Reprinted with permission of the American Entomological Society from:
LaBerge, W. E. 1977. A revision of the bees of the genus Andrena of the Western Hemisphere. Part VIII. Subgenera Thysandrena, Dasyandrena, Psammandrena, Rhacandrena, Euandrena, Oxyandrena. Transactions of the American Entomological Society 103: 1-144.
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This moderate-sized bee, known only from females, is closely related to medionitens from which it can be distinguished only with some difficulty. The female of taeniata averages slightly larger than that of medionitens, has dark reddish-brown to black hind tarsi and tibiae and has the vestiture in general white rather than ochraceous or yellow. In addition, the clypeus of taeniata is convex without a clearly defined impunctate median area and the mesoscutum and scutellum tend to be dulled by fine tessellation and finely punctate throughout.
FEMALE. MEASUREMENTS AND RATIOS. — N = 20; length, 9-11 mm; width, 3.0-3.5 mm; wing length, M = 3.66 ± 0.160 mm; FL/FW, M = 1059 ± 0.005; FOVL/FOVW, M = 3.38 ± 0.040.
INTEGUMENTAL COLOR. — Black except as follows: mandible with apical half and often base rufescent; flagellum below reddish-brown to dark brown tegula translucent reddish-brown; wing membranes hyaline, veins reddish-brown to dark brown; terga and sterna narrowly hyaline apically; tarsi and hind tibiae dark; tibial spurs pale.
STRUCTURE. — Antennal scape length equals first three flagellar segments or slightly more; flagellar segment 1 slightly longer than segments 2 plus 3, segment 2 slightly shorter than 3 and each shorter than 4, segments 4-9 slightly longer than broad. Eyes each about three and three-fourths times as long as broad, inner margins parallel. Malar space, mandible and galea as in medionitens. Maxillary palpus as in medionitens but segmental ratio about as 1.0:1.0:0.9:0.9:0.6:0.8. Labial palpus as in medionitens but ratio about as 1.0:0.6:0.5:0.5. Labral process bidentate; labrum apical to process convex with extremely weak median crista, surface finely shagreened. Clypeus as in medionitens but median impunctate line extremely narrow or absent. Supraclypeal area as in medionitens. Genal area in profile broader than eye (usually narrower than in medionitens), dulled by fine reticular shagreening and sparse minute punctures. Vertex above lateral ocellus equal to about one ocellar diameter, surface dull, finely tessellate with scattered small punctures. Face above antennal fossae with regular longitudinal rugae which reach lower margins of ocelli and faintly reach into space between lateral ocellus and facial fovea, interrugal spaces punctate. Facial fovea long, shallow, separated from lateral ocellus usually by slightly less than one ocellar diameter (about as 6:8 or 7:8).
Pronotum as in medionitens. Mesoscutum opaque, dulled by dense fine tessellation and small obscure punctures separated mostly by half to one puncture width throughout; scutellum similar but punctures more evident and slightly sparser medially. Propodeum with dorsal enclosure regularly tessellate throughout; dorsal surface outside of enclosure and posterior surface tessellate throughout with sparse, obscure punctures barely discernible; lateral surface coarsely tessellate with sparse piliferous punctures throughout. Mesepisternum evenly tessellate with small shallow punctures separated by one to two puncture widths. Wing venation and vannal 1obe hind wing as in medionitens but vein 1st m-cu usually meets second submarginal cell at or near middle of cell.
Metasomal tergum 1 with disc dulled by reticular shagreening and minute punctures separated mostly by one to two puncture widths; apical area similar but punctures slightly larger and separated mostly by one to two puncture widths or less. Terga 2-4 similar to tergum 1 but punctures of discs and apical areas slightly more crowded. Pygidial plate V-shaped; with blunt or rounded apex (rounded due to wear), without raised internal triangle, coarsely contiguously punctate. Sterna as in medionitens.
VESTITURE. — Generally white except as follows: Facial fovea light brown in upper third; vertex with few brown hairs; terga 2-4 with basal areas with short, erect to suberect, dark brown hairs; terga 5 and 6 ochraceous to brown. Thoracic dorsum with hairs short, erect, dense; terga 2-4 with complete pale apical fasciae (occasionally narrowly interrupted on tergum 2); tergum 1 with short lateral patches of white pubescence apically. Pollen-collecting hairs distributed as in medionitens but trochanteral flocculus weak, incomplete basally (that is, basal half with hairs short, half length of those of apical half of flocculus); propodeal corbiculum with long simple hairs throughout internal area.
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