Andrena minutula

Andrena minutula
	Andrena minutula
Systematics
Order :	Hymenoptera (Hymenoptera)
Superfamily :	Apoidea
	Bees (Apiformes)
Family :	Andrenidae
Genre :	Sand bees ( Andrena )
Type :	Andrena minutula
Scientific name
	Andrena minutula
	Kirby , 1802

Andrena minutula is a solitary bee from the species of sand bees ( Andrena ).

features

Andrena minutula is a very small sand bee that is only 5 to 7 mm long. It has a black body that is only sparse, gray or brown in color. The leg brush and the fovea facialis are whitish.

The type can only be precisely determined by specialists.

Similar species

A. minutula belongs to the so-called " Minutula group" within the subgenus Micrandrena . The sand bee Andrena minutuloides, which is also very common and widespread, is very similar .

Other species of the Minutula group include: A. anthrisci, A. falsifica, A. niveata, A. pauxilla, A. pillichi, A. pusilla, A. rugulosa, A. saxonica, A. semilaevis, A. simontornyella, A. strohmella, A. subopaca.

distribution and habitat

A. minutula is very widespread in Central Europe and one of the most common sand bees. The species occurs practically in all of Europe and beyond in North Africa and Asia (up to Japan).

A. minutula has no special habitat requirements. It occurs in different biotopes, e.g. B. in hedges, orchards, grasslands, gardens, parks, forest edges.

Way of life

A. minutula has two generations a year, it flies from March / April to May / June and from June to mid-August. It nests in both sandy and loamy soil, individually in self-dug cavities in the earth. The females collect pollen from many insuring plants, so they are polylectic.

A. minutula is parasitized by the cuckoo bee Nomada flavoguttata . The species is sometimes attacked by stylops .

Individual evidence

↑ Julie Weissmann & Hanno Schaefer: Field determination aid for the wild bees of Bavaria (Hymenoptera; Apoidea) . In: NachrBl. bayer. Ent. tape 69 , no. 2 . Munich 2020, p. 17 .
↑ Christian Schmid-Egger, Erwin Scheuchl: Illustrated tables of identification of wild bees in Germany and Austria, taking into account the species in Switzerland. 3: Andrenidae. Self-published, Velden / Vils 1997, ISBN 3-00-001407-1 .

↑ ^a ^b ^c P. Westrich: The wild bees of Germany . Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2018, ISBN 978-3-8186-0123-2 , pp. 476-477 .

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Erwin Scheuchl & Wolfgang Willner: Pocket dictionary of wild bees in Central Europe . Quelle & Meyer, 2016, ISBN 978-3-494-01653-5 , pp. 129 f .

[1] Julie Weissmann & Hanno Schaefer: Field determination aid for the wild bees of Bavaria (Hymenoptera; Apoidea) . In: NachrBl. bayer. Ent. tape 69 , no. 2 . Munich 2020, p. 17 .

[2] Christian Schmid-Egger, Erwin Scheuchl: Illustrated tables of identification of wild bees in Germany and Austria, taking into account the species in Switzerland. 3: Andrenidae. Self-published, Velden / Vils 1997, ISBN 3-00-001407-1 .

[:0-3] P. Westrich: The wild bees of Germany . Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2018, ISBN 978-3-8186-0123-2 , pp. 476-477 .

[:1-4] Erwin Scheuchl & Wolfgang Willner: Pocket dictionary of wild bees in Central Europe . Quelle & Meyer, 2016, ISBN 978-3-494-01653-5 , pp. 129 f .