Andrena (Cnemidandrena) robervalensis Mitchell 1960

Andrena (Cnemidandrena) robervalensis Mitchell 1960 (scutellinitens group)

(Fig. 5C)

= Andrena (? Cnemidandrena) robervalensis Mitchell 1960: 175.

County records: Gladwin, Isabella.

Notes. Andrena robervalensis was tentatively treated as a junior synonym of A. runcinatae Cockerell 1906 by Gusenleitner et al. (2005), based on JSA’s examination of a paratype of A. runcinatae at the AMNH. However, Cockerell (1906), in his original description of A. runcinatae, describes the clypeus as “shining, with sparse strong punctures, the anterior middle smooth, but no median ridge”. The holotype female of A. runcinatae, from Florissant, Colorado in Teller County “a little over 8000 feet ” collected by S. A. Rohwer on 22 July 1906 and deposited at the California Academy of Sciences, matches this description and also has a highly polished mesoscutellum, similar to Donovan’s (1977) description of A. specularia Donovan. Donovan (1977) did not treat A. runcinatae in his revision of the subgenus Cnemidandrena. Hurd (1979) lists A. runcinatae in the subgenus Simandrena. The type of A. runcinatae was compared directly to a paratype of A. robervalensis (MSUC) and images of the holotype female (NMNH). Andrena robervalensis is noticeably duller than A. runcinatae on the clypeus (Fig. 5C, D) and mesoscutellum. A more thorough reexamination of Donovan’s entire ‘ scutellinitens’ group in North America is required, i.e., the western species A. scutellinitens Viereck and A. specularia, the previously associated eastern species A. robervalensis, and and the newly associated A. runcinatae and A. parnassiae.

Material examined. Gladwin Co.: T19N R2 E Sec. 2, 4 Sep. 1959, R.L. Fischer (1 ♀ MSUC); Isabella Co.: (no locality), 9 Sep. 1950, R.R. Dreisbach (1 ♀ paratype MSUC).