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Andrena thaspii Graenicher, 1903
Andrena delta_homonym Viereck, 1903; Andrena clypeoporaria Viereck, 1904; Andrena indotata_homonym Viereck, 1904; Andrena ribifloris Viereck and Cockerell, 1914; Andrena lewisii Cockerell, 1906; Andrena didelta Viereck, 1908, replacement name; Andrena perindotata Viereck, 1908, replacement name; Andrena paenefulva Viereck and Cockerell, 1914; Andrena (Andrena) azygos Viereck, 1917; Andrena (Andrena) nitidarum Viereck, 1924; Andrena albosellata Cockerell, 1931; Andrena (Bythandrena) gabrielsoni Mitchell, 1960

Life   Insecta   Hymenoptera   Apoidea   Andrenidae   Andrena
Subgenus: Andrena



Andrena thaspii, male, face
Smithsonian Institution, Entomology Department · 9
Andrena thaspii, male, face

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Andrena thaspii, male, genitalia
Smithsonian Institution, Entomology Department · 9
Andrena thaspii, male, genitalia

Andrena thaspii, male, side
Smithsonian Institution, Entomology Department · 9
Andrena thaspii, male, side

Andrena thaspii, male, top
Smithsonian Institution, Entomology Department · 9
Andrena thaspii, male, top

Andrena thaspii, male, wing
Smithsonian Institution, Entomology Department · 9
Andrena thaspii, male, wing

Andrena thaspii FEM CFP
© Copyright Laurence Packer 2014 · 7
Andrena thaspii FEM CFP

Andrena thaspii, f, back, Washington Co., VA
© Copyright source/photographer · 7
Andrena thaspii, f, back, Washington Co., VA

Andrena thaspii, f, face, Washington Co., VA
© Copyright source/photographer · 7
Andrena thaspii, f, face, Washington Co., VA

Andrena thaspii, f, left, Washington Co., VA
© Copyright source/photographer · 7
Andrena thaspii, f, left, Washington Co., VA

Andrena thaspii, m on leaf --
Michael Veit · 6
Andrena thaspii, m on leaf --

Andrena thaspii, male, cheek
© Rebekah Andrus Nelson · 2
Andrena thaspii, male, cheek

Andrena thaspii
Adalbert Goertz · 1
Andrena thaspii

Andrena thaspii, Barcode of Life Data Systems
Barcode of Life Data Systems · 1
Andrena thaspii, Barcode of Life Data Systems

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Andrena thaspii – A vernal to early summer generalist mining bee. Female is noted for shining cheeks, scutellum often shiny, scutum dull with indistinct pits, flattened clypeus, malar space approximately ¼ width of mandible, tergites almost impunstate with weak pale fasciae, and propodeum with distinct pits outside the triangle. Male has reflexed S6, F1 approximately equal to F2, shiny clypeus, and no tooth at the base of the mandible.

Overview
Reprinted with permission of the American Entomological Society from: LaBerge, W. E. 1980. A revision of the bees of the genus Andrena of the Western Hemisphere. Part X. Subgenus Andrena. Transactions of the American Entomological Society 106: 395-526.

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Andrena thaspii is a widespread bee of the Canadian provinces and northern and montane areas of the United States; This species is highly variable in vestitural color and this has resulted in a large number of synonyms; None of the varieties seem to be concentrated geographically or intergrades occur over such broad areas that subspecific recognition seems undesirable; A. thaspii seems to be closely related to A. saccata and A. buckelli and is described here because certain variants are very similar to saccata in both sexes; However, a majority of the specimens are easily distinguished from specimens of saccata by their pale vestiture; Both sexes of thaspii are characterized by lacking basal inferior mandibular teeth, having a short vertex, a shiny to moderately shiny scutellum, the propodeum outside of the dorsal enclosure punctate, and almost impunctate terga; The female has the labral process bidentate with a basal transverse depression, the clypeus shiny with punctures of irregular size, the genal area in a narrow zone adjacent to the outer margin of the compound eye with crowded minute punctures, the facial fovea broad, dorsal thoracic hairs sparse and often metasomal terga 2-4 with weak apical fasciae; The darker specimens resemble those of saccata or buckelli but differ by the sparser erect hairs of the metasomal tergal basal areas, the short vertex, and the usually paler tibial scopal hairs; The male is very much like that of saccata but generally paler; Dark males of thaspii from the west have at least some pale apical hairs laterally on terga 2 and 3, have the penis valves blunt apically in most specimens, usually have the scutellum shiny at least anteriorly; The dark males of thaspii also resemble the males of ceanothifloris but can be distinguished by the more concentrated punctures of the genal area near the outer margin of the compound eye, the more punctate propodeum and the dull mesoscutum; The pale specimens of thaspii closely resemble other pale species but can usually be distinguished by the lack of basal mandibular teeth, the usually shiny scutellum, sternum 6 being reflexed apically, and the clypeal and genal punctation as described below.

FEMALE. MEASUREMENTS AND RATIOS. N = 20; length, 9-12 mm; width, 2.5-3.5 mm; wing length, M = 4.12 0.178 mm; FL/FW, M = 0.97 0.006; FOVL/ FOVW, M = 3.08 0.039.

INTEGUMENTAL COLOR. Black except as follows: mandible with apical third rufescent; flagellar segments brown below; tegula piceous except translucent brown posteromedially; wing membranes hyaline, colorless to slightly infumate, veins red to reddish-brown, occasionally darker; tibial spurs pale, testaceous to yellow; terga and sterna with apical areas usually somewhat rufescent.

STRUCTURE. Antennae as in vicinoides; Eyes each about four times as long as broad or slightly less, inner margins parallel; Mandibles malar space and galea as in vicinoides; Maxillary palpus as in vicinoides but segmental ratio about as 0.8:1.0:0.6:0.6:0.6:0.6; Labial palpus as in vicinoides but ratio about as 1.0:0.6:0.5:0.5; Labral process trapezoidal, bidentate, apex reflexed, with shallow basal transverse depression; labrum below process convex with weak median crista; Clypeus evenly rounded, with small to medium, round punctures or irregular size and spacing, mostly separated by half a puncture width, sparser apicomedially, without median longitudinal impunctate line or line narrow; surface shiny except in basal third or less; Supraclypeal area, face above antennal fossae and facial foveae as in vicinoides but facial fovea usually separated from lateral ocellus by three-fourths an ocellar diameter or slightly more; Vertex short, above lateral ocellus equal to one ocellar diameter or slightly less; Genal areas in vicinoides but narrow zone adjacent to outer margin compound eye with one to three rows of minute crowded punctures (especially in upper half of head).

Pronotum as in vicinoides; Mesoscutum dulled by fine dense tessellation, punctures shallow, sparse, obscured by fine sculpture; Scutellum usually shiny in at least anterior half, posteriorly and peripherally densely punctate; Metanotum dull, densely punctate and tessellate; Propodeum with dorsal enclosure dulled by regular tessellation, often with irregular roughening basally and rarely roughened beyond midpoint; dorsal and posterior surfaces tessellate with abundant shallow punctures usually slightly roughening surfaces; lateral surface moderately shiny, coarsely tessellate with scattered punctures; Mesepisterna as in vicinoides.

Metasomal terga 1-5 with apical areas narrow, basal areas dulled by reticular shagreening or fine tessellation, punctures minute, virtually absent; apical areas slightly shinier with obscure shallow punctures especially laterally; Pygidial plate V-shaped with narrow apex and raised internal triangle; Sterna 2-5 as in vicinoides.

VESTITURE. Pale females with vestiture entirely white or cinereous except as follows: dorsal thoracic hairs often pale ochraceous; facial fovea with upper half often with pale brown hairs (usually entirely white, occasionally entirely brown); inner surfaces tarsi yellow; Thoracic dorsum with hairs relatively sparse, not hiding surface in anterior half; tibial scopal hairs simple, long, dense; trochanteral flocculus complete; propodeal corbiculum with long simple internal hairs, plumose hairs absent anteriorly or short and sparse; terga 2-4 with apical areas with weak fasciae of long plumose hairs not hiding surfaces but some specimens from eastern California, Colorado and Idaho with apical fasciae slightly denser and hiding surfaces; Darkest females (from California, Nevada and Utah) with vestiture entirely black or dark brown except ochraceous hairs usually present near posterior margin of scutellum and tibial scopal hairs paler brown or partially white; All intergrades occur between the pale and the dark especially in western Wyoming, Utah, California, northwestern Washington and southern British Columbia;

MALE; MEASUREMENTS AND RATIOS. N = 20; length, 8-10 mm; width, 1.5-2.5 mm; wing length, M = 3.59 0.209mm; FL/FW, M = 0.95 0.007; FS1/FS2, M = 0.89 0.015.

INTEGUMENTAL COLOR. As in female but flagellum below often reddish-brown, tergal apical areas translucent, sterna and tarsi with rufescent reflections.

STRUCTURE. Antennae as in vicinoides but flagellar segment 1 usually slightly shorter than segment 2; Eyes each about three times as long as broad or slightly longer, inner margins parallel; Mandibles of moderate length, when closed outer mandible exceeds midlabrum by about one-third its own length, lacking basal inferior tooth or angle; Malar space and galea as in female; Maxillary palpus as in female but segmental ratio about as 0.9:1.0:0.8:0.8:0.8:0.8; Labial palpus as in female; Labral process bidentate, reflexed with basal transverse depression, shiny, labrum apical to process shiny; Clypeus often slightly flattened apicomedially, with round, moderately coarse punctures separated mostly by half a puncture width, slightly sparser medially and apicomedially; surface shiny, unshagreened except at base; Supraclypeal area, face above antennal fossae and vertex as in female; Genal area as in vicinoides but usually with crowded punctures in narrow zone adjacent to eye margin.

Pronotum as in vicinoides; Thoracic sculpturing as in female but propodeal dorsal enclosure more often roughened in basal half or less; dorsal and posterior surfaces with punctures roughening surface as in female.

Metasomal terga 1-5 as in female but apical areas shorter, basal areas with shagreening weaker so that surfaces usually at least moderately shiny and minute sparse punctures often evident; Tergum 7 with extremely narrow, dull, pointed pygidial-like area; Sterna 2-5 as in vicinoides but often shinier; Sternum 6 with apical margin sharply reflexed.

Terminalia as in figures 62-66; note penis valves blunt at tips; short entire sternum 7.

VESTITURE. Usually entirely pale, white to cinereous, except vertex and face along inner margins compound eyes with black hairs, dorsal thoracic hairs often pale ochraceous and inner surfaces tarsi pale yellow; Terga 2-5 without distinct complete apical pale fasciae but extremely weak fasciae often present laterally on terga 2 and 3 and almost complete on terga 4 and 5; Dark specimens with more abundant black hairs on face and dark hairs on genal areas, pale hairs generally ochraceous, terga 2 or 3-5 with brown hairs except apical areas (especially on terga 2 and 3) with white hairs at least laterally, often apical areas of terga 4 and 5 with some pale hairs and terga 6 and 7 with pale to dark brown hairs; All intergrades occur between palest and darkest specimens.

REMARKS. The male of A. ribifloris from Florissant, Colorado is a typical male thaspii and is not conspecific with the females described by Viereck and Cockerell (1914); The females will be described as a new species later in this paper; Specimens of thaspii from Alaska, Canada except southern British Columbia, and coterminous United States east of the Rocky Mountains are pale with weak tergal bands in the female; Pale females from Idaho, Colorado and westward tend to have the vestiture more dense and the tergal apical fasciae are especially dense in pale females from the mountains of eastern California; Dark females from Oregon, Washington, southern British Columbia and northern California have the dorsal thoracic hairs ochraceous, frequently have pale hairs apically on terga 2 and 3, and have the tibial scopal hairs and femoral hairs pale in part; Dark females from western Wyoming and Utah are usually intermediate in having pale dorsal thoracic hairs and some pale scopal hairs; Dark females from Nevada and from Mono and Inyo counties in California are among the darkest specimens, occasionally being virtually entirely black; This is somewhat anomalous since some of the palest specimens with dense pale apical terga bands are from Alpine County and from the mountains immediately to the west of the Sierra Nevada continental divide in California; It would be convenient to be able to describe either the dark California and Nevada populations as a separate species or to consider the pale, densely hairy California specimens as a distinct species; However, I cannot justify doing so on the basis of the variation and characters that I have been able to discover; Dark males are quite scarce and come chiefly from the Nevada-Inyo and Mono county area; A few moderately dark males have been examined from Oregon and Washington; Perhaps some of the dark males have been misidentified as either A. saccata or A. buckelli; Males do not exhibit the more dense vestiture that appears on pale females from many western localities; A few males with moderately dark vestiture (especially the basal area hairs of terga 2-4) are also known from northern Minnesota where the females all appear pale but have darker hairs in the facial foveae.




Reprinted with permission from: Mitchell, T.B. 1960. Bees of the Eastern United States. North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station Technical Bulletin No. 141.



FEMALE Length 10 mm.; face very slightly longer than broad; clypeus slightly convex, produced considerably below suborbital line, somewhat shining, with numerous, well separated but rather coarse punctures; facial foveae broad above, with yellowish tomentum; lateral ocelli separated from margin of vertex by a space about equal to their diameter; cheeks somewhat broader than eyes, somewhat shining, minutely and rather sparsely punctate; malar space distinct; basal segment of flagellum subequal to 2nd and 3rd combined; process of labrum quite large, much broader than long, broadly truncate apically, the margin slightly incised; mandibles of moderate length, with a subapical inner tooth; pubescence of head, thorax and base of abdomen entirely pale, ochraceous above, whitish below; thoracic integument dull, tessellate, with fine and distinct but well separated, shallow punctures above; enclosure of propodeum smooth; propodeal corbicula and trochanteral floccus well developed; tibial scopa quite dense, hairs simple, quite long, ochraceous; all basitarsi somewhat narrower than their respective tibiae; 2nd submarginal cell somewhat shorter than 3rd, receiving 1st recurrent toward apex; abdominal terga smooth but rather dull, punctures exceedingly minute and obscure, apical margins of discs somewhat depressed, the rims faintly ferruginous, discal pubescence rather short and thin, entirely pale, pubescence more dense, along apical margins to form thin, obscure, whitish fasciae. Wisconsin to New York and the New England states, Ontario and Nova Scotia; June to August. I



FLOWER RECORDS Recorded in the literature on the Umbelliferae. Collected also on Rubus and Taraxacum.



This species is recorded by Brittain and Newton (1933 & 1934) on the following genera of plants: Brassica, Chrysanthemum, Diervilla, Ledum, Pyrus malus, Raphanus, Rosa, Rubus, Solidago, Stellaria, Taraxacum, Trifolium and Vaccinium.




Described using the synonymous name: Andrena gabrielsoni Mitchell



FEMALE. Length 13 mm.; length and breadth of face subequal; clypeus broadly convex, rather short, projecting about one-third below suborbital line, somewhat shining, rather sparsely, finely and irregularly punctate, without a distinct, median, impunctate line; facial foveae broad above, occupying most of area between eyes and lateral ocelli, with brownish-ochraceous tomentum; space between margin of vertex and lateral ocelli subequal to their diameter; cheeks broader than eyes, rounded posteriorly, somewhat shining, very minutely and rather sparsely punctate; length of malar space about one-third width of mandibles; basal segment of flagellum subequal to 2nd and 3rd combined; process of labrum very broad, rather short, subtriangular, with rather broadly truncate apex; pubescence of head and thorax pale ochraceous, with a few fuscous hairs on cheeks above and vertex laterally; thorax above somewhat shining, punctures of scutum very fine, rather sparse and obscure anteriorly, becoming even more sparse and minute posteriorly; scutellum shining anteriorly, very irregularly and finely punctate, becoming dull, with obscure punctures posteriorly; pleura smooth but dull and tessellate, with sparse minute punctures more clearly evident anteriorly; enclosure of propodeum dull, densely tessellate; propodeal corbicula well developed, rather short, with a distinct anterior fringe; trochanteral floccus well developed, whitish; tibial scopa white, dense, pale ochraceous along anterior portion of tibiae, but becoming fuscous posteriorly toward base, hairs quite long, entirely simple; all basitarsi slightly narrower than their respective tibiae; 2nd submarginal cell much shorter than 3rd, receiving 1st recurrent toward apex; abdominal terga dull, apical areas hardly at all depressed, nearly impunctate, with only extremely minute, microscopic punctures evident at high magnification, discal pubescence pale on terga 1 and 2, becoming more fuscous, erect but short on terga 3 and 4, tergum 5 with a quite dense, apical, fuscous fimbria, fasciae not developed.



TYPES. Holotype: Female, Colebrook, Conn., July 23, 1911 (W. M. Wheeler) [A.N.S.P.]. Paratypes: CONNECTICUT: 2 FF, topotypical; 1 F, Bristol, July 28, 1916 (I. N. Gabrielson); 11 FF, Colebrook, July 2, 3, 7, 11, 13 and 14, 1921 (W. M. Wheeler). MAINE: 1 F, Northeast Harbor, July 11 (C. W. Johnson). NORTH CAROLINA: 1 F, Mt. Mitchell, July 26, 1936; 1 F, Busick-Mt. Mitchell Trail, June 20, 1941; 1 F, Smokemont, June 30, 1934 (all Mitchell); 1 F, Collin Gap, Great Smoky Mountains Nat. Park, 3200 ft., June 28, 1939 (A. Stupka). MICHIGAN: 1 F, Shelby, July (?) 1939 (Sabrosky); 2 FF, Chatham, July 12, 1946.

The type specimen was found in the collection of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, with a Viereck determination label designating it the type specimen. The description, however, was never published, and the name evidently intended for this species by Viereck is being used. The paratypes are located in the U. S. National Museum, the Museum of Comparative Zoology, the University of Michigan, the collection of R. R. Dreisbach, and the author's collection.

Names
Scientific source:
Hosts · map
FamilyScientific name @ source (records)
Adoxaceae  Viburnum dentatum @ UCMS_ENT (6)
Anacardiaceae  Rhus typhina @ CUIC_ENT (2)
Apiaceae  Heracleum lanatum @ I_ADG (1)

Pastinaca sativa @ CUIC_ENT (4)

Pastinaca sp @ CUIC_ENT (2)
Asteraceae  Agoseris glauca @ RMBL_ENT (1)

Erigeron strigosus @ CUIC_ENT (1)

Rudbeckia hirta @ CUIC_ENT (3)

Senecio sp @ BBSL (1)
Boraginaceae  Hackelia patens @ BBSL (1)
Brassicaceae  Barbarea vulgaris @ CUIC_ENT (8)

Brassica sp @ CUIC_ENT (2)

Lepidium sp @ BBSL (1)

Moricandia arvensis @ CUIC_ENT (1)
Caprifoliaceae  Symphoricarpos occidentalis @ AMNH_BEE (4); CUIC_ENT (1)
Caryophyllaceae  Arenaria hookeri @ BBSL (1)
Cornaceae  Cornus stolonifera @ CUIC_ENT (1)
Fabaceae  Melilotus officinalis @ AMNH_BEE (1); CUIC_ENT (19)
Gentianaceae  Frasera speciosa @ BBSL (33)

Fraseria @ AMNH_BEE (1)
Geraniaceae  Geranium fremontii @ BBSL (4)
Grossulariaceae  Ribes aureum @ BBSL (3)
Herndon, j.d.  1609 @ JRYA__OLYM (1)
J. rykken  1037 @ JRYB__SHEN (1)

1073 @ JRYB__SHEN (1)
Linaceae  Linum lewisii @ BBSL (1); RMBL_ENT (1)
Malvaceae  Tilia americana @ AMNH_BEE (1)
Polygonaceae  Eriogonum flavum @ AMNH_BEE (3)
Ranunculaceae  Aquilegia coerulea @ RMBL_ENT (1)

Ranunculus sp @ BBSL (2)
Rhamnaceae  Ceanothus americanus @ CUIC_ENT (4)
Rosaceae  Cercocarpus montanus @ BBSL (1)

Pentaphylloides floribunda @ RMBL_ENT (1)

Photinia melanocarpa @ UCMS_ENT (1)

Physocarpus opulifolius @ CUIC_ENT (5)

Potentilla fruticosa @ BBSL (1)

Potentilla glandulosa @ BBSL (1)

Potentilla pulcherrima @ DART_ENT (3); RMBL_ENT (5)

Potentilla recta @ CUIC_ENT (5)

Prunus maritima @ UCMS_ENT (1)

Purshia tridentata @ BBSL (1)

Rosa carolina @ CUIC_ENT (5)

Rosa sp @ CUIC_ENT (1)

Rosa @ UCMS_ENT (2)

Rubus sp @ CUIC_ENT (7)

Rubus @ UCMS_ENT (1)

Sorbaria sorbifolia @ CUIC_ENT (8)

Spiraea latifolia @ CUIC_ENT (3)
Salicaceae  Salix @ AMNH_BEE (1)
Scrophulariaceae  Mimulus guttatus @ BBSL (1)
Valerianaceae  Valeriana occicentalis @ DART_ENT (1)
_  Boraginaceae sp @ BBSL (1)

Withheld @ BBSL__YOSE (16); BBSL (18); BBSL__ZION (2)

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