Gloomy bees

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Gloomy bees
Red-legged gloomy bee (Stelis nasuta) from Greece

Red-legged gloomy bee ( Stelis nasuta ) from Greece

Systematics
Order : Hymenoptera (Hymenoptera)
Superfamily : Apoidea
without rank: Bees (Apiformes)
Family : Megachilidae
Subfamily : Megachilinae
Genre : Gloomy bees
Scientific name
Stelis
Tank , 1806

The gloomy bees ( Stelis ) are a genus from the Megachilidae family . They are breeding parasites (cuckoo bees), so they do not build their own nests. The genus is basically holarctic (with individual species south to Costa Rica, Malaysia and Kenya), around 105 species have been described worldwide, which are divided into seven sub-genera.

Appearance

The dark bees are mainly black in color and have only smaller yellow or white spots. Typical of the females is the bald and almost flat underside of the abdomen , which in the males is depressed and lightly haired. Some gloomy bees look similar to mason bees of the genus Osmia , others more like woolly bees of the genus Anthidium . The red-legged gloomy bee has yellow spots on tergites 2 to 4 and red legs, S. punctatissima has clearly lightened tergite edges. In North America there are also types with a metallic sheen. Dark bees vary in size (4 to 14 mm). Small native species are approx. 4 to 5 mm long ( S. minima ), larger ones 8 to 11 mm long ( S. franconica , S. punctatissima ).

behavior

Dark bees only visit the flowers to supply their own nectar. They are active in early and midsummer. They parasitize on different types of Megachilidae (possibly also on Ceratina ). Some species parasitize on different host species, others specialize in one or a few species. The gloomy bees lay their egg at least partially in the host cell before it is completely supplied with food. The Stelis - larva but slips before the host larva and kills them.

Systematics

Stelis belongs in the subfamily Megachilinae to the tribe Anthidini. This tribe also includes the genera Anthidium , Trachusa , Anthidiellum , Icteranthidium , Rhodanthidium and Pseudoanthidium .

Native species

22 species are known in the Western Palaearctic , ten species have been recorded in Germany, eleven in Switzerland and nine in Austria.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Max Kasparek: The Cuckoo Bees of the Genus Stelis Panzer, 1806 in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. A Review and Identification Guide . In: Entomofauna . Supplement 18. Ansfelden 2015, p. 144 ( PDF on ZOBODAT ).
  2. ^ A b Charles D. Michener: Bees of the World . 2nd Edition. 2007, p. 529 f .
  3. ^ A b c Paul Westrich: The wild bees of Germany . E. Ulmer, Stuttgart 2018, p. 185-186, 620-622 .
  4. ↑ a b Species of solitary bees: Dark bees (Stelis). In: wildbienen.de. Retrieved July 13, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Jessica R. Litman, Terry L. Griswold, Bryan N. 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 ).
  6. ↑ Wildbiene.com | The website about wild bee protection. Retrieved July 13, 2019 .
  7. ↑ Julie A. Weissmann: Urban Pollinators - Wild bees in Freising , impressions from the 2018 season, accessed on December 1, 2019, TU Munich