Review of the Epeolus julliani species group (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Epeolus Latreille, 1802), with descriptions of two new species

Abstract

The nine species of the Epeolus julliani species group from the Palaearctic region are reviewed. Two new species are described and illustrated: Epeolus rasmonti Astafurova & Proshchalykin, sp. nov. (Russia, Mongolia, China) and E. kyzylkumicus Astafurova, sp. nov. (Central Asia). Epeolus julliani Pérez, 1884 and E. laticauda Bischoff, 1930 are newly recorded from Kazakhstan and E. seraxensis Radoszkowski, 1893 is newly recorded from Kazakhstan and Tajikistan. An identification key for both sexes of all members of this species group is presented.

The genus Epeolus Latreille, 1802 (Hymenoptera, Apidae) in Central Asia

“… Epeolus kyzylkumicus Astafurova in Astafurova and Proshchalykin 2022b : 197, ♀, ♂ (type locality: 10 km SW of Arnasay, Kyzyl-kum, Uzbekistan). …”

“… Popov 1951 : 172 (Tajikistan); Le Divelec 2021 : 16 (Kazakhstan); Astafurova and Proshchalykin 2021c : 11; 2022b : 209 (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan). The record of this species by Morawitz (1875 : 144, 2 ♂) from Tajikistan belongs to E. michailovi Asatfurova & Proshchalykin, 2021.…”

“…The genus Epeolus Latreille, 1802 includes more 120 species spread across much of the globe; they occur throughout the Holarctic region, from the west coast of the United States and from Japan to Europe and North Africa ( Michener 2007 ). A total of 59 species are known from the Americas ( Onuferko 2018 , 2019 ; Onuferko and Sheffield 2022 ) and about 50 from the Palaearctic region, of which 18 species are found in Europe ( Bogusch and Hadrava 2018 ; Bogusch 2018 , 2021 ; Astafurova and Proshchalykin 2021a , 2021b , 2021c , 2022a , 2022b ). Unlike other Epeolini , all Epeolus species are so far known to be cleptoparasites of species of Colletes Latreille, 1802 ( Colletidae ).…”

“… Epeolus transitorius was the first species of the genus described from Central Asia ( Eversmann 1852 ), and eight species have been described since from this area (Astafurova and Proshchalykin – four species; Morawitz – one species; Eversmann – one species; Radoszkowski – one species; Popov – one species), all of them still valid. Sixteen Epeolus species have been recorded from Central Asia so far ( Astafurova and Proshchalykin 2021a , 2021c , 2022a , 2022b ; Ascher and Pickering 2023 ). Based on a comprehensive study of specimens in various collections, we list here 20 species of Epeolus (Table 1 ) and describe as new two species from Central Asia for the first time.…”

New and little-known bees of the genus Colletes Latreille, 1802 (Hymenoptera, Colletidae) from Siberia

“…There are currently about 490 species of bees known from Siberia (Lelej et al 2017), although this is undoubtedly a gross underrepresentation due to sparse sampling that has been done on the fauna, and new records and species are frequently discovered (Byvaltsev et al 2018(Byvaltsev et al , 2021Byvaltsev and Proshchalykin 2019;Proshchalykin and Müller 2019;Sidorov et al 2020;Litman et al 2021;Astafurova and Proshchalykin 2022;Sidorov and Proshchalykin 2022).…”