New species of the genus Eoanthidium (Apoidea: Megachilidae: Anthidiini) from the Middle East link the Afrotropical and Palaearctic Realms, with a key to the Palaearctic taxa

Abstract

ABSTRACT The genus Eoanthidium though not species-rich has a wide distribution that extends over the Afrotropical, Palaearctic and Indomalayan regions. The species of the Middle East are here revised and their distribution evaluated in this zoogeographic hub between these three realms. Eoanthidium afroarabicum Kasparek & Griswold sp. nov. was found to have a broad distribution from southern Oman and the Gebel Elba area, Egypt to Mali and Burkina Faso, and is the only species of the genus known to link the Middle East with Africa. Anthidiellum crenulatum Warncke, 1982 is transferred to the genus Eoanthidium, and E. bakerorum Engel, 2004 is recognised as a junior synonym of it. The distribution of E. crenulatum comb. nov. extends over the surroundings of the Gulf of Oman. A structurally very similar species, E. flavifrontale Kasparek sp. nov., was found in south-east Anatolia and is regarded as its geographically isolated allospecies whose speciation is supposed to be triggered by the barrier imposed by the Syrio-Arabian desert. While DNA sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase 1 (CO1 barcoding) gene confirmed the validity of E. crenulatum and E. afroarabicum as distinct species and their attribution to Eoanthidium, they also revealed possible ambiguities in the subgeneric classification of Eoanthidium and the generic assignment of the Asian Anthidiellum (Pycnanthidium) carinatum (Wu, 1962). Of the 11 species of Eoanthidium found in the Middle East, six are endemic, two species are also affiliated with Europe, two with Asia, and one with both Europe and Asia. Only one species is found both in the Middle East and the Afrotropical realm. urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:3A5A799F-F211-459A-91A8-6B654152FEDE