Thigh bees
| Thigh bees | ||||||||||||
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Macropis europaea |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Macropis | ||||||||||||
| Tank , 1809 |
The thigh bees ( Macropis ) are a genus of bees from the Melittidae family with 16 known species. They belong to the species that collect oil ("oil collecting bees").
features
The bees of this genus resemble the furrow bees ( Halictus and Lasioglossum ) (but without a "furrow" on the abdomen), they are about 8 to 10 mm tall, dark and relatively weakly haired. The abdomen is noticeably shiny and wears narrow white hair ties at the segment edges. The males have a yellow face and club-like thickened hind legs and rails (hence the German name).
Way of life
Flight time: June to September. One generation a year. The bees dig nests in the ground in overgrown and protected areas.
The thigh bees are adapted to Lysimachia (loosestrife). They can therefore only occur where plants of this genus bloom. When visiting the flowers, the females lift their hind legs steeply and can thus be recognized in the field. The bees collect both pollen and oil. The females dab the oil with special hair pads on the inside of the tarsi of the front and middle legs and transfer it to the leg brush on the rear legs. There it is mixed with the pollen and transported as a lump and serves as food for the larvae ("larvae bread"). The oil is significantly higher in calories than nectar and also serves to seal the cells against moisture. For self-sufficiency, the adult bees have to collect nectar from other plants, as Lysimachia does not give off any nectar.
Distribution and systematics
The genus is common in both North America and the Palearctic . There are only two species in Central Europe: Macropis europaea and M. fulvipes , both of which are also widespread in Germany. M. frivaldszkyi is widespread from the Balkans to Anatolia and Syria. One species was found in North Africa (Algeria).
The genus is divided into three sub-genera: Macropis s. st. with 10 species, from North America, Europe and the East Palaearctic, including the two Central European species; Paramacropis with only one species from the East Palaearctic, Sinomacropis 5 species from China and Laos.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Denis Michez, Sébastien Patiny: World revision of the oil-collecting bee genus Macropis Panzer 1809 (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Melittidae) with a description of a new species from Laos . In: Annales de la Société entomologique de France (NS) . tape 41 , no. 1 , 2005, p. 15-28 , doi : 10.1080 / 00379271.2005.10697439 .
- ^ A b Müller, Andreas., Krebs, Albert., Amiet, Felix .: Bees: Central European genera, way of life, observation . Natur-Buch-Verl, Augsburg 1997, ISBN 3-89440-241-5 ( wildbiene.com ).
- ↑ a b Species of solitary bees: thigh bees (Macropis). Retrieved April 27, 2019 .
- ^ J. Weissmann & H. Schaeffer: Field determination aid for the wild bees of Bavaria (Hymenoptera; Apoidea) . In: NachrBl. bayer. Ent. tape 69 , no. 2 . Munich 2020, p. 32 f .
- ^ A b P. Westrich: The wild bees of Germany . E. Ulmer, Stuttgart 2018, ISBN 978-3-8186-0123-2 , pp. 571 .