and Iran is described, and the three species included are revised. The little-known E. aequata Vachal 1907 known from Turkey, Cyprus, Syria and Israel, is redescribed and a Lectotype is designated. Two species are described as new: E. dafnii sp. nov. from Iran, Israel, Syria, Turkey, Bulgaria, and Greece, and E. wattsi sp. nov. from Israel and Lebanon. An identification key is provided, and natural history information including assessment of preferred pollen host plants is presented.
References
Dorchin, A., López-Uribe, M.M., Praz, C.J., Griswold, T. & Danforth, B.N. (2018a) Phylogeny, new generic-level classification, and historical biogeography of the Eucera complex (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 119, 81–92.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2017.10.007
Dorchin, A., Dafni, A., Izhaki, I., Sapir, Y. & Vereecken, N.J. (2018b) Patterns and drivers of wild bee community assembly in a Mediterranean IUCN important plant area. Biodiversity and Conservation, 27, 695–717.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-017-1459-9
Kuhlmann, M., Ascher, J.S., Dathe, H.H., Ebmer, A.W., Hartmann, P., Michez, D., Müller, A., Patiny, S., Pauly, A., Praz, C., Rasmont, P., Risch, S., Scheuchl, E., Schwarz, M., Terzo, M., Williams, P.H., Amiet, F., Baldock, D., Berg, Ø., Bogusch, P., Calabuig, I., Cederberg, B., Gogala, A., Gusenleitner, F., Josan, Z., Madsen, H.B., Nilsson, A., Ødegaard, F., Ortiz-Sanchez, J., Paukkunen, J., Pawlikowski, T., Quaranta, M., Roberts, S.P.M., Sáropataki, M., Schwenninger, H.-R., Smit, J., Söderman, G. & Tomozei, B. (2018) Checklist of the Western Palaearctic Bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila). Available from: http://westpalbees.myspecies.info (accessed 1 December 2018)
Malavasi, M., Santoro, R., Cutini, M., Acosta, A.T.R. & Laura Carranza, M. (2016) The impact of human pressure on landscape patterns and plant species richness in Mediterranean coastal dunes. Plant Biosystems, 150, 73–82.
https://doi.org/10.1080/11263504.2014.913730
Michener, C.D. (2007) The bees of the world. 2nd Edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp. Available from: http://base.dnsgb.com.ua/files/book/Agriculture/Beekeeping/Thep-Bees-of-the-World.pdf (Accessed 8 Aug. 2019)
Müller, A. & Kuhlmann, M. (2008) Pollen hosts of western Palaearctic bees of the genus Colletes (Hymenoptera: Colletidae): the Asteraceae paradox. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 95, 719–733.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8312.2008.01113.x
Neji, M., Moncef Serbaji, M., Hardy, O. & Chaieb, M. (2018) Floristic diversity and vegetation patterns along disturbance gradient in arid coasts in southern Mediterranean: Case of the Gulf of Gabès, southern Tunisia. Arid Land Research and Management, 32, 291–315.
https://doi.org/10.1080/15324982.2018.1431332
Pasta, S., Garfì, G., Carimi, F. & Marcenò, C. (2017) Human disturbance, habitat degradation and niche shift: the case of the endemic Calendula maritima Guss. (W Sicily, Italy). Rendiconti Lincei, 28, 415–424.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12210-017-0611-5
Pisanty, G., Scheuchl, E. & Dorchin, N. (2018) Taxonomic review of the subgenus Andrena (Poecilandrena) (Hymenoptera: Andrenidae) in Israel and the Levant. Zootaxa, 4374 (2), 151–188.
https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4374.2.1
Rasmussen, C. (2012) Joseph Vachal (1838–1911): French entomologist and politician. Zootaxa, 3442, 1–52. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268383578 (Accessed 8 Aug. 2019)
Sedivy, C., Dorn, S., Widmer, A. & Müller, A. (2013) Host range evolution in a selected clade of osmiine bees: the Boraginaceae-Fabaceae paradox. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 108, 35–54.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8312.2012.02013.x
Vachal, J. (1907) Quelques Eucera nouvelles ou peu connue du contour de la Mediterranée (Hym.). Annales de la Société entomologique de France, 76, 371–378.
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/8188
Watts, S., Sapir, Y., Segal, B. & Dafni, A. (2013) The endangered Iris atropurpurea (Iridaceae) in Israel: honey bees, night-sheltering male bees and female solitary bees as pollinators. Annals of Botany, 111, 395–407.
https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcs292
Westrich, P. (1989) Die Wildbienen Baden-Württembergs: Spezieller Teil. Eugen Ulmer GmbH & Co., Stuttgart, pp. 437–972.