Shaggy bees
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Male shaggy bee ( Panurgus calcaratus ) |
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| Panurgus | ||||||||||||
| Tank , 1806 | ||||||||||||
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The shaggy bees ( Panurgus ) are a genus of bees from the Andrenidae family . There are around 35 species worldwide, in Central Europe the genus is represented by 3 species.
distribution
The shaggy bees are completely restricted to the Palearctic , the range extends from the Canary Islands to China and Japan . The genus is particularly species-rich in the western Mediterranean region, i.e. Spain and North Africa.
features
Shaggy bees are small to medium-sized at 5 to 14 mm. Most of the species (subgenus Panurgus s.str. ) Are almost completely black, some species have yellow markings on their heads and legs, and some have yellow abdominal bands. In the fore wing they have two cubital cells of about the same size and a radial cell truncated at the end . The hair is relatively sparse, but the male has thick, long, black facial hair. The body surface is largely bare and very shiny. The abdomen has a typical, slightly diamond-shaped outline. Shaggy bees are leg collectors, a special feature of Panurgus s.str. is the structure of the collecting hairs on the hind legs of the females, these are finely wavy in a zigzag shape or twisted in a spiral and thus form a long, shaggy looking collecting brush (hence the name).
Way of life
Shaggy bees form one generation per year; adult animals are mainly found in midsummer. They depend on the daisy family as a source of pollen; they are particularly common in yellow-flowered flower heads, such as hawkweed or bitterweed . The nests are created in sandy soil or loess, often in larger collections, typically on embankments, unpaved roads, in sand and clay pits or at the edges of forests. The most common native species, Panurgus calcaratus , belongs to the communal species, i.e. several females live in a communal nest, but each only feeds its own larvae. The same nests are often used over several generations. Shaggy bees overwinter in their nests as resting larvae. Only wasp bees are known as cuckoo bees .
Central European species
Three types are known in Central Europe:
- Panurgus calcaratus is the most common native species, especially widespread in the lowlands.
- In contrast to P. calcaratus, Panurgus dentipes isdependent on warmer areas and in Germany is largely restricted to the Rhine Rift.
- Panurgus banksianus is larger than the other two species and is found mainly in higher mountain ranges.
Systematics
The closest relatives of the shaggy bees are the pseudo-lobed bees ( Panurginus ), possibly they are paraphyletic with the pseudo-lobed bees as the outer group. Another closely related genus of Central Europe are the bees ( Camptopoeum ). The most important distinguishing features of the genera lie in the construction of the last abdominal sternite of the males.
The nominate sub-genus distinguishes between the two sub-genus Flavipanurgus and Simpanurgus , which are limited to the Iberian Peninsula with a few species and differ from the species of the sub-genus Panurgus s.str. distinguish.
literature
- Charles D. Michener: The Bees of the World . New edition The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 2007, ISBN 978-0-8018-8573-0 .
- Paul Westrich : The wild bees of Baden-Württemberg . 2nd edition Ulmer, Stuttgart 1990, ISBN 3-8001-3317-2 (2 volumes).
- General part. Habitat, behavior, ecology protection . 431 pp.
- Special part. The genera and species . Pp. 437-972.
