Harz and wool bees

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Large woolly bee ( Anthidium manicatum ), ♂
Thorn-reinforced abdomen end of a ♂ large wool bee

In German, the species from the two genera Anthidium and Pseudoanthidium are called wool bees . The latter are also called dwarf wool bees. The woolly bees are closely related to the resin bees of the genus Anthidiellum (also called dwarf resin bees), the genus Icteranthidium and the hybrid bees of the genus Trachusa (some of which are also included in Anthidium ). The species of these genera are solitary bees and belong to the Megachilidae family within the bees (Apiformes). They occur in Europe with about 30 species.

features

The animals usually have a stocky build with only weak hair. Some species look like wasps because of their yellow or white markings on the black abdomen . The males are larger than the females in most species. They can usually be identified by means of teeth, thorns or rags at the end of the abdomen. Females have a belly brush that they use to collect pollen.

Way of life

The wool bees build their brood cells from plants hair as the Stachys ( Stachys ), the resin bees use for resins . The stem wool bee ( Anthidium nanum ) lays its nest out of plant hair z. B. in oak gall apples . In southern Central Europe, the species use both materials or build their nests out of resin and earth. The males defend feeding grounds by using their thorny abdomen. They sleep alone or in groups at night in cavities or stuck to plants. Unlike most other bee species, females usually hatch earlier than males do ( proterogyny ).

The resin and wool bees fly in Central Europe annually in one generation from June to September, only the great wool bee ( Anthidium manicatum ) can produce a second generation in favorable years.

Native species

  • Anthidium (wool and resin bees)
    • A. byssinum (large resin bee)
    • A. florentinum
    • A. manicatum (garden or large wool bee)
    • A. montanum (mountain woolly bee)
    • A. nanum (small or dwarf wool bee)
    • A. oblongatum (split wool bee)
    • A. punctatum (white-spotted wool bee)
    • A. septemspinosum (wetland or giant woolly bee)
    • A. strigatum (small resin bee)
    • A. tenellum
  • Anthidiellum (countedas Anthidium by Westrich)
    • Anthidellum strigatum (= Anthidium strigatum)
  • Pseudoanthidium (countedas Anthidium by Westrich)
    • Anthidium tenellum
    • A. melanurum

credentials

  1. ↑ Commentary on the checklist of Apidae in Germany ( Memento from March 5, 2005 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ E. Scheuchl & W. Willner: Pocket dictionary of wild bees in Central Europe . Quelle & Meyer, 2016, ISBN 978-3-494-01653-5 , pp. 917 .
  3. ↑ Anthidium. Fauna Europaea, accessed June 21, 2007 .
  4. ^ Driver, Reinwald: Observations on the giant woolly bee (Mega-chilidae, Anthidium septemspinosumLe p eLe tier, 1841) in the southern Upper Rhine Plain https://www.zobodat.at/pdf/Carolinea_69_0089-0093.pdf

literature

Web links