Anthidium

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Anthidium
Anthidium oblongatum, male

Anthidium oblongatum , male

Systematics
Order : Hymenoptera (Hymenoptera)
Superfamily : Apoidea
without rank: Bees (Apiformes)
Family : Megachilidae
Subfamily : Megachilinae
Genre : Anthidium
Scientific name
Anthidium
Fabricius , 1804

Anthidium is a genus of bees in the Megachilidae family. The genus is distributed on all continents (except Australia and the Indomalayan tropics). About 120 species are known. There are nine types of anthidium inCentral Europe.

In German these bees are mostly called wool bees , but the German name is not limited to this genus.

morphology

The bees of the genus Anthidium are relatively large, about 6 to 18 mm in length. They have a black body with a striking yellow markings. The top of the back of the body is barely hairy. The females have pale hair on their belly, so the females collect the pollen (belly collectors). The clypeus is also densely hairy. The forewings have two discoid cells. The males often have teeth or thorns at the end of their abdomen. The males are larger than the females, which is unusual for bees.

Way of life

Anthidium bees are solitary bees that mainly collect pollen from butterflies and mint plants . They fly very rapidly, sometimes like a hoverfly. The females nest in a wide variety of cavities (including in the ground, in stems, in snail shells). They create brood cells in it, which they form with plant hair. The plant hair is, for example, from mullein , ziest or donkey thistle . Some species collect pieces of leaves and resin.

The males claim territories around the flowers, where the females collect pollen. They defend these in flight against invading insects with their thorns on the abdomen. Males of their own kind are driven away or a fight ensues. Females are pursued and copulation occurs while the female is sitting on the flower. Males and females copulate several times.

Systematics

The genus Anthidium belongs within the subfamily Megachilinae to the tribe Anthidini . According to Michener (2007), this tribe is divided into 37 genera, including the Stelis , Trachusa , Anthidiellum , Icteranthidium , Rhodanthidium and Pseudoanthidium represented in Central Europe . Michener divides the genera into two groups (series A and B). A more recent phylogenetic-systematic study divides the anthidini into five generic groups: Tachusa group (with Trachusa, series A), Anthidium group (including Anthidium and Pseudanthidium ), Anthodioctes group, Dianthidium group (including Anthidiellum , Icteranthidium , Rhodanthidium ) and Stelis group (with stelis ). The Anthidium group belongs to series B according to Michener, the others to series A.

However, some authors still use a very broad generic term in which the species of Trachusa , Pseudanthidium and Anthidiellum belong to Anthidium . For various synonyms and generic concepts, see.

According to Michener, the genus Anthidium is divided into seven sub-genera . The most species-rich of these is the subgenus Anthidium s. st. with 75 species and wide distribution. The second most species, namely 10, contains the subgenus Severanthidium . This subgenus occurs in sub-Saharan Africa. The subgenus Proanthidium with 8 species also occurs in Europe, Asia and with A. oblongatum also introduced in North America.

Species in Central Europe

(to )

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e E. Scheuchl & W. Willner: Pocket dictionary of wild bees in Central Europe . Quelle & Meyer, 2016, ISBN 978-3-494-01653-5 , pp. 217-228 .
  2. ↑ a b c P. Westrich: The wild bees of Germany . E. Ulmer, Stuttgart 2018, p. 149-160, 578-586 .
  3. ↑ a b c Ch. D. Michener: Bees of the World . 2nd Edition. 2007, p. 71 f., 491-537 .
  4. ↑ JR Litman, T. Griswold, BN Danforth: Phylogenetic systematics and a revised generic classification of anthidiine bees (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) . In: Molecular phylogenetics and evolution . tape 100 , 2016, p. 183-198 ( researchgate.net ).
  5. ↑ Solitary bee species: Woolly and resin bees (Anthidium). Retrieved April 4, 2020 .