Andrena gravida
| Andrena gravida | ||||||||||||
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female |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Andrena gravida | ||||||||||||
| IMHOFF , 1832 |
Andrena gravida, also known as the thick sand bee or the white binding sand bee , is a solitary bee from the genus of sand bees .
features
The rather large bees show a significant gender dimorphism, as is usually the case with bees.
female
The females of Andrena gravida are about 12-14 mm in size. It has light hair on the face, the upper side of the thorax is light brown, the underside and the strongly pronounced fringes on the tergite edges are white. The scopae are orange. The end fringe on the abdomen is dark.
male
The males of Andrena gravida are around 10–13 mm in size. The male is generally hairy light brown. It has a lot of hair on its face. At the edges of the eyes these are black, otherwise light. The abdomen is quite hairy, the bands at the edges of the tergium are only weakly pronounced.
Similar species
Andrena gravida is similar to the common sand bee , but is significantly larger. In addition, Andrena gravida has lighter hairs on the ventral side and on the tergium margins. Another very similar species is the rare Andrena chrysopyga . This has an orange fringe at the end of the abdomen. In A. gravida the end fringe is dark.
Occurrence
Andrena gravida is widespread in Europe in warm and temperate latitudes. In the west it is found as far as France, England and Scotland in the east as far as Turkey and far to Russia. In Germany the species is still fairly common, although it is rarer in the north than in the south.
Way of life
The animals are univoltin they fly in spring from late March to May. They build their nests in the ground, mostly hidden between vegetation on meadows and embankments. The nests are laid out in loose groups at suitable locations. Andrena gravida is polyectic, she visits many different plant species to collect pollen and nectar.
Parasites
Nomada bifasciata is a breeding parasite in Andrena gravida . Like her host, she is univoltin. Bombylius major and satellite flies from the genus Leucophora also threaten the nests.
swell
Web links
- Insects in Saxony (German)
- Nature walk Andrena Gravida (German)
- wildbienen.de Andrena gravida (German)
- BWARS Andrena gravida (Eng.)
- Atlas Hymenoptera Andrena gravida (French)