Andrena nycthemera
| Andrena nycthemera | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Andrena nycthemera, female |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Andrena nycthemera | ||||||||||||
| Imhoff , 1868 |
Andrena nycthemera is a sand bee from the Andrenidae family thatflies fairly early in spring (mid-March to early May). It only has one generation a year. It is sometimes called the "curly gray sand bee".
features
The male bees are 10 to 12 millimeters long, the females are 12 to 14 mm long. The males are gray overall, with black hair on the sides of the face. Abdomen relatively long, with light gray hairs. They are similar to the males of A. clarkella . The females are hairy black on the head, more or less brown on the thorax and the first tergites. Black end fringe. The rail brush is black and white on the underside.
distribution and habitat
Andrena nycthemera is widespread in Europe, but only sporadically and generally rather rare. Also in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Benelux, southern Sweden, northern Italy and in Eastern Europe. Often in nest aggregations with over 100 nests.
A. nycthemera nests in self-dug cavities in the ground on paths, on edges, in loose or firm sand, especially in areas free of vegetation. The habitat is mainly in floodplains, sand heaths, sand and gravel pits.
A. nycthemera often occurs together with A. clarkella (this species is a little earlier in the year) and A. vaga (a little later).
behavior
The males usually hatch a little earlier than the females, the females fly longer a year. After hatching in spring, the males look for females on the ground that are ready for copulation in the area of the nests. B. crawl into small holes. They also fly over the terrain repeatedly, but not on fixed routes. When they meet a female, they try to copulate immediately, the males come across females regardless of whether they are digging or sitting, they also pursue them in flight. The copulations last about 2 to 4 minutes and are ended by the females by stripping the male with their hind legs. Females are very often harassed by males, often by several, and repel them. The males often show aggressive behavior against each other in the fight for females or for a place to dig in the ground. At night the males bury themselves in the ground to sleep.
The females look for suitable nesting sites and then dig deep. In addition to the mandibles, the front and middle legs are mainly used. After about two to four days, the females begin to supply the nests with pollen. They only collect pollen from willows . When the females fly away to collect pollen, they close the nest entrance so that it cannot be seen. When taking off, they do a typical orientation flight. When they come back, they first have to look for the nest entrance with a low zig-zag flight, then often crawling on the ground. They don't always find the nest entrance straight away. Sometimes there is aggressive behavior by females towards other females, probably fighting over a nest. When the weather is not warm and sunny, one can very often observe that the females sit in the entrance of the nests and wait for sunshine. Some females only care for one nest during the nesting period, others up to six nests.
Parasites
The cuckoo bees are Nomada leucophthalma and Sphecodes pellucidus . Adult animals can be stylopized; H. of Stylops affected. The fly Leucophora obtusa ( Anthomyiidae ) is probably a parasite of A. nycthemera .
website
Wildbienen.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Sand bees: Andrena nycthemera. Retrieved May 5, 2020 .
- ^ A b c Paul Westrich: The wild bees of Germany . Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2018, ISBN 978-3-8186-0123-2 , pp. 483 .
- ↑ a b Erwin Scheuchl & Wolfgang Willner: Pocket dictionary of wild bees in Central Europe . Quelle & Meyer, 2016, ISBN 978-3-494-01653-5 , pp. 151 f .
- ↑ a b c d e Klaus Schönitzer, Christine Klinksik: The Ethology of the Solitary Bee Andrena nycthemera Imhoff, 1866 (Hymenoptera, Apoidea) . In: Entomofauna . tape 11 , no. 23 . Ansfelden 1990, p. 377-428 ( PDF on ZOBODAT ).
- ↑ Klaus Schönitzer, Christine Klinksik: Individually different life courses for the sand bee Andrena nycthmera Imhoff (Hymenoptera, Apoidea) . In: Bavarian Entomologists' newsletter . tape 39 , no. 4 . Munich 1990, p. 116–121 ( PDF on ZOBODAT ).