Morphological and Molecular Analysis of some Bee Species of the Subgenus Taeniandrena (Hymneoptera: Andrenidae) from Northern Egypt

Abstract

Andrenids is one of those groups which have some taxonomic impediments. Andrena ovatula represents such taxonomic impediment with great individual variations in size, body length and even in coloration. Several species were collected and identified on the basis of morphological characters. This study involved DNA sequencing of COI region of the mitochondrial DNA genome of A. ovatula to determine the population genetics and bio-geographical structure from three different locations in Egypt (Alexandria (A), Monofia (M) and Suez Canal (S)). Each population had three females as a preliminary study of this group for barcoding in Egypt. All investigated samples belonged to nine mtDNA haplotype. The phylogentic analysis showed that there are two groups of A. ovatula as some samples matched 100% with Andrena intermedia not known or recorded in Egypt so far. A large sampling scale of these species which is widely distributed in Asia, Europe and Africa could show more population differentiation. Further studies can help for more clarifications of the species identity of the genus Andrena worldwide. © 2019 Friends Science Publishers