Hoplitis (Anthocopa) perezi

Hoplitis (Anthocopa) perezi (Ferton, 1894) Fig. 1 Osmia perezi Ferton, 1894: 207, ♀ (type locality: “ Miramas ” [France], according to the lectotype designation by Tkalců 1969: 330), lectotype, ♀, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France. Osmia papaveris convolvuli Ducke, 1899: 214, ♀ ♂ (type locality: “ Triest ” [Italy], “ Fiume ” [Croatia], “ Sicilien ” [Italy], “ Spanien ” [Spain]), syntypes, ♀♀, ♂♂, Natural History Museum, Vienna, Austria and other collections not indicated. Synonymized by Tkalců 1969: 330. Material examined (new records). Russia. • Astrakhan Province: 8 km SE Promyslovka, 45°40'23"N, 47°14'26"E, 21.V.2019, 1 ♀, leg. M. Proshchalykin, V. Loktionov [FSCV]. • Krasnodar Territory: Temryuk District, Taman Peninsula, vicinity of Priazovskiy, 25.VI.2012, 1 ♀, leg. I. Popov [CAFK]. • Crimea: Tarkhankut Peninsula, Kipchak Bay, 28.V.2004, 1 ♂, leg. S. Ivanov [CFUS]; • ibid., 23.VI.2007, 1 ♀, leg. A. Fateryga [CFUS]; • ibid., 27.VI.2007, 1 ♀, at nest, leg. A. Fateryga [CAFK]; • ibid., 1.VI.2012, 1 ♂, leg. V. Zhidkov [CFUS]; • ibid., 14.VI.2012, 1 ♂, leg. V. Zhidkov [CFUS]; • ibid., 12.VI.2013, 1 ♀, leg. V. Zhidkov [CFUS]; • ibid., 26–27.VI.2013, 1 ♀, leg. V. Zhidkov [CFUS]; • ibid., 14.VI.2014, 1 ♀, leg. V. Zhidkov [CFUS]; • Tarkhankut Peninsula, Bolshoy Kastel Bay, 31.V.2014, 1 ♀, leg. V. Zhidkov [CFUS]; • ibid., 31.V.2014, 1 ♂, leg. V. Zhidkov [CAFK]; • Adym-Chokrak Valley, 9.VII.2011, 1 ♂, leg. V. Zhidkov [CFUS]; • Yalta, 21.VI.1999, 1 ♂, leg. S. Ivanov [CFUS]; • ibid., 17.VII.2004, 1 ♀, leg. A. Fateryga [CFUS]; • Yalta, Seaport, 8.VI.2011, 1 ♂, on Malva sylvestris, 1 ♂, on Convolvulus arvensis, leg. A. Fateryga [CFUS]; • Yalta, Sovetskoye, 5.VI.2010, 1 ♀, 1 ♂, leg. S. Ivanov [CFUS]; • ibid., 6.VI.2010, 1 ♂, on Echium vulgare, leg. S. Ivanov [CFUS]; • Yalta Reserve, below Mt. Aypetri, 6.VI.2010, 2 ♂, leg. V. Zhidkov [CFUS]; • Mt. Demerdzhi, Angarskiy Pass, 15.VI.2002, 1 ♂, leg. S. Ivanov [CFUS]; • Kanaka Valley, 27–28.V.2000, 2 ♀, leg. S. Ivanov [CFUS]; • Karadag Reserve, 24.V.2000, 1 ♀, leg. Yu. Budashkin [CFUS]; • ibid., 20–21.VI.2004, 1 ♀, leg. Yu. Budashkin [CFUS]; • ibid., 15.VI.2008, 1 ♀, leg. V. Zhidkov [CFUS]; • Opuk Reserve, 1.VI.2002, 1 ♂, leg. S. Ivanov [CFUS]. Distribution. Russia: European part (* South, North Caucasus, * Crimea). – Western, Southern, and Eastern Europe, Northern Africa, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Israel, Iran, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan. Remarks. All previous reports of Hoplitis papaveris (Latreille, 1799) from Crimea (Fateryga et al. 2018 and references therein; Fateryga and Ivanov 2023), as well as the report from the south of European Russia (Fateryga and Proshchalykin 2020), were based on a misidentification of H. perezi. Therefore, H. papaveris should be excluded from the fauna of these regions. Hoplitis perezi is confined in Crimea to open landscapes with a steppe vegetation (Fig. 1 A). Females nest in the ground, on horizontal surfaces. The nest hole and its entrance are lined with fragments of petals of Convolvulus cantabrica L. (Convolvulaceae) (Fig. 1 C, D). Females use flowers of the same plant species as the source of pollen and nectar (Fig. 1 B). Following nest construction, the female dismantles the entrance collar of petals and fills the nest entrance with earth. Females of H. perezi often use abandoned nest holes of other hymenopterans for nesting, e. g., burrows of Tropidodynerus interruptus (Brullé, 1832) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) (Fateryga 2009, the bee reported as H. papaveris) or even entrance turrets of Paragymnomerus signaticollis tauricus (Kostylev, 1940) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) (Fateryga 2018, the bee also reported as H. papaveris). In the latter case, the nest entrance of H. perezi can be situated aboveground (Fig. 1 E). According to the previously published data on the biology of this species, mainly from France and Italy (Ferton 1894, 1895, 1897, 1901; Ducke 1899, 1900; Benoist 1931; Müller 2024), females of H. perezi excavate burrows in hard and generally horizontal soil (ca. 2–3 cm deep) and construct 1–3 linearly arranged cells entirely built of several layers of petals of Convolvulus spp., particularly C. cantabrica; petals are also used to build partitions between adjacent cells and to line the entrance burrow. Thus, we confirm the close relationship of H. perezi with flowers of C. cantabrica but cannot confirm that the nest burrow is excavated. At least in Crimea, this species is confirmed to use pre-existing burrows, at least in some cases.