Hoplitis maghrebensis

Distribution. Morocco and Algeria along the northern border of the Sahara Desert. Pollen hosts. Oligolectic on Reseda (Resedaceae) and possibly also closely related genera: all 20 pollen loads (7 localities, 1 country) analysed so far exclusively consisted of Reseda pollen, which is in line with field observations in southern Morocco, where females and males were found to visit and patrol flowers of different Reseda species (A. Müller, unpublished data). Nesting biology. Unknown. Note. The nomenclatural history of the taxon H. maghrebensis is tangled. Based on a series of Hoplitis specimens from southern Morocco, Zanden (1983) provides a description of the male of H. maghrebensis, which he wrongly interpreted to be the still unknown male of Hoplitis consanguinea (Benoist, 1929) = Hoplitis (Pentadentosmia) quinquespinosa (Friese, 1899). Later, Zanden (1992) corrected his error and introduced the name H. maghrebensis by designating a holotype from the same series of males from Morocco. His description of the female, however, does not refer to H. maghrebensis but to a still undescribed Hoplitis (Anthocopa) species. The true female of H. maghrebensis was described by Zanden (1996) under the name H. incognita. Zanden selected this name (incognitus = not recognized) to account for a misapplication by Warncke (1990), who erroneously assumed Osmia dumonti Benoist, 1929 to be a H. (Platosmia) species. However, O. dumonti = Hoplitis epeoliformis (Ducke, 1899) is actually a species of the subgenus H. (Alcidamea). Thus, “ O. dumonti ” in the publication of Warncke (1990) is H. maghrebensis and Warncke’s notion that H. maghrebensis has been recorded from Maknassy (Tunisia) is wrong as this is the type locality of the true O. dumonti.