Nomiapis femoralis ( Pallas, 1773 )

Wood, Thomas J., 2025, On the status of Nomiapis valga (Gerstäcker) and its distribution (Hymenoptera, Halictidae, Nomiinae), with an identification key for European Nomiapis, Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift 72 (1), pp. 85-100 : 85-100

Nomiapis femoralis ( Pallas, 1773)

Apis femoralis Pallas, 1773: 731, ♂ [ Kazakhstan, ZMHB, not examined]

Material examined.

Austria • 2 ♂; N. O. Marchfeld, Oberweiden ( Sandberge ); 7 Jul. 1954; F. Koller leg.; A. W. Ebmer det. 1974; OÖLM • 3 ♂; N. O. Marchfeld, Oberweiden ( Sandberge ); 21–22 Jul. 1954; F. Koller leg.; A. W. Ebmer det. 1974; OÖLM • 1 ♂, 1 ♀; Ober Weiden, A. i. [Austria Inferior]; [undated]; Mader leg.; M. Schwarz det. 1986; OÖLM • 1 ♂; Oberweiden ; 27 Jun. 1931; J. Kloiber leg.; A. W. Ebmer det. 1974; OÖLM • 1 ♀; Oberweiden ; 28 Aug. 1949; M. Kocourek leg.; M. Kocourek det.; OÖLM ; China • 1 ♂, 1 ♀; Boro Horo mts. [Xinjiang], Jinig [Yining / Gulja], Ining-H-Sein ; 27 Jul. 1991; M. Snížek leg.; A. Pauly det. 2008; OÖLM ; Czechia • 1 ♀; Čejč - Mor. [Moravia]; 16 Jul. 1939; O. Sustera leg.; RMNH; RMNH. INS.1662494 • 1 ♂; Čejč - Mor. [Moravia]; 27 Jul. 1939; O. Sustera leg.; RMNH; RMNH. INS.1662500 • 1 ♂; Čejč - Mor. [Moravia]; 27 Jul. 1939; V. Zavadil leg.; K. Warncke det.; OÖLM • 1 ♂; Čejč - Mor. [Moravia]; 1 Aug. 1939; O. Sustera leg.; RMNH; RMNH. INS.1662499 • 1 ♂, 1 ♀; Čejč - Mor. [Moravia]; 27 Jul. 1941; V. Zavadil leg.; K. Warncke det.; OÖLM • 1 ♀; Čejč - Mor. [Moravia]; 1–31 Aug. 1958; M. Kocourek leg.; K. Warncke det.; OÖLM ; Hungary • 1 ♀; Budapest; 19 Jun. 1927; E. Stöckhert leg.; K. Warncke det.; OÖLM • 1 ♀; Budapest; [undated]; RMNH; RMNH. INS.1662493 ; Kazakhstan • 1 ♂; Alma Ata, 30 km W, Aksaj ; 16 Jul. 1981; M. Kocourek leg.; M. Kocourek det.; OÖLM • 1 ♀; Darbaza , 40 km N Tachkent; 30 May 1994; Ma. Halada leg.; A. Pauly det.; OÖLM • 1 ♀; Džambul [= Taraz] env, Kara Tau, průsmyk [pass] Ujuk ; 1000 m a. s. l.; 3 Jun. 1980; Z. Pádr leg.; K. Warncke det.; OÖLM • 1 ♂, 1 ♀; Боровск [ Borovsk = Borovoye = Burabay], лес тех Кокчет [Kokchetav] р. Акмол [Akmol]; 2–5 Jul. 1932; В. Попов [V. Popov] leg.; K. Warncke det.; OÖLM ; Russia • 1 ♂; Tambow [Tambov]; Ф. Моравицa [F. Morawitz] leg.; K. Warncke det.; OÖLM ; Serbia • 1 ♂; Deliblatska Peščara ; 2 Aug. 1958; RMNH; RMNH. INS.1662498 • 1 ♂; Deliblatska Pescara [Deliblatska Peščara], Banat - Yoego Slavië ; 12 Jul. 1950; Adamovic leg.; RMNH; RMNH. INS.1662497 ; Slovakia • 1 ♂; Čenkov [Čenkovce]; 1–31 Jul. 1964; M. Kocourek leg.; M. Kocourek det.; OÖLM • 1 ♀; Chotin ; 22 Jul. 1962; Z. Pádr leg.; OÖLM • 1 ♂; Chotin ; 1–31 Aug. 1962; M. Kocourek leg.; K. Warncke det.; OÖLM • 3 ♂; Somotor ; 1–31 Jul. 1952; M. Kocourek leg.; M. Kocourek det.; OÖLM ; Ukraine • 1 ♂; Киевская Обл [Kiev Oblast], Каневский р-н, о-в Заречье [Zarechye / Zarichchya ]; 20 Jun. 1950; А. Осычнюк [A. Osytshnjuk] leg.; RMNH; RMNH. INS.1662495 • 1 ♀; Киевская Обл [Kiev Oblast], Каневский р-н, о-в Заречье [Zarechye / Zarichchya ]; 23 Jun. 1950; А. Осычнюк [A. Osytshnjuk] leg.; RMNH; RMNH. INS.1662496 .

Notes.

The locus typicus is “ in deserto ad Iaïkum, ” which Astafurova and Pesenko (2006: 78) give as “ in a desert on the bank of the Ural River, western Kazakhstan. ” Revision of material supports the distribution of this species given by Pauly (2015) with the exception of a record from Rhodes; this specimen was determined as “ valga / femoralis female ” by Pauly in 2008 (direct information from the determination label) but seems to have been accidentally encoded and displayed as N. femoralis ; it is actually referable to N. caucasica (see material examined above). Nomiapis femoralis is clearly a species of Eurasian steppe and does not descend into the southern Balkans and Turkey, where N. caucasica can be found (Fig. 4 ).

The record from Spain (Barcelona) given by Warncke remains a mystery, as no Spanish specimens in the OÖLM collection could be found. Wood et al. (2020) were able to inspect via photograph (Fig. 5 ) one of the specimens housed in the BBSL-USDA-ARS collection that was determined to be Nomiapis monstrosa but which cannot belong to this species, as the male lacks a digitiform process at the base of the hind tibia. The specimens are of the valga / caucasica type due to the sternal morphology (i. e., with curved processes found medially on the 4 th sternum), and given the geographic location in Spain, it is considered much more likely that they represent N. valga rather than N. caucasica , whose closest populations would be in the southern Balkans, some 1,500 km distant. The position is therefore taken that Warncke’s (1976) record from Barcelona represents N. valga , and N. femoralis is excluded from the Spanish fauna.

Finally, based on the limited material examined here, it is important to highlight the clear decline of N. femoralis in Europe. Across multiple Central European countries, N. femoralis was last recorded in Austria in 1954 (see also Kratschmer et al. 2021), Czechia in 1958 (regionally extinct, Hejda et al. 2017), Serbia in 1958, and Slovenia in 1964. Although the species persists in Hungary, with specimens collected in 2024 (D. Zimmermann, pers. comm.), this fits the overall pattern or syndrome of a strong decline of Pannonian or steppic species in Central Europe following agricultural intensification after the Second World War ( Hejda et al. 2017; Kratschmer et al. 2021; Wood and Patiny 2025). Whilst this trend is well-established for bumble bees ( Bombus ), taxonomic impediment has limited our understanding of decline in European Nomiapis ; the clarity provided here will hopefully allow a concrete classification of conservation concern to be made.

Finally, Warncke (1976: 111) reports N. femoralis ssp. femoralis from Croatia (Istria, northern Dalmatia). The location of supporting specimens is unclear. It is not at all clear what these may be, as Istria and Dalmatia have a Mediterranean climate, which does not ecologically match the distributional pattern of N. femoralis s. str. Croatia must remain an unconfirmed part of the distribution of N. femoralis .

Distribution.

Germany, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary,? Croatia; Serbia, Romania, Ukraine, Russia (European part, Urals, Western Siberia, Eastern Siberia), Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, China ( Warncke 1976 as Nomia femoralis ssp. femoralis ; Ebmer 1988; Astafurova and Pesenko 2006; Pauly 2015) (Fig. 4 ). The specimen reported from Greece (Rhodes) by Baker (2002: 66) is a female and hence is considered to be a misidentification of N. caucasica .

Figures

Figure 4. Distribution map based on specimens examined during this study for Nomiapis valga (Gerstäcker, 1872) (black circles), Nomiapis femoralis (Pallas, 1773) (red circles), and Nomiapis caucasica (Friese, 1897) (blue circles). Distributional data presented here are not comprehensive, and additional references in the main text should also be consulted in the context of the revisions to Nomiapis species concepts presented here.

Figure 5. Nomiapis valga (Gerstäcker, 1872) male specimen from Zaragoza, Spain (BBSL 740380; BBSL-USDA-ARS); hind leg and metasoma, profile view. Photograph by Skyler Burrows.