Cudgel bees

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Cudgel bees
Ceratina chalcites

Ceratina chalcites

Systematics
Order : Hymenoptera (Hymenoptera)
Superfamily : Apoidea
without rank: Bees (Apiformes)
Family : Real bees (Apidae)
Genre : Cudgel bees
Scientific name
Ceratina
Latreille , 1802

The Keulhorn bees ( Ceratina ) are a genus of the Apidae family within the bees . The genus contains about 350 species and is represented on all continents (except Antarctica). In Australia, however, there is only one species. In German-speaking countries there are five, in Germany three species. The German name indicates the short, club-shaped antennae.

features

The mace horn bees are usually only slightly hairy, have a slim, mostly black body, which is usually clearly dotted, sometimes with a metallic sheen. The head shield (clypeus) almost always has a white drawing in the middle. The (native) Keulhorn bees are approx. 6 to 10 mm long. The sting is very weak and is never used.

Occurrence

Keulhorn bees occur in Central Europe mainly on the edges of forests and forest clearings, but can also be found in settlement areas. They can often be found near brambles. They can be observed from April to September.

Way of life

The local Keulhorn bees are consistently solitary and only have one generation a year. Males and females hatch in August and September from their brood cells, which were created in May to July. However, they do not mate immediately, but feed on flowers and in autumn look for suitable winter quarters in hollow blackberry stalks and other marrow-bearing branches (elder, dog roses, mullein). Sometimes several bees find their place together in one stalk.

In May or June of the coming year the bees leave their winter quarters and mate, often on blossoms or inflorescences. The females then look for stems or twigs in which to lay their brood cells. To do this, they often remove the pulp from the stems. They then collect pollen using very different flowers. The pollen is partly swallowed for transport and partly also transported with the weakly developed Scopa . The young hatch after about six to eight weeks. The females spend the nights and bad weather periods in the entrance of their nests during brood care.

In some species, such as Ceratina dallatorreana and C. parvula , no males were observed; these species apparently reproduce parthenogenetically.

Some species of keulhorn bees in the tropics display semi-social behaviors such as brood care and protection of the nests by their mothers. Several females live together in one nest, possibly even in an eusocial way of life. Also in North America there are Ceratina species with a semi-social lifestyle and brood care.

Some species, such as C. smaragdula, which is widespread in southern Asia , are economically important pollinators of alfalfa and other crops.

Systematics

The Keulhorn bees are closely related to the wood bees (Xylocopa). The two genera are in the same subfamily, Xylocopinae of the Apidae (with the following tribe: Xylocopini, Ceratinini, Manuelini, and Allodapini). The Keulhorn bees are also called "small carpenter bees" (= small wooden bees) in English.

The genus Ceratina is currently divided into a total of 24 sub-genera. The sub-genera are naturally only distributed in the western (18 sub-genera) or the eastern hemisphere (6 sub-genera). The genus is most diverse (species-rich) in tropical areas, where it probably originated.

Central European species

In Germany and Switzerland there are only three types of Ceratina , two more in Austria and ten in France. (The following list is not exhaustive.)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Michael S. Engel, Mohamed Shebl, Abdulaziz S. Alqarni, Hussain Ali: Notes on the Nesting Biology of the Small Carpenter Bee Ceratina smaragdula (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in Northwestern Pakistan . In: Florida Entomologist . tape 99 , no. 1 , 2016, ISSN  0015-4040 , p. 89-93 , doi : 10.1653 / 024.099.0116 ( bioone.org [accessed August 11, 2019]).
  2. ↑ a b c Ch. D. Michener: The Bees of the World . 2nd Edition. The Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 2007, ISBN 978-0-8018-8573-0 , pp. 73, 611-618 .
  3. ↑ a b Species of solitary bees: Keulhorn bees (Ceratina). Retrieved August 7, 2019 .
  4. ↑ a b c d e P. Westrich: The wild bees of Germany . E. Ulmer, Stuttgart 2018, ISBN 978-3-8186-0123-2 , pp. 211-213, 669-671 .
  5. ↑ a b c Révision des Xylocopinae (Hymenoptera: Apidae) de France et de Belgique. (PDF) Retrieved on August 9, 2019 .
  6. ↑ a b c Michael P. Schwarz, Miriam H. Richards, Sandra M. Rehan: Evidence of Social Nesting in the Ceratina of Borneo (Hymenoptera: Apidae) . In: Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society . tape 82 , no. 2 , 2009, ISSN  0022-8567 , p. 194-209 , doi : 10.2317 / JKES809.22.1 ( bioone.org [accessed August 10, 2019]).
  7. ↑ Miriam H. Richards, Sandra M. Rehan: Nesting biology and subsociality in Ceratina calcarata (Hymenoptera: Apidae) . In: The Canadian Entomologist . tape 142 , no. 1 , 2010, ISSN  1918-3240 , p. 65-74 , doi : 10.4039 / n09-056 ( cambridge.org [accessed August 10, 2019]).
  8. ↑ a b Chariya Lekprayoon, Charles D. Michener, Natapot Warrit: A Review of Small Carpenter Bees of the Genus Ceratina, Subgenus Ceratinidia, of Thailand (Hymenoptera, Apidae) . In: Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington . tape 114 , no. 3 , 2012, ISSN  0013-8797 , p. 398-416 , doi : 10.4289 / 0013-8797.1143.398 ( bioone.org [accessed August 10, 2019]).
  9. ↑ a b c d Wildbiene.com. Retrieved August 9, 2019 .
  10. ↑ Herbert Zettel, Gerald Hölzler, Karl jun. Mazzucco: Comments on recent occurrences and area extensions of selected wild bee species (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in Vienna, Lower Austria and Burgenland (Austria) . In: Contributions to entomofaunistics . tape 3 , 2002, p. 33–58 ( PDF on ZOBODAT ).