Stenotritidae
| Stenotritidae | ||||||||||||
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Stenotritus pubescens |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Stenotritidae | ||||||||||||
| McGinley , 1980 |
The Stenotritidae are a small family of bees . The approximately 20 species in two genera live in Australia.
features
Stenotritidae are medium-sized to large, robustly built, very hairy bees, with a body length between 12 and a good 20 millimeters.
The bees of the family are similar in appearance to those of their sister family Colletidae . They can be distinguished from them on the basis of the following features: The first limb of the antenna whip is longer than its base limb (scapus). The two seams (sutures) below the deflection of the antennae in the head capsule unite a little above the clypeus and divide a small, triangular antenna field. The ocelles lie in front of the head, closer to the antenna bases than to the rear edge. At the mouthparts are glossae short and blunt rounded, not bilobed or truncated, the proboscis is therefore relatively short. There are no so-called episternal pits (small depressions below the femoral pits into which the thighs of the middle legs can be inserted) on the pleura of the mesothorax . The collection device with bristles for collecting pollen on the hind leg (called Scopa) is only on the splint ( tibia ) and does not extend to the thigh ( femur ). The inner spur at the end of the rear rails is cut in a comb shape. In Flügelgeäder three Submarginalzellen are formed. The wing mark is very narrow.
Biology and way of life
The species of the Stenonitridae nest in the ground, in self-dug earth nests. Most species have been observed nesting in open, sandy ground. The nest entrance is not surrounded by a mound of excavated soil. The species nest solitary, but the nests often form clusters in suitable places (breeding colonies). The nest consists of a long passage, from the end of which short, horizontal side passages lead, at the end of which there is a breeding chamber, which in the genus Ctenocolletes is lined with a water-repellent film. As with the Colletidae, this is probably secreted by the Dufour's glands on the abdomen. Each brood cell is provided with an oval mass of pollen stuck together with nectar, this is not, as is typical with the Colletidae, semi-liquid, but solid. The nests of some species can reach a depth of more than three meters.
Taxonomy, phylogeny, systematics
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The family comprises two genera.
- Stenotritus Smith, 1853. 11 species. all of Australia, but missing in the tropical north.
- Ctenocolletes Cockerell, 1929. 10 species. Western Australia and Western South Australia . One species ( Ctenocolletes smaragdinus ) is striking because of its metallic green color.
The Stenotritidae are sister group of the Colletidae, sister of the common clade are the Halictidae . This relationship, first established on the basis of morphological characteristics, was also confirmed with genetic methods.
Historically, the two similar genera were initially understood as aberrant Andrenidae, then as the subfamily Stenotritinae within the Colletidae. Frederick Smith initially described the genus Stenotrites only on the basis of the females, for the males he established a separate genus Gastropsis . Their togetherness was only recognized in 1929 by Theodore Cockerell . In the same work he raised the previous subgenus Ctenocolletes to an independent genus. Their position as an independent family was proposed in 1980 by the American entomologist Ronald J. McGinley based on the morphology of the glossae. This view quickly caught on.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Michael Batley, Katja Hogendoorn (2009): Diversity and conservation status of native Australian bees. Apidology 40: 347-354. doi: 10.1051 / apido / 2009018
- ^ A b Charles D. Michener: The Bees of the World. Second edition, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 2007. ISBN 978-0-8018-8573-0 .
- ↑ Eduardo AB Almeida (2008): Colletidae nesting biology (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). Apidology 39: 16-29. doi: 10.1051 / apido: 2007049
- ↑ Terry F. Houston (1987): A second contribution to the biology of Ctenocolletes bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Stenotritidae). Records of the Western Australian Museum 13 (2): 189-201.
- ↑ Shannon M. Hedtke, Sébastien Patiny, Bryan N. Danforth (2013): The bee tree of life: a supermatrix approach to apoid phylogeny and biogeography. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 13: 138. doi: 10.1186 / 1471-2148-13-138
- ^ RJ McGinley (1980): Glossal Morphology of the Colletidae and Recognition of the Stenotritidae at the Family Level (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 53 (3): 539-552. JSTOR 25084069