Anthophora (Caranthophora) iole Bingham 1898

Abstract

3.Anthophora(Caranthophora)ioleBingham, 1898 Anthophora iole Bingham, 1898: 128, ♂ [India: Himachal Pradesh, NHMUK, examined] (Fig. 3). Anthophora albopicta Cockerell, 1917: 288, ♀ [Iran, USNM, examined] (Fig. 4) syn. nov. ? Heliophila unispina Wu, 1982: 417, ♂ [China: Xizang,? IZCAS, not examined]. Material examined. India • 1 ♂; Simla [Shimla]; 1–31 May 1897; C. G. Nurse leg.; NHMUK (holotype) • 2 ♂; Simla [Shimla]; 1–31 Aug. 1898; C. G. Nurse leg.; D. B. Baker det. 1988; NHMUK; Iran • 1 ♀; Kotal Malul, So. Persia [Kotal-e Malu, Fars province, 29.4751°N, 51.4068°E]; 1–28 Feb. 1906; F. Benton leg.; USNM, Type No. 23147 (holotype of Anthophora albopicta); Nepal • 3 ♂; Kathmandu; 15 Apr. 1980; Hohmann leg.; SMNS; Oman • 1 ♀; Dhofar, 13 km N Mirbat, Jb. Samhan [Jabal Samhan]; 4 Sep. 2019; C. Schmid-Egger leg.; CSE • 1 ♂, 1 ♀; Maskat, Al Hajar, Wadi Al Maih; 150 m a. s. l.; 9 Jan. 2025; S. Hopfenmüller leg.; SHPC; United Arab Emirates • 1 ♂; Jebel Hafit / S El Ain; 13 Jan. 2011; C. Schmid-Egger leg.; CSE. Notes. Anthophora iole was described from the Western Himalayas, and nothing seems to have been published on it since that point, other than very brief identification characters and subgeneric classification in Brooks (1988: 470). Examination of Anthophora (Caranthophora) specimens from the eastern Arabian Peninsula, an area from which Caranthophora have never previously been reported, shows that they are surprisingly identical to A. iole. Remarkably, there is no difference in the genital capsule and internal sterna of specimens from the United Arab Emirates and Oman (Fig. 5 A, C, E, G) and specimens from Nepal and India (Fig. 5 B, D, F, H). Whilst the holotype of A. iole lacks its metasoma, one of the key male characters can be seen in the shape of the hind basitarsus which is distinctly flattened medially, almost concave and spoon-like (Fig. 3 D). For characters requiring dissection, most important are the disc of S 7 with the apodeme distinctly elevated and with the anterior margin wavy (almost fish-tailed; Fig. 5 C, D) and the genital capsule with the apical part of the gonocoxa displaying a distinct semi-circular emargination in its outer margin and with the gonocoxa produced into a rounded apex (Fig. 5 E, F). With the unambiguous male characters, populations in Arabia and the Western Himalayas can be considered to be conspecific. But, are specimens known from intermediate locations in Iran and Pakistan? The key to this lies in understanding the morphology of the female of A. iole which displays extensive pale markings on the face; specimens from southern Oman (Fig. 6 A) and northern Oman (Fig. 6 B) show a mixture of yellow and brown markings, but in both cases the pale marking occupied over half the visible surface of the clypeus. This marking was obliquely referred to as “ brown ” by Brooks (1988: 470). There is a slight sculptural difference in that the female from southern Oman (Fig. 6 A) has a longitudinal impunctate strip basomedially, whereas the female from northern Oman lacks such a strip, with the basomedial surface evenly punctate. Since the specimen from northern Oman was captured with a male, and the other male record comes from the nearby United Arab Emirates, the female from northern Oman is considered to be most representative of A. iole. Should male material from southern Oman become available, differences between the northern and southern populations could be investigated further. With the characterisation of the female of A. iole, the identity of a very poorly understood taxon can be clarified, specifically Anthophora albopicta which was described from southern Iran based on a single female specimen (Fig. 4). Cockerell placed it into the subgenus Micranthophora Cockerell, 1906, and highlighted the pale clypeus marking on a “ light ferruginous field ” (Fig. 4 C). He also described the metasoma which is missing from the specimen in its current form: Abdomen broad, hind margins of segments whitish hyaline; whole surface of dorsal segments rather thinly covered with appressed pale hair, not forming bands; apex with a patch of black hair; apical plate very long and narrow. This is clearly consistent with female A. iole, and when combined with the facial marking which matches that seen in the specimen from Oman, A. albopicta can be recognised as a junior synonym of A. iole syn. nov. Brooks (1988: 491) placed A. albopicta into the subgenus Heliophila Klug, 1807, probably because he simply followed Cockerell’s placement and treated Micranthophora as part of Heliophila when it is actually quite distinct (Orr et al. 2018, 2022); it is unclear if he ever examined the holotype specimen of A. albopicta directly. It is challenging to understand precisely where “ Kotal Malul ” is within Iran. Frank Benton (1852–1919) was an American entomologist focusing on honeybees. In early 1906, he travelled from Turkestan (modern Uzbekistan) through Iran to the north-western part of British India (today Pakistan). It is possible to trace some of his stops through catalogues; Galloway (1907) listed plant specimens collected and sent by Benton with the date of receipt, allowing some of his itinerary to be reconstructed: Erivan, Russia [Yerevan, Armenia]; received 26 Jan. 1906. Samarkand [Uzbekistan]; received 22 Jan. – 9 Feb. 1906. Ispahan, Persia [Isfahan, Isfahan Province, Iran]; received 14 Feb. – 2 Apr. 1906. Shiraz, Persia [Shiraz, Fars Province, Iran]; received 2 Apr. 1906. Nizamabad, central Persia [Nezamshahr, Kerman Province, Iran]; received 2 Apr. 1906. Karachi, province of Sind, India [Karachi, Pakistan]; received 16 Apr. 1906. Quetta, Baluchistan [Quetta, Pakistan]; received 16 Apr. 1906. On the basis of the collecting labels of Benton (e. g. Cockerell 1917, with many specimens collected around Quetta in March 1906), the receipt of plant material would seem to trail collection by around 4–6 weeks, which would line up with collection in the province of Fars in February 1906. Searches in Persian texts (Arash Roudbar, pers. comm.) indicates that the original name was Kotal-e Mal’un referring to a steep mountain pass (literally meaning “ cursed pass ” in Persian). This mountain pass (located at 29.4751°N, 51.4068°E) is on what was the main route to the Persian Gulf, and it is likely that Benton visited here in February 1906. On the basis of this Iranian record, A. iole should be present somewhere in Pakistan, but all that can be currently said is that none of the species described by Nurse (1904) match it, and further sampling is required. Finally, it is necessary to discuss the action of Brooks (1988: 566) who synonymised Heliophila unispina under A. iole without providing any additional information or justification. Heliophila unispina was described based on two males from “ Xizang: Gyirong, 2800 m. 20. VII. 1975, Chang Xuezhong ”, this referring to Gyirong around 28.39°N, 85.32°E. Whilst this is extremely close to the border with Nepal and lies around 75 km from Kathmandu, the synonymy of Brooks is questionable. Wu (1982: 417–418) provided a description which, due to the general inaccessibility of this publication, is reproduced here after machine translation from Chinese, with minor stylistic edits: (92) Heliophila unispina, new species (fig. 40). Body length: 10 mm. Mandibles with two teeth; labrum with coarse, shallow punctures; labial base smooth with fine punctures; antennal segment 3 equal to the sum of the following two segments; thorax densely punctured; hind tibiae extended medially into a spiny structure, located between the two spurs, its length being one-quarter to one-fifth of the spur length (fig. 40 b); hind tarsi broad and flattened; T 7 with a tooth-like projection on each side of the distal margin; S 7–8 and genital capsule shown in fig. 40 d, e. Body black, labial base (black on both sides), labrum (with black circular spots on both sides of the base), the base of the mandibles, the sides of the face, the transverse stripe at the base of the maxillae, and the anterior surface of the scape are all light yellow; the apex of the mandibles is reddish-brown; the basal plates and veins of the wings are dark brown; the legs are dark brown; the tarsi are lighter in colour. The body is covered with long white hairs; the sides of the face and around the ocelli are covered with black hairs, mixed with yellowish-white long hairs; the thorax is covered with greyish-white mixed with brown long hairs; the first tergite of the abdomen is covered with sparse greyish-yellow long hairs, the distal margins of tergites 2–5 are banded with white hairs, and T 2–6 are covered with sparse short black hairs; the mid-leg basal tarsus is slender, with black brush-like hairs on the inner side, long hairs on both sides, and long black hairs on the last tarsus (fig. 40 a); the inner hairs of the hind leg basal tarsus are black; the spur is dark brown. This species is similar to Heliophila tibialis (Mor.), but differs in the following ways: (1) antennae extend to the metathorax; (2) the mid-leg basal tarsus is slender with black brush-like hairs on the inner side, and the last tarsus has long black hairs; the hind leg basal tarsus has black hairs on the inner side; the spur is dark brown. Based on the illustrations provided (Wu 1982: 418, fig. 40), it is extremely clear that Heliophila unispina is indeed an Anthophora (Caranthophora) species due to the characteristic morphology of S 7–8 and the genital capsule. However, it is also not possible for A. unispina to be conspecific with A. iole because whilst the apodeme of S 7 is very similar, the genital capsule (fig. 40 f) lacks a semicircular emargination in the outer margin of the apical part of the gonocoxa (e. g. Fig. 5 G, H). The description more closely fits with Anthophora hedini Alfken, 1936 (see next section) due to the colouration of the face and the presence of a spine at the apex of the hind tibia. Specifically, Wu indicates yellow markings on the labrum, lo

Authors 1

1. Thomas James Wood corresponding Aachen Naturalis Biodiversity Center

   Naturalis Biodiversity Center

   Affiliation as printed

   Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Darwinweg 2, 2333 CR, Leiden, The Netherlands