Four-toothed cone bee
| Four-toothed cone bee | ||||||||||||
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Four-toothed cone bee ( Coelioxys quadridentata ) |
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| Coelioxys quadridentata | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
The four-toothed cone bee ( Coelioxys quadridentata ) is a bee from the Megachilidae family .
features
The bees reach a body length of 10 to 13 millimeters. Their abdomen is dark and has a white band at the end of each tergite , which is narrower in the middle than on the sides. There is a white patch of hair on each side of the first abdominal segment. The last segment of the thorax is greatly elongated and constricted in females. The drones have six thorns at the end of the abdomen.
Similar species
Several other cone bee species can only be distinguished from C. quadridentata by experts.
Occurrence
The animals are widespread and common in Central Europe , but they have a low density of individuals and are therefore not often seen. The species is not endangered. You can find them from May to July in open and sunny areas, especially in sandy places.
Way of life
The host range of the four-toothed cone bee is very large compared to the other species of cone bees. The large resin bee ( Trachusa byssina ), fur bees , or various types of leaf cutter bees ( Megachile ) are usually parasitized. No information is known about the exact host spectrum, which is usually only suspected on the basis of sightings in the vicinity of the host's nests, nor about the oviposition and development. Based on the behavior of similar species, it is assumed that the females lay their eggs in the host's brood cell before the host has laid its egg. The cone bee's egg is inserted into the cell wall in such a way that it is half stuck in the pollen supply and cannot be seen by the host bee. The way of life of the larva of the four-toothed cone bee does not differ from that of the other cone bees. It eats up the pollen supply and the host larva and pupates in the brood cell.
literature
- Heiko Bellmann : bees, wasps, ants. Hymenoptera of Central Europe . Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co KG, Stuttgart 1995, ISBN 3-440-09690-4 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Heiko Bellmann : Bees, wasps, ants. Hymenoptera of Central Europe . Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co KG, Stuttgart 1995, ISBN 3-440-09690-4 , p. 283 [1] .