Melitta dimidiata
| Melitta dimidiata | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Melitta dimidiata | ||||||||||||
| Morawitz , 1876 |
Melitta dimidiata is a bee from the family of Melittidae .
features
The bees are 13 to 14 millimeters long. The females are predominantly hairy whitish. Her thorax is yellow-gray and hairy in the middle with black hair. There are terminal ligaments on the second through fourth tergites. The third and fourth tergite are black on the disk, the fifth tergite black in the middle and white hairs on the sides. The splint brush (Scopa) is white. The mesonotum and the scutellum are structured irregularly in the middle. The spaces in between are smooth and shiny. The males are hairy white on the face and on the ventral side of the thorax. The back of the thorax and the first two tergites are yellow-brown, the third tergite is yellow-brown with black, and the fourth to seventh tergites are hairy with black. The antennae have no knots. The sixth sternite has a keel along its entire length. The end plate of the eighth sternite is red-brown.
Occurrence and way of life
The species is widespread in southern and in some places also in Central Europe, as well as in southern England. They colonize dry meadows. Pollen is only collected from saspards ( Onobrychis ). The animals fly from late April to late July. It is not known which cuckoo bees parasitize the species .
supporting documents
Felix Amiet, M. Herrmann, A. Müller, R. Neumeyer: Fauna Helvetica 20: Apidae 5 . Center Suisse de Cartographie de la Faune, 2007, ISBN 978-2-88414-032-4 .