Spring silk bee

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Spring silk bee
Spring silk bee (Colletes cunicularius) ♂

Spring silk bee ( Colletes cunicularius ) ♂

Systematics
Order : Hymenoptera (Hymenoptera)
Superfamily : Apoidea
without rank: Bees (Apiformes)
Family : Colletidae
Genre : Silk bees ( colletes )
Type : Spring silk bee
Scientific name
Colletes cunicularius
( Linnaeus , 1761)

The spring silk bee ( Colletes cunicularius ) is a bee from the genus of silk bees ( Colletes ). The species that used to be common in Central Europe is endangered by habitat loss .

features

With a body length of 13 to 15 millimeters, the spring silk bee is the largest Central European species of the silk bee genus. The black, arched thorax is furry reddish brown hair, the abdomen has no clear banding between the segments. It is almost equally thick in the females and males and does not become narrower towards the rear, as in the males of the sand bees ( Andrena ). The species is unmistakable within the silk bees due to the flight time, but it can be confused with the western honey bee , from which it differs mainly in the pollen collecting apparatus and the very narrow radial cell in the tip of the forewings with their parallel sides.

Occurrence

The species is widespread in Europe , north to Finland . It inhabits loose sandy soil with little vegetation, such as can be found in sand and gravel pits, on inland dunes, flood dams and in floodplains. In Central Europe, the species occurs mainly in river valleys and near the coasts, it is sometimes common locally. The flight time is earlier in the year than with the other silk bees, from mid-March to May, with the males until the beginning of April.

Way of life

The nests are preferably created on horizontal to slightly inclined surfaces in loose sandy soil, often in large colonies. Pollen and nectar are preferably collected from willows ( Salix ). The overwintering takes place as a fully developed insect within the brood cell. The species is parasitized by the blood bee species Sphecodes albilabris .

supporting documents

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Heiko Bellmann : Bees, wasps, ants. Hymenoptera of Central Europe . Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co KG, Stuttgart 1995, ISBN 3-440-09690-4 , p. 202 [1]
  2. ↑ Erwin Scheuchl, Wolfgang Willner: Pocket Lexicon of Wild Bees Central Europe . Wiebelsheim: Quelle & Meyer Verlag 2016, p. 342 f.

Web links

Commons : Spring Silk Bee  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files