Nomada goodeniana or not? [alive not pinned]

[JRsbugs]

Hi I thought I would follow example in the title as a WAB volunteer has led the way.

I got one shot only of this on 17th April, I had it named as Nomada goodeniana but it looks somewhat different to others I have.

I count 12 antennal segments, if I have done that correctly it is a female. (pic will enlarge again)

There is a key on a German site which translates a little strangely, but I think I can make sense of it.

Google Translate

I'm taking 'W' as female. It states:

sensor red-orange, and 1 shaft & 2 Member often black, 3 Limb shorter than fourth.

That sounds like the antennae, and the 3rd segment is shorter than the fouth. These look to be equal on mine.

I'm a little confused by the

tibiae at the end with two laterally contiguous curved spines.

I'm not sure if the spines on the hind leg of mine are curved, nor if they are contiguous as I can see one with not a hint of another which is contiguous, but there might be one next to the metatarsus.

The other differences I see are the smooth mid and hind femora, with no pale hairs as I see on most N. goodeniana but that might be on males. The visible mid femur shows long black bristles or hairs well spaced, the visible hind femur possibly has the same as I can see dots where the hairs emerge.

Help!

Janet

[Jason Green]

Morning Janet,

I think to start we'll need to see the colour of the labrum. Matt or someone may not need that, though

Originally Posted by JRsbugs

Hi I thought I would follow example in the title as a WAB volunteer has led the way.

- he has a name you know!

Take care,

Jason

EDIT: Oh, and Contiguous = continuous/continual?

[Matt Smith]

For Nomada goodeniana, we really need to see a close up of the outside of the bottom of the hind tibia to see the "comb spines". In N.goodeniana these are relatively "fat" and curved so that they so not project. If you can see 3-5 little spines sticking straight out at the end of the hind tibia, it's not N.goodeniana.

I'm pretty sure I can see 12 antennal segments in the photo, so its a female. However, the end of the hind tibia is just out of focus and I can't see enough detail to decide, so it could be something like N.marshamella. Best put this one down as "Nomada sp."

[eucera]

I think the yellow tegulae might rule out N. marshamella. Aren't they normally reddish in this sp.?

[Jason Green]

Originally Posted by Matt Smith

I'm pretty sure I can see 12 antennal segments in the photo, so its a female.

12 here, too. I'm pretty sure she'll have additional images.

[JRsbugs]

No additional images Jason, I mentioned that. It was a quick land and take off job.

Matt, on the German site it mentions two yellow spots on the thorax, where for N. goodeniana it mentions the 5 as this one has.

Google Translate

It also mentions the 3rd antennal segment being the same length as the 5th, both being a little shorter than the 4th for N. marshamella. I have measured them at full expansion and the 3rd measures 10mm, 4th 9mm, 5th 8mm. Of course this can't be said to be absolutely accurate due to a possible slant but it doesn't seem to fit with N. marshamella.

Stuart, I had thought the tegula on N. marshamella were orange too, however this is not mentioned on the German site for either male or female.

The Nomada test key on BWARS states for males:

2. Tegula orange, at least on inner half. Sternite 2 with oblique oval bars. marshamella

Matt, you said

If you can see 3-5 little spines sticking straight out at the end of the hind tibia, it's not N.goodeniana

At the right side I can see two, and a probable 3rd nearly hidden, small spines sticking out at an angle. If you click on the pic once enlarged it will enlarge even more so should be visible.

Jason,

Oh, and Contiguous = continuous/continual?

Side by side or next to each other as opposed to apart.

[JRsbugs]

I wonder if it would help to try eliminating those it can't be in group B in the test keys for males with yellow and black abdomen.

NOMADA MALES: GROUP B. ABDOMEN BLACK AND YELLOW ONLY

- very smart, bold, sharply defined pattern on abdomen
- tergite 1 with yellow markings (unique to this group), with exception of rufipes which has this segment entire black and a single large yellow spot on the scutellum.
- flavopicta can have the yellow spots margined by reddish tinge,

1. Scutellum with a single large yellow spot. rufipes

- Scutellum with a separated pair of yellow spots. 2


2. Tegula orange, at least on inner half. Sternite 2 with oblique oval bars. marshamella

- Tegula strongly yellow (apart from any black). 3


3. Tegula with inner third black. Hind femur at base beneath with a sharply defined patch of dense adpressed hairs. goodeniana

- Tegula entirely yellow. Hind femur otherwise. 4


4. Tergite 7 with strong apical notch. fulvicornis

- Tergite 7 rounded at apex with at most hint of a notch. 5


5. Hind coxa with short strongly adpressed silver hairs. flavopicta

- Hind coxa with longish erect hairs. sexfasciata


If I eliminate N. rufipes, goodeniana, marshamella...

I'm left with N. fulvicornis, flavopicta and sexfasciata. Unfortunately none of these three are on the German site.

The distribution maps on BWARS show both N. fulvicornis and flavopicta to the north and west of me, but that doesn't always mean everything.

I found a pic of a female N. fulvicornis which compares well with mine. It has the black bristles on the mid and hind femora, the long spine/s at the end of the hind tibia looks the same. The 5th antennal segment looks a little shorter than the 4th, the 3rd may not be showing it's correct length due to the angle.

Flickr Photo Download: BC_ZSM_HYM_00528 Nomada fulvicornis

I searched the same photo stream (which is a barcoding set for DNA) for Nomada flavopicta, it doesn't look a good match.

BFB bees - a set on Flickr

I think the comparison shown with a female N. marshamella and N. fulvicornis on the flickr site eliminates N. marshamella for certain, it can plainly be seen that the 3rd and 5th antennal segments are shorter than the 4th. It also has an orange-brown tegula.

Nomada cf. marshamella f on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Can anyone add to this in any way, either by elimination or confirmation on certain points as mentioned above.

As the key for males of N. fulvicornis states it has a strong apical notch on the 7th tergite, the female may also have the same (T6)? Mine does look to have a notch.

With all taken into consideration, this is looking to me like N. fulvicornis.

[lync]

N.fulvicornis it is then.

[JRsbugs]

Thank you lync! I can't see how it could be any other.

[eucera]

In my experience (I get both species in my garden), N. fulvicornis looks very like marshamella but has yellow tegulae. ie it has a broadly interrupted yellow band on T1

Also, N. fulvicornis is on some less than abundant hosts: Andrena bimaculata & A. tibialis.