title: The genus Colletes (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Colletidae) in Central Asia .
abstract: Available information about bees of the genus Colletes in Central Asia is summarized. Eighty species are currently known from this area. Six new species are described: Colletes transitus sp. nov., C. askhabadoides sp. nov., C. kaline sp. nov., C. muellermotzfeldi sp. nov., C. pesenkoi sp. nov., and C. mirabilis sp. nov. Five species are newly recorded from Central Asia: Colletes idoneus Cockerell 1922, C. cunicularius (Linnaeus 1761), C. ebmeri Kuhlmann 2002, C. friesei Cockerell 1918, and C. impunctatus Nylander 1852. The subspecies C. tuberculatus anatolicus Noskiewicz 1959 syn. nov. and C. t. siculus Noskiewicz 1959 syn. nov. are synonymized with C. tuberculatus Morawitz 1894. Lectotypes are designated for Colletes arenarius Morawitz 1876 and C. flavicornis Morawitz 1876. Additionally one new species from Turkey and Iran, Colletes comatoides sp. nov., is here described as new and included due to its close relationship to the Central Asian C. bernadettae Kuhlmann and C. comatus Noskiewicz.
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK.; Email: m.kuhlmann@nhm.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kuhlmann
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biology and Soil Science, Far Eastern Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok-22, 690022, Russia.; Email: proshchalikin@biosoil.ru.
authors.forename: Maxim Yu
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Proshchalykin
mesh_terms: D063147:Animal Distribution; D000825:Animal Structures / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D000818:Animals; D001209:Asia, Central; D001516:Bees / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000145:classification*; D017753:Ecosystem; D005260:Female; D008297:Male