Author: Radoszkowski, 1867

Type species: Phileremus abdominalis Eversmann 1852, by designation of Sandhouse 1943.
Synonyms: Phiarus Gerstaecker, 1869; Euglages Gerstaecker, 1869; Paidia Radoszkowski, 1872; Paedia Dalla Torre, 1891
Clade: Anthophila
Family: Apidae
Subfamily: Nomadinae
Tribe: Ammobatoidini
Distinctive traits
  •  Medium-size black and red or brown bees
  • No scopa (cleptoparasitic bees)
  • 2 submarginal cells
  • Pointed / rounded marginal cell (not truncate).
  • Male eyes strongly converging above the head so that distance eye-posterior ocellus is almost half the distance between the two posterior ocelli.
  • Females with slightly concave inner margins of the eyes.
Pictures of distinctive traits
Morphologically close genera, and how to distinguish them:
Ammobatoides - Schmiedeknechtia
Ammobatoides body size is > 10mm, inner margin of the eyes concave, males with converging eyes, legs black.
Schmiedeknechtia body size is < 7mm, inner margin of the eyes straight, males with non-converging eyes, legs yellow.
Ammobatoides - Ammobates, Biastes, Chiasmognathus, Parammobatodes & Pasites
Ammobatoides has an oval or pointed marginal cell, basal part of submarginal cell 1 is around twice as long as that of submarginal cell 2. Males have strongly converging eyes.
Ammobates, Biastes, Chiasmognathus, Parammobatodes & Pasites have a truncated marginal cell, basal part submarginal cell 1 is about as long as that of submarginal cell 2. Males have non-converging eyes.
General comments on Ammobatoides species identification
Species identification requires microscopic study of maxillary palps, thorax punctation, micropilosity, last sternites and genitalia in males.
Sorry, but the species identification tool is not yet available for Ammobatoides. 
Please check the reference(s) at the bottom of the page for traditional keys.
List of the 4 Ammobatoides species found in Europe (Ghisbain et al. 2023):
Ammobatoides abdominalis (Eversmann, 1852)
Ammobatoides luctuosus (Friese, 1911)
Ammobatoides okalii Kocourek, 1990
Ammobatoides scriptus (Gerstaecker, 1869)
References with identification keys for some of the species:
  • Osytshnjuk, A.Z., Panfilov, D.V. & Ponomareva A.A. (1978) Superfamily Apoidea. In: Tobias, V.I. (Ed). Key to the insects of European part of the USSR. Vol. 3. Hymenoptera. Pt. 1. Nauka, Leningrad, 279-519. (In Russian)
  • Amiet F., Herrmann M., Müller A. & Neumeyer R., 2007. Apidae 5. Ammobates, Ammobatoides, Anthophora, Biastes, Ceratina, Dasypoda, Epeoloides, Epeolus, Eucera, Macropis, Melecta, Melitta, Nomada, Pasites, Tetralonia, Thyreus, Xylocopa. Fauna Helvetica 20. Centre suisse de cartographie de la faune (CSCF), Neuchâtel, 356 pp.
Online resources:
Atlas hymenoptera (France & Belgium)
WestPalBees (West Palearctic)
Page contributors:
  • Adrien Perrard (Dec. 2023)
  • Adrien Perrard (Dec. 2019)

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References used to write this page:
  • Ghisbain, G., Rosa, P., Bogusch, P., Flaminio, S., Le Divelec, R., Dorchin, A., Kasparek, M., Kuhlmann, M., Litman, J., Mignot, M., Müller, A., Praz, C., Radchenko, V.G., Rasmont, P., Risch, S., Roberts, S.P.M., Smit, J., Wood, T.J., Michez, D. & Reverte, S. (2023). The new annotated checklist of the wild bees of Europe (Hymenoptera: Anthophila). Zootaxa, 5327(1), 1-147.
  • Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World, 2nd Edition. The John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
  • Michez D., Rasmont P., Terzo, M., Vereecken, N. 2019. Abeilles d'Europes. Hymenoptères d'Europes, Volume 1. N.A.P. Editions.
  • Nieto, A., Roberts, S. P., Kemp, J., Rasmont, P., Kuhlmann, M., García Criado, M., ... & Michez, D. 2014. European red list of bees. Luxembourg: Publication Office of the European Union, 98. (IUCN 2014)
  •  Rasmont, P., Devalez, Jelle, Pauly, A., Michez, D. & Radchenko, V.G. 2017. Addition to the checklist of IUCN European wild bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). Annales de la Société entomologique de France 53: 17-32.