Icteranthidium ferrugineum, s. l.

Icteranthidium ferrugineum (Fabricius, 1787) s. l. Apis ferruginea Fabricius, 1787. – Female, Spain. Type in Copenhagen (NHMD). Anthidium ferrugineum (Fabricius, 1804). – Name transferred to Anthidium. Anthidium discoidale Latreille, 1809. – Male, Algeria. Anthidium flavum Latreille, 1809. – Male, Algeria and Levant. Anthidium thoracicum Klug, 1832: – Female, Egypt (between Aswan and Kenneh). Holotype in Berlin (MFN). Anthidium cinctum Klug, 1832. – Male, Sudan. Holotype in Berlin (MFN). Anthidum subochraceum Walker, 1871. – Female, Egypt (Sinai); not male as stated by Walker (1871), see Warncke (1980). Syntype in London (NHMUK), but composite with foreparts and metasoma glued together, belonging to different species (Baker 1993). Anthidium flavipes Morawitz, 1895. – Male, Iran (not Turkmenistan, Ivlev et al. 2025 b). Lectotype and paralectotype in St. Petersburg (SIZK). Synonymized with I. ferrugineum by Niu et al. (2020). Anthidium ferrugineum var. aegypticolum Alfken, 1933. – Egypt (no exact type location, apparently no type assigned). Anthidium ferrugineum var. subzonatum Alfken, 1933. – Egypt (no exact type location, apparently no type assigned). Anthidium ferrugineum var. azarense Mavromoustakis, 1934. – Male, Nigeria. Holotype in London (NHMUK). Dianthidium ferrugineum subhyalinum Mavromoustakis, 1948. – Female, male. Palestine (not Israel). Holotype and paratype (allotype) in coll. Mvromoustakis, Cyprus (MoA 1989). Icteranthidium ferrugineum discoidale (Latreille, 1809). – Recognized as valid subspecies by Warncke (1980). non Icteranthidium bilobatum Pasteels, 1969. – Junior synonym of I. limbiferum (Morawitz), proposed herein. non Anthidium posticum Klug, 1832. – Female, Saudi Arabia or Yemen (removed from synonymy with I. ferrugineum herein). Genetic Barcode ID. Several BINs, which refer to sometimes morphologically not well-separated groups of I. ferrugineum s. l. (Kasparek et al. 2026). Taxonomy. The name I. ferrugineum has been applied to a wide range of geographically and taxonomically distinct forms. Latreille (1809) recognized three closely related species; Klug (1832) added two more; and Spinola (1838) distinguished six “ varieties ” of ferrugineum, for which he provided a Tableau systématique for identification. Alfken (1933) introduced three additional “ varieties, ” including limbiferum. Warncke (1980) subsequently synonymized most of these taxa under I. ferrugineum, recognizing a nominate subspecies (Spain) and the subspecies discoidale for the remaining populations. The taxonomic situation thus remains complex and unresolved, and further revisionary work is required. The synonymy presented above should therefore be regarded as a preliminary assessment, largely following Warncke (1980), with the modifications indicated. Material (examined). The collection of M. K. comprises 194 specimens from Egypt. As a definitive taxonomic classification is currently not possible, only the collecting localities are provided here. Alexandria Governorate: Alexandria; Montazah. • Beheira Governorate: Idku, Wadi Natron. • Cairo Governorate: Heliopolis, Maadi, Wadi Digla, Wadi Hof, Wadi el-Tih. • Dakahlia Governorate: Dondid. • Fayyum Governorate: Fayyum, Qarun Lake, Wadi El-Rayan. • Giza Governorate: Baharia Oasis, Giza, Pyramids. • Ismailia Governorate: Fayed, Gelbana. • Matruh Governorate: Marsa Matruh, Siwa. • New Valley Governorate: Dakhla Oasis, Kharga. • Red Sea Governorate: Jebel Elba, Kosseir, Marsa Alam. • Sharkia Governorate: Anany-Salha, Kafr El-Hamam, Mahmoudiya, Zagazig. • South Sinai Governorate: Sharm el-Sheikh, Wadi Khashbi, Wadi Khriza, Wadi Watir. Material (literature). • 1 ♀; Upper Egypt between Aswan and Kenneh; November 1821 / 1822; holotype of Anthidium thoracicum (MFN; Klug 1832). • Giza Governorate: Pyramids; 6 May and June 1913 (Alfken 1926). • Cairo Governorate: Heliopolis; May 1914 (Alfken 1926). • Giza Governorate: Dahshur; May 1915 (Alfken 1926). • 1 ♀; South Sinai Governorate: Fuan Oasis,; 27. March; as I. ferrugineum (Alfken 1938). • 1 ♀; South Sinai Governorate: Wadi El Arbein; 24. 06. 1927; as A. subochraceum (Alfken 1938). London (NHMUK) and Oxford (OUMNH) museums hold material from Faiyum (Fayyum), Jebel Asfar (Qalyubia Governorate), Giza, Maadi, Marsa Matruh, and Monufia (Minufiya) (online databases: https://data.nhm.ac.uk/search and https://oumnh.ox.ac.uk). The Kansas collection (SEMC 2026) holds 17 specimens identified as I. cinctum, 12 as I. ferrugineum, and one as I. f. subhyalinum. Storey (1916 a, 1916 b) described A. ferrugineum var. thoracicum as “ widely distributed ” from April to August (Ministry of Agriculture, PPDD), while he listed A. cinctum (“ probably var. of A. ferrugineum ”) only from Maadi, Cairo Governorate (August). Salem and El-Azab (2017) treated I. cinctum and I. flavipes as distinct species and aegypticolum, subhyalinum, subzonatum, and thoracicum as valid subspecies of I. ferrugineum. They provided collecting localities for each taxon but without further details, particularly regarding the diagnostic characters used for their identification. Sources for identification. Keys in Warncke (1980) and Kasparek (2022), but the challenging taxonomic situation needs to be taken into account. Notes. Icteranthidium ferrugineum s. l. is by far the most abundant anthidiine bee in Egypt. What is currently treated under this name in Egypt and elsewhere likely represents a complex of at least two, and probably more, distinct species in Egypt. A comprehensive integrative taxonomic revision is required, incorporating biological, morphometric, and genetic data. To yield robust results, such a study must cover a geographic range extending well beyond Egypt. Distribution. Widely distributed across North and West Africa and the Middle East. However, precise distributional limits cannot be defined until the taxonomic status of the various forms has been resolved.