Red-haired wasp bee
| Red-haired wasp bee | ||||||||||||
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Red-haired Wasp Bee ( Nomada lathburiana ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Nomada lathburiana | ||||||||||||
| ( Kirby , 1802) |
The Redhead wasps bee ( Nomada lathburiana ) is a bee in the genus of wasps bees ( Nomada ) within the family of Apidae . The species is not endangered in Germany, in Switzerland it is endangered (category 3). It develops as a cuckoo bee parasitically from sand bees ( Andrena ).
features
The bees reach a body length of 10 to 12 millimeters (females) or 9 to 12 millimeters (males) and have the appearance typical of wasp bees. One cannot distinguish the species in the field from the other similar wasp bees.
Females have a black head and thorax , a yellow spotted scutellum, and yellow shoulder bumps. The pleures of the mesothorax are dark red. The labrum is red and has no teeth. The wing scales are colored rust-red. The tergites of the abdomen are colored black at the base, red or brown at the end and with a yellow spot in between. A red spot is formed on the first abdominal segment instead of the yellow one, and red and yellow spots are formed on the second segment. The antennae and legs are also mostly rust-red. The third antenna element is the same length or only slightly longer than the fourth. The rails ( tibia ) of the hind legs have a short point at the end and red-brown colored thorns. The relatively dense, reddish hair on the head and thorax is characteristic.
Males also have a black head, the labrum is yellow and edentulous. The antenna sections have thorns on the back, the third section is the same length as the fourth. The basal links are colored black. The label is colored black, with occasional yellow spots. The tergites on the abdomen are black and have yellow bands, only the first segment has a red one. The posterior tibia of the males are also finely thorn.
Occurrence
The species occurs in southern and central Europe. It colonizes the habitats of its hosts . These are sandy habitats with little vegetation, such as sand pits. The species is usually common in Central Europe, but only occurs in low population densities. The flight time is from April to June, occasionally from March.
Way of life
The red-haired wasp bee parasitizes the sand bees Andrena vaga , Andrena cineraria and Andrena barbarea , the former being the most important species. The red-haired wasp bee forms only one generation in the first two species, one in the latter in spring and another in summer. Females of the wasp bees can be found in larger colonies of their hosts and try to lay an egg in the nest shortly after their host has laid eggs. After hatching, the wasp bee larva probably first eats the host's egg or larva and then the food supply brought in for them. The adults feed on the nectar of various flowers in a polylectic manner .
swell
literature
- Heiko Bellmann : bees, wasps, ants. Hymenoptera of Central Europe . Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co KG, Stuttgart 1995, ISBN 3-440-09690-4 .
- Andreas Müller, Albert Krebs, Felix Amiet: Bees. Central European species, way of life, observation. Naturbuch-Verlag, Augsburg 1997, ISBN 3-89440-241-5 .
