Sphecodes albilabris

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Sphecodes albilabris
Sphecodes albilabris

Sphecodes albilabris

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Hymenoptera (Hymenoptera)
Superfamily : Apoidea
Family : Halictidae
Genre : Blood bees ( Sphecodes )
Type : Sphecodes albilabris
Scientific name
Sphecodes albilabris
( Fabricius , 1793)
Sphecodes albilabris , female

Sphecodes albilabris is a parasitic bee ( hymenoptera ) belonging tothe Halictidae family . In German it is sometimes also called giant blood bee or dark-winged humpback bee . It is one of the few of its kind that can be recognized in the field due to its size, the almost completely red abdomen and the dark wings.

features

Both male and female animals reach a body length of 11 to 14 millimeters and are thus the largest blood bee species in Central Europe. The head and thorax are black, the abdomen is red, only the last segment is black. The body of the female is sparse with black hair, on the shoulder bumps and legs the hair is partly white. The wings are tinted dark. The males are similar to the females, but are characterized by their white hairy face.

Occurrence

The species can be found almost everywhere in Central Europe , but mostly very rarely (not reported from Salzburg), and generally widespread in the Palaearctic. It colonizes loose sandy soils, such as on dunes or in sand pits. The flight time of the new generation is from July to September, the females overwinter and fly in April and May.

Way of life

Sphecodes albilabris develops parasitically as a cuckoo bee in the spring silk bee ( Colletes cunicularis ). S. albilabris was also observed in nests of Halictus sexcinctus , H. quadricinctus and Melitturga clavicornis .

The egg is placed in a finished cell of the host bee, before the host egg inside is eaten. The larvae of Sphecodes albilabris then develop from the supply of nectar and pollen.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b P. Westrich: The wild bees of Germany . E. Ulmer Verl., Stuttgart 2018, ISBN 978-3-8186-0123-2 , pp. 560 .
  2. ↑ a b c E. Scheuchl & W. Willner: Pocket dictionary of the wild bees of Central Europe . Quelle & Meyer, 2016, ISBN 978-3-494-01653-5 , pp. 804 f .
  3. ↑ FELIX AMIET, ANDREAS MULLER & RAINER NEUMEYER: Apidae2 Colletes, Dufourea, Hylaeus, Nomia, Nomioides, Rhophitoides, Rophites, Sphecodes, Systropha . In: Swiss Entomological Society (ed.): Fauna Helvetica . 1999, p. 182 .
  4. ↑ a b Heiko Bellmann : bees, wasps, ants. Hymenoptera of Central Europe . Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co KG, Stuttgart 1995, ISBN 3-440-09690-4 , p. 223 [1]

Web links

Commons : Sphecodes albilabris  - album with pictures, videos and audio files