Megachilidae

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Megachilidae
Leaf cutter bee on a borage flower note the belly brush

Leaf cutter bee on a borage
flower note the belly brush

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Hymenoptera (Hymenoptera)
Subordination : Waist Wasps (Apocrita)
Superfamily : Apoidea
without rank: Bees (Apiformes)
Family : Megachilidae
Scientific name
Megachilidae
Latreille , 1802

The family Megachilidae belongs to the bees in the order of the hymenoptera (Hymenoptera). With around 4,135 species and 76 genera, the Megachilidae are the second largest bee family. The Megachilidae and the Apidae form the group of long-tongued bees.

features

The representatives of this family form a fairly uniform group that is easy to distinguish from other bees. The females of the non-parasitic species have a belly brush , that is, the underside of the abdomen is densely covered with long, stiff hair that protrudes backwards at an angle. These are used to collect pollen as food for the larvae. These species belong to the belly collectors . The body is usually stocky, especially in the larger species, many have a very broad abdomen ( woolly bees , e.g. the large woolly bee ), with some the abdomen is almost spherical. The smaller types are usually built cylindrical.

Way of life

The way of life of the different species is very diverse: Usually brood cells are created in various cavities, the inner walls are sometimes lined with plant fibers scraped from leaves (wool bees) or with cut pieces of leaf (leaf cutter bees). Some species also nest in plant stems in which a longitudinal passage has been gnawed. Above all, some species from the genera of mason bees and leafcutter bees can often be found in the vicinity of human dwellings ( synanthropy ) and are therefore among the familiar phenomena for naturalists.

The cone bees ( Coelioxys ), named after their peculiar, stocky-wide but evenly pointed body shape towards the rear, live as brood parasites in leafcutter bees, each species has its own specific host species.

The gloomy bees ( Stelis ) are also brood parasites, but with various mason bee species ( Osmia ) and holey bees ( Heriades ).

The stone bee species Lithurgus dentipes also deposits its storage chambers on the Carolines in dead hibiscus trunks.

Systematics

The Megachilidae are divided into 11 tribes and 4 subfamilies.

Subfamilies:

Native genera and species

The division into genres is handled differently by different authors. The following compilation is based on Westrich (2018). Not all types are listed.

  • Anthidium (wool and resin bees)
    • A. byssinum (large resin bee)
    • A. florentinum
    • A. manicatum (garden woolly bee)
    • A. melanurum
    • A. montanum (mountain woolly bee)
    • A. nanum (Distrel wool bee)
    • A. oblongatum (split wool bee)
    • A. punctatum (white-spotted wool bee)
    • A. septemspinosum (floodplain wool 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
  • Trachusa (countedas Anthidium by Westrich)
    • Trachusa byssinum (= Anthidium byssinum)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ JD Plant & HF Paulus: Evolution and Phylogeny of Bees . In: Zoologica . tape 161 , 2016, p. 231-243 .
  2. ^ Family Megachilidae . bugguide.net. Retrieved July 15, 2018.
  3. ↑ Victor H. Gonzalez, Terry Griswold, Christophe J. Praz, Bryan N. Danforth: Phylogeny of the bee family Megachilidae (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) based on adult morphology (PDF, 2.9 MB) Systematic Entomology 37, issue 2, 261 –286, 2012. Retrieved July 15, 2018.
  4. ↑ a b c P. Westrich: The wild bees of Germany . E. Ulmer Verl., Stuttgart 2018, ISBN 978-3-8186-0123-2 .
  5. ↑ Palaearctic Osmiine Bees. Retrieved June 14, 2019 (American English).

Web links

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