Horned mason bee
| Horned mason bee | ||||||||||||
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Horned mason bee ( Osmia cornuta ), female collecting pollen from cowflower ( Taraxacum ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Osmia cornuta | ||||||||||||
| ( Latreille , 1805) |
The horned mason bee ( Osmia cornuta ) is a wild bee species of the genus Osmia from the group of mason bees (family Megachilidae). This species, which occurs in southern and central Europe, is widespread in Germany, but significantly more common in southern and central Germany than in the north. It only occasionally exceeds the height of 500 m . Like all mason bees, it lives solitary , so it does not form states .
features
The horned mason bee is one of the most striking wild bees of spring. While the body of the bumblebee-like females (12-16 mm) is jet black and the abdomen is furry red, the slightly smaller males can easily be recognized by their white facial hair. Only the females have two small horns hidden between the hair on the forehead (hence the German and scientific species name).
Way of life
food
Osmia cornuta is one of the wild bees that can be observed in human settlements on the first warm spring days (beginning to mid-March). Your food plants are therefore spring bloomers here. However, the species is not picky about its own nectar supply as well as its choice of pollen sources for supplying the brood. So far, representatives of a total of 14 plant families have been known as sources of pollen. Thus it differs from many other, sometimes highly specialized, bee species. It is easy to observe the females collecting pollen on the squill ( Scilla siberica ) or on the lark spur ( Corydalis ) in parks and gardens. The flowers of willow ( Salix ), maple ( Acer ), cherries and plums ( Prunus ), apples ( Malus ) and pears ( Pyrus ) are also very popular . Outside of built-up areas, these insects usually nest in south-facing, vegetation-free loess and clay walls of sunken paths and in steep walls on river banks and in boreholes in white rotten wood. The latter should represent the natural nesting dream.
Nest building
Wild bees , who prefer to live in gardens and parks, build their nests in various types of cavities, e.g. B. in cracks in walls , in holes in the plaster , in the drainpipes of roller shutters and in cracks in window frames, in places also in recesses in bricks. Osmia cornuta is very happy to accept artificial nesting aids . The nests themselves are mostly linear structures with up to 12 brood cells lying one behind the other, in front of which there is a so-called empty cell and a thick plug at the exit . Moist sand or clay, which is mixed with glandular secretions, is used as building material.
Hazard and protection
Since the horned mason bee does not have high demands in terms of nesting place and food, this wild bee species is not endangered in Germany. The species can easily be promoted through suitable nesting aids and a wide range of appropriate spring bloomers. The horned mason bee can also be easily attracted with nesting aids, provided that these are attached directly to the house wall on the sunny side or other larger areas. Wooden blocks with holes at right angles to the wood fibers and at least 8-10 cm deep are accepted as artificial nesting opportunities; Horizontally oriented bamboo tubes with a length of 20-25 cm are even more suitable; the inner diameter should be 7–9 mm in each case. Mason bees are peaceful, even when hundreds of them nest in a confined space.
literature
- Paul Westrich : The wild bees of Baden-Württemberg. 2nd Edition. Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 1990 (2 volumes).
- Paul Westrich: Wild bees in the house and in the garden. (= Worksheets on nature conservation. Volume 22). State Institute for Environmental Protection Baden-Württemberg, Karlsruhe 1997 ( PDF; 14.9 MB ).
Web links
- Paul Westrich: Osmia cornuta - Horned mason bee: An example of a solitary bee species (private website).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Erwin Scheuchl / Wolfgang Willner: Pocket dictionary of wild bees in Central Europe . Quelle & Meyer Verlag Wiebelsheim, 2016, p. 743 .