Andrena hattorfiana

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Andrena hattorfiana
Andrenidae - Andrena hattorfiana.JPG
Andrena hattorfiana – Female
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Andrenidae
Genus: Andrena
Species:
A. hattorfiana
Binomial name
Andrena hattorfiana
(Fabricius, 1775)

Andrena hattorfiana is a species of mining bees belonging to the family Andrenidae subfamily Andreninae.

Contents

Description

Large Scabious Mining Bee (Andrena hattorfiana), Hohenwart, Germany, July 2021 Andrenahattorfiana.jpg
Large Scabious Mining Bee (Andrena hattorfiana), Hohenwart, Germany, July 2021

The adults grow up to 13–16 millimetres (0.51–0.63 in) long. They have a black-brown body with sparse light hair, while the first and the second abdominal segment are reddish. The females have a pollen basket of curved hairs on the sides of the thorax.

Range

This endangered solitary bee is present in most of Europe and in the Near East. From central Spain via Ukraine to the Urals and via Asia Minor to the Caucasus; north to southern England and south Wales, in Norway and Sweden to 60.5 ° N, in Finland to 62.5 ° N, in Russia to Perm, south to Sicily, Peloponnese and southern Turkey; not in Crete. In the eastern Mediterranean area (westwards to Sicily) the ssp. dimidiata BRULLE, 1832 occurs. The species is generally uncommon. [1]

Habitat

Dry nutrient rich and poor meadows, flood dams, road embankments, forest edges. From the lowlands to the montane elevation. [1]

Ecology

Andrena hattorfiana is an oligolectic species, feeding on cardiac plants (Dipsacaceae); The main pollen source in the area is Knautia arvensis , the secondary pollen source is Knautia dipsacifolia . If the Knautia already wither before the end of the flight time, pollen of Scabiosa columbaria is also collected. [1] It is a solitary bee that can be seen easily from up to 5 meters away. It can be encountered from May through August.

The females usually lay eggs in a nest excavated by themselves in sandy soils. Nest has five to ten brood cells, each having one egg and pollen as food for the larva. Every day there is one offspring produced in good weather conditions for foraging, and five to ten in a lifetime. These nests are made in dry parts of a traditionally managed hay field in medium pressure horse-graze pastures with sparse vegetation and on human-trampled paths. These bees relies heavily on pollen, that is almost like a species saving resource. The critical pollen resource for 10 reproducing Andrena hattorfiana ♀ varied from 27 to 361 plant individuals. Therefore, being able to get pollen from only one flower may have helped lead this species to the endangerment of being extinct.

With the specific conditions in which a nest must be made could have aided in bringing this species closer to being endangered of being extinct. Furthermore, this species is endangered as these bees are often infected by a host specific cleptoparasite called Nomada armata which parasitizes a big proportion of brood cells in local populations. Other factors are the competition for pollen by other insects, and habitat loss and fragmentation. But the main reason is the reduced food-plant distribution because of larger farm units and not a lot of traditionally managed meadows. [2] [3] [4]

Therefore, Andrena hattorfiana is endangered because of pollen competition, not enough variability in their habitat, and because of there not being enough traditionally managed meadows.

Parasites: Cuckoo bee is Nomada armata . Adults are sometimes infested with strepsiptera ( Stylops melittae ).

Etymology

Dedicated to Baron (?) Von Hattorf, from whose collection the specimen described by Fabricius comes from. [1]

Taxonomy

Subgenus Charitandrena HEDICKE, 1933. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bee</span> Clade of insects

Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamily Apoidea. They are currently considered a clade, called Anthophila. There are over 20,000 known species of bees in seven recognized biological families. Some species – including honey bees, bumblebees, and stingless bees – live socially in colonies while most species (>90%) – including mason bees, carpenter bees, leafcutter bees, and sweat bees – are solitary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cuckoo bee</span> Kleptoparasitic bee lineages

The term cuckoo bee is used for a variety of different bee lineages which have evolved the kleptoparasitic behaviour of laying their eggs in the nests of other bees, reminiscent of the behavior of cuckoo birds. The name is perhaps best applied to the apid subfamily Nomadinae, but is commonly used in Europe to mean bumblebees Bombus subgenus Psithyrus. Females of cuckoo bees are easy to recognize in almost all cases, as they lack pollen-collecting structures and do not construct their own nests. They often have reduced body hair, abnormally thick and/or heavily sculptured exoskeleton, and saber-like mandibles, although this is not universally true; other less visible changes are also common.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European beewolf</span> Species of wasp

The European beewolf, also known as the bee-killer wasp or the bee-eating philanthus, is a solitary wasp that lives in the Western Palearctic and Afrotropics. Although the adults of the species are herbivores, the species derives its name from the behaviour of the inseminated females, who hunt Western honey bees. The female places several of its paralysed prey together with an egg in a small underground chamber, to serve as food for the wasp larvae. All members of the genus Philanthus hunt various species of bees, but P. triangulum is apparently the only one that specialises in Western honey bees.

<i>Nomada</i> Genus of bees

With over 850 species, the genus Nomada is one of the largest genera in the family Apidae, and the largest genus of cuckoo bees. Cuckoo bees are so named because they enter the nests of a host and lay eggs there, stealing resources that the host has already collected. The name "Nomada" is derived from the Greek word nomas, meaning "roaming" or "wandering."

<i>Andrena</i> Genus of bees

Andrena is a genus of bees in the family Andrenidae. With over 1,500 species, it is one of the largest genera of animals. It is a strongly monophyletic group that is difficult to split into more manageable divisions; currently, Andrena is organized into 104 subgenera. It is nearly worldwide in distribution, with the notable exceptions of Oceania and South America. Bees in this genus are commonly known as mining bees due to their ground-nesting lifestyle.  

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chemical mimicry</span> Biological mimicry using chemicals

Chemical mimicry is a type of biological mimicry involving the use of chemicals to dupe an operator.

<i>Bombus occidentalis</i> Species of bee

Bombus occidentalis, the western bumblebee, is one of around 30 bumblebee species present in the western United States and western Canada. A recent review of all of its close relatives worldwide appears to have confirmed its status as a separate species.

<i>Andrena agilissima</i> Species of bee

Andrena agilissima is a species of mining bee. They are present in most of Europe, the Near East and North Africa and can be found from April through July. Andrena agilissima is an oligolectic species, feeding only on the pollen of a few genera of Cruciferous vegetables.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Halictinae</span> Subfamily of bees

Within the insect order Hymenoptera, the Halictinae are the largest, most diverse, and most recently diverged of the four halictid subfamilies. They comprise over 2400 bee species belonging to the five taxonomic tribes Augochlorini, Thrinchostomini, Caenohalictini, Sphecodini, and Halictini, which some entomologists alternatively organize into the two tribes Augochlorini and Halictini.

<i>Bombus affinis</i> Species of bee

Bombus affinis, commonly known as the rusty patched bumble bee, is a species of bumblebee endemic to North America. Its historical range in North America has been throughout the east and upper Midwest of the United States, north to Ontario, Canada, where it is considered a "species at risk", east to Quebec, south to Georgia, and west to the Dakotas. Its numbers have declined in 87% of its historical habitat range. On January 10, 2017, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service placed B. affinis on the list of endangered species, making the rusty patched bumblebee the first bee to be added to the list in the continental United States.

<i>Macrotera portalis</i> Species of bee

Macrotera portalis is a species of communal, ground nesting, partially bivoltine bees found in arid grasslands and desert regions of North America. An oligolectic bee, M. portalis gathers pollen only from plants in the genus Sphaeralcea and has patterns of seasonal emergence to survive the harsh conditions of the desert, with emergence delayed until monsoon rains arrive.

<i>Andrena scotica</i> Species of bee

Andrena scotica, the chocolate mining bee or hawthorn bee, is a species of mining bee from the family Andrenidae. It occurs in western Europe and is one of the most frequently encountered mining bees found in Great Britain, where it had been previously misidentified as Andrena carantonica.

<i>Nomada marshamella</i> Species of bee

Nomada marshamella, Marsham's nomad bee, is a species of Palearctic cuckoo bee which appears to be a wasp mimic and which is cleptoparasite on the mining bees of the genus Andrena, especially A. scotica and A. trimmerana.

<i>Andrena vaga</i> Species of insect

Andrena vaga, the grey-backed mining bee, is a species of solitary bee which is found in most of Europe but which is very rare in Great Britain, where it may be recolonizing in the south-east after previously being extirpated. It specialises in feeding on the pollen of willows.

<i>Andrena wilkella</i> Species of bee

Andrena wilkella, also known as Wilke's mining bee, is a species of miner bee in the family Andrenidae. Its original distribution is Europe. It has been accidentally introduced to North America long ago, possibly with ship ballast. It is active between April and August. Andrena wilkella has been recorded to nest both singly and in aggregations. Andrena wilkella preferentially collects pollen from Fabaceae including clover and sweet clover.

<i>Andrena clarkella</i> Species of bee

The Clark's miner bee is a species of miner bee in the family Andrenidae. Other common names include Clark's andrena and Clarke's mining bee. It is found in Europe and Northern Asia and North America.

<i>Andrena prunorum</i> Species of bee

Andrena prunorum, otherwise known as the purple miner bee, is a species of solitary bees in the family Andrenidae. It is commonly found in the continental United States as well as much of North and Central America. Andrena prunorum is a spring-flying, ground-nesting bee that serves as a ubiquitous generalist in ecological settings. Both males and females live as prepupae in the winter in which they mate, and the females seek new sites for ground burrows. From there, they construct small cells surrounding a ball of pollen combined with nectar to nourish a laid egg before each cell is sealed, and the cycle begins anew. A. prunorum generally prefer the pollen derived from Rosaceae plants but will pollinate fruit trees if given the opportunity.

<i>Andrena bicolor</i> Species of bee

Andrena bicolor, or Gwynne's mining bee, is a common and widespread Western Palearctic mining bee which is found over most of Europe as well as North Africa and the Middle East and which reaches eastwards into Siberia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tormentil mining bee</span> Species of bee

The tormentil mining bee is a species of mining bee from the family Andrenidae which has a Palearctic distribution.

<i>Andrena helvola</i> Species of bee

Andrena helvola , the coppice mining bee, is a Palearctic species of mining bee from the genus Andrena.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Reckter, Bettina (2021). "Wildbienen leichter bestimmen". VDI Nachrichten. 75 (27–28): 39. doi:10.51202/0042-1758-2021-27-28-39-1. ISSN   0042-1758. S2CID   237831236.
  2. LARSSON, MAGNUS; FRANZÉN, MARKUS (April 2008). "Estimating the population size of specialised solitary bees". Ecological Entomology. 33 (2): 232–238. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2311.2007.00956.x. ISSN   0307-6946. S2CID   84917372.
  3. Franzén, Markus; Larsson, Magnus; Nilsson, Sven G. (2007-11-02). "Small local population sizes and high habitat patch fidelity in a specialised solitary bee". Journal of Insect Conservation. 13 (1): 89–95. doi:10.1007/s10841-007-9123-4. ISSN   1366-638X. S2CID   34456883.
  4. Larsson, Magnus; Franzén, Markus (January 2007). "Critical resource levels of pollen for the declining bee Andrena hattorfiana (Hymenoptera, Andrenidae)". Biological Conservation. 134 (3): 405–414. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2006.08.030. ISSN   0006-3207.