| Anthophora dispar | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Anthophora dispar. Male. Wrong image. Represents Anthophora plumipes | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Apidae |
| Genus: | Anthophora |
| Species: | A. dispar |
| Binomial name | |
| Anthophora dispar Lepeletier, 1841 | |
Anthophora dispar is a species of bee belonging to the family Apidae subfamily Apinae tribus Anthophorini.
The adults of these long-tongued bees grow up to 14–16 millimetres (0.55–0.63 in) long and can be encountered from early Spring, feeding and collecting pollen and nectar on early flowering plants. The body is densely hairy. The middle legs of males are very elongated with long tufts of black hairs on the tarsi. Males and females have a different pattern and color so that they seem to belong to two distinct species (hence the Latin name "dispar"). In the females the brushes for collecting pollen on their hind legs are red and the abdomen shows white stripes, while it is black in males.
They are present in most of France, Italy, Hungary and in North Africa.
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.
Mason bee is a name now commonly used for species of bees in the genus Osmia, of the family Megachilidae. Mason bees are named for their habit of using mud or other "masonry" products in constructing their nests, which are made in naturally occurring gaps such as between cracks in stones or other small dark cavities. When available, some species preferentially use hollow stems or holes in wood made by wood-boring insects.
The tribe Euglossini, in the subfamily Apinae, commonly known as orchid bees or euglossine bees, are the only group of corbiculate bees whose non-parasitic members do not all possess eusocial behavior.
Osmia lignaria, commonly known as the orchard mason bee or blue orchard bee, is a megachilid bee that makes nests in natural holes and reeds, creating individual cells for its brood that are separated by mud dividers. Unlike carpenter bees, it cannot drill holes in wood. O. lignaria is a common species used for early spring fruit bloom in the United States and Canada, though a number of other Osmia species are cultured for use in pollination.
Habropoda laboriosa, the southeastern blueberry bee, is a bee in the family Apidae. It is native to the eastern United States. It is regarded as the most efficient pollinator of southern rabbiteye blueberries, because the flowers require buzz pollination, and H. laboriosa is one of the few bees that exhibit this behavior. It is active for only a few weeks of the year, while the blueberries are in flower during early spring, when the temperature is warm and humid. H. laboriosa are solitary bees that live alone but nest in close proximity with other nests of their species. They have similar features to bumble bees, but they are smaller in size compared to them. H. laboriosa are arthropods so they have segmented bodies that are composed of the head, thorax, and abdomen.
Bombylius major is a parasitic bee mimic fly. B. major is the most common type of fly within the Bombylius genus. The fly derives its name from its close resemblance to bumblebees and are often mistaken for them.
Megachile sculpturalis, known as the giant resin bee and sculptured resin bee, is a species of leafcutting bees belonging to the family Megachilidae.
Osmia bicornis is a species of mason bee, and is known as the red mason bee due to its covering of dense gingery hair. It is a solitary bee that nests in holes or stems and is polylectic, meaning it forages pollen from various different flowering plants. These bees can be seen aggregating together and nests in preexisting hollows, choosing not to excavate their own. These bees are not aggressive; they will only sting if handled very roughly and are safe to be closely observed by children. Females only mate once, usually with closely related males. Further, females can determine the sex ratio of their offspring based on their body size, where larger females will invest more in diploid females eggs than small bees. These bees also have trichromatic colour vision and are important pollinators in agriculture.
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.
Amegilla quadrifasciata, the white-banded digger bee, is a species of bee belonging to the family Apidae subfamily Apinae.
The hairy-footed flower bee is a species of bee belonging to the family Apidae.
Colletes hederae, the ivy bee, is a species of plasterer bee belonging to the family Colletidae subfamily Colletinae.
The 'Tapinotaspidini' are a tribe of apid bees. They belong to the order Hymenoptera and the family Apidae. The Tapinotaspidini tribe consists of 180 different species. Many species of Apidae are recognised as oil-collecting bees and Tapinotaspidini possess this oil-collecting behaviour. It is maintained that mutualism exists between oil secreting flowers and oil collecting Tapinotaspidini bees. Morphological and molecular phylogenies have found that the trait of oil-collecting is polyphyletic. Tapinotaspidini are solitary bees which collect oil sources from flowers belonging to the families of Malpighiaceae, Solanaceae, Orchidaceae, Calceolariaceae, Iridaceae, Plantaginaceae, Melastomataceae and Krameriaceae. Tapinotaspidini species differ in terms of being generalist and specialist oil-collectors. Selected species exclusively obtain floral oil from one family of flowering plants, whilst many Tapinotaspidini species employ a range of plant families to fulfil their oil-collecting behaviour.
Eulaema meriana is a large-bodied bee species in the tribe Euglossini, otherwise known as the orchid bees. The species is a solitary bee and is native to tropical Central and South America. The male collects fragrances from orchid flowers, which it stores in hollows in its hind legs. Orchids can be deceptive by mimicking the form of a female and her sex pheromone, thus luring male bees or wasps. Pollination will take place as the males attempt to mate with the labellum, or the tip petal of the flower. Male E. meriana are territorial and have a particular perch on a tree trunk where it displays to attract a female. After mating, the female builds a nest with urn-shaped cells made with mud, feces, and plant resin, and provisions these with nectar and pollen before laying an egg in each. These bees also have complex foraging and wing buzzing behaviors and are part of a mimicry complex.
Coelioxys, common name leaf-cutting cuckoo bees or sharp-tailed bees, is a genus of solitary kleptoparasitic cuckoo bees belonging to the family Megachilidae.
Eufriesea surinamensis belongs to the tribe of euglossine bees and as such is a species of orchid bee. This should not be mistaken with the species group surinamensis, which includes Ef. surinamensis among other Eufriesea species.
Chelostoma campanularum, or the harebell carpenter bee, is a species of hymenopteran in the family Megachilidae. It is found in Europe and Northern Asia and North America.
Colletes similis is a species of plasterer bee belonging to the family Colletidae, subfamily Colletinae.
Bombus vancouverensis is a common species of eusocial bumblebee of the subgenus Pyrobombus. B. vancouverensis inhabits mountainous regions of western North America, where it has long been considered as a synonym of Bombus bifarius, and essentially all of the literature on bifarius refers instead to vancouverensis. B. vancouverensis has been identified as one of the two species of bumblebee observed to use pheromones in kin recognition. The other is the frigid bumblebee, Bombus frigidus.
The genus Chalepogenus, consisting of 21 species of solitary oil-collecting apid bees, demonstrates oligolecty by foraging on oil-producing flowers from the families Calceolariaceae, Iridaceae and Solanaceae. These oil-flowers are abundant in South America, where Chalepogenus is endemic. In contrast to honey bees, Chalepogenus species do not collect nectar; instead, they gather floral oil for various purposes, including provisioning their larvae, constructing nests, and sustaining foraging adult bees. Although oil collection has been reported to be performed by females only, both males and females have specialised oil-collecting structures.