Molecular evidence supports the recognition of two distinct species within Anthidium minimum Pasteels, 1969, from the Afro-Arabian zoogeographic region (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae)

The Afro-Arabian zoogeographic region, dominated by extensive drylands, harbours a comparatively poor fauna of wild bees, but with many taxa still undescribed or of uncertain taxonomic status. Anthidium minimum Pasteels, 1969, the priority name for the species most frequently referred to in the literature as Anthidium amabile Alfken, 1932 nec Cockerell, 1904, has been reported as widely distributed in the region. Mitochondrial DNA barcoding (COI gene) revealed that specimens assigned to A. minimum actually represent two clearly distinct species: Anthidium minimum, occurring from Oman through Egypt to Algeria, and Anthidium amandum Kasparek sp. nov., occurring from Oman through Yemen and Saudi Arabia to Sudan.

The ranges of the two species overlap at the eastern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. While certain colour traits reliably separate them, the presence of colour morphs in both species creates a complex pattern that likely explains why their distinctiveness has so far remained unrecognised.