Blood bees

Blood bees
	Sphecodes albilabris
Systematics
Order :	Hymenoptera (Hymenoptera)
Subordination :	Waist Wasps (Apocrita)
Superfamily :	Apoidea
	Bees (Apiformes)
Family :	Halictidae
Genre :	Blood bees
Scientific name
	Sphecodes
	Latreille , 1805

Blood bees ( Sphecodes ) form a genus within the bees in the Halictidae family . They are sometimes also called bukel bees in German.

Appearance

The sphecodes are quite conspicuous bees due to the little hairy black head and thorax as well as the almost bald, more or less red abdomen . The strongly curved basal artery, the lack of collecting hairs in the females and felt spots on the mostly nodular antennae in the males are further typical generic features.

biology

Blood bees belong to the cuckoo bees . As a result, they do not build their own nests, but have specialized in using foreign nests to raise their own brood. They take advantage of when the nest-builder (usually a solitary bee) is looking for pollen and lay their eggs in the foreign brood cell, which is already partially filled with supplies. The foreign eggs or larvae also sometimes become feed stocks. Preferred hosts are bees of the genera Halictus and Lasioglossum . But there are also blood bee species that specialize in hosts from other genera.

Most males and females hatch around July. Soon after, the pairing takes place. The males die by autumn, while the females overwinter in the ground and live until June of the following year.

species

Sphecodes gibbus ( Rijsenhout , North Holland , Netherlands )

In Central Europe there are around 30 species of blood bees, 25 species have been recorded from Germany, and 349 species of the genus Sphecodes are known worldwide . A selection:

Sphecodes albilabris (Fabricius, 1793)
Sphecodes biroi (Friese, 1909)
Sphecodes crassicornis (Smith, 1879)
Sphecodes crassicornis (Tsuneki, 1983)
Sphecodes crassus (Thomson, 1870)
Sphecodes decorus (Cameron, 1897)
Sphecodes gibbus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Sphecodes miniatus (Hagens, 1882)
Sphecodes pellucidus (Smith, 1845)
Sphecodesschenckii (Hagens, 1882)

supporting documents

↑ ^a ^b Felix Amiet, Andreas Müller & Rainer Neumeyer: Apidae 2: Colletes, Dufourea, Hylaeus, Nomia, Nomioides, Rhophitoides, Rophites, Sphecodes, Systropha . In: Swiss Entomological Society (ed.): Fauna Helvetica . 1999, p. 155 .
^ P. Westrich: The wild bees of Germany . E. Ulmer, 2018, ISBN 978-3-8186-0123-2 , pp. 560 .
^ Sphecodes Latreille, 1804 . GBIF.org. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
↑ Sphecodes . Bees, Wasps and Ants Recording Society. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
^ Review and identification of the cuckoo bees of central Europe (Hymenoptera: Halictidae: Sphecodes ) . In: Zootaxa Vol. 3311 . Pp. 1-41. 2012.
^ Genus Sphecodes Latreille . In: An Annotated Catalog of the Bee Species of the Indian Region . Dr. Rajiv K. Gupta. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
↑ Blood bees: Sphecodes gibbus , on: wildbienen.de
↑ Blood bees: Sphecodes miniatus , on: wildbienen.de
↑ Blood bees: Sphecodes miniatus , on: wildbienen.de

[:0-1] Felix Amiet, Andreas Müller & Rainer Neumeyer: Apidae 2: Colletes, Dufourea, Hylaeus, Nomia, Nomioides, Rhophitoides, Rophites, Sphecodes, Systropha . In: Swiss Entomological Society (ed.): Fauna Helvetica . 1999, p. 155 .

[2] P. Westrich: The wild bees of Germany . E. Ulmer, 2018, ISBN 978-3-8186-0123-2 , pp. 560 .

[GBIF-3] Sphecodes Latreille, 1804 . GBIF.org. Retrieved July 16, 2017.

[BWARS-4] Sphecodes . Bees, Wasps and Ants Recording Society. Retrieved July 16, 2017.

[Bogusch-5] Review and identification of the cuckoo bees of central Europe (Hymenoptera: Halictidae: Sphecodes ) . In: Zootaxa Vol. 3311 . Pp. 1-41. 2012.

[beesind-6] Genus Sphecodes Latreille . In: An Annotated Catalog of the Bee Species of the Indian Region . Dr. Rajiv K. Gupta. Retrieved July 16, 2017.

[7] Blood bees: Sphecodes gibbus , on: wildbienen.de

[8] Blood bees: Sphecodes miniatus , on: wildbienen.de

[9] Blood bees: Sphecodes miniatus , on: wildbienen.de