AW Insect Book: Sawflies, Wasps, Bees & Ants (Hymenoptera)

Discussions and information on all Southern African Invertebrates

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BluTuna
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AW Insect Book: Sawflies Wasps Bees Ants Pics & Descriptions

Post by BluTuna »

Unidentified Carpenter Bees Xylocopa sp
Family: Apidae. Subfamily: Xylocopinae. Tribe: Xylocopini


Image © BluTuna
Male

Image © BluTuna
Male

Image © BluTuna
Male

Links:
https://journals.co.za/doi/pdf/10.10520 ... 28789_2631


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Toko
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AW Insect Book: Sawflies Wasps Bees Ants Pics & Descriptions

Post by Toko »

Unidentified Carpenter Bees Xylocopa sp
Family Apidae. Subfamily Xtylocopinae. Tribe Xylocopini

Image
Female, Nelspruit © The Spotted Genet


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Toko
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AW Insect Book: Sawflies Wasps Bees Ants Pics & Descriptions

Post by Toko »

Unidentified Carpenter Bee Xylocopa sp
Family Apidae. Subfamily Xylocopinae. Tribe Xylocopini


Image © BluTuna
Female, garden in Johannesburg


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AW Insect Book: Sawflies Wasps Bees Ants Pics & Descriptions

Post by Toko »

Digger Bee Amegilla sp.
Superfamily Apoidea; Family Apidae; Subfamily Apinae; Tribe Anthophorini



Image © BluTuna
Male, Garden in Johannesburg.

Links:
http://www.waspweb.org/Apoidea/Apidae/A ... /index.htm


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Toko
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AW Insect Book: Sawflies Wasps Bees Ants Pics & Descriptions

Post by Toko »

Great-jawed Resin Bee Megachile maxillosa
Family Megachilidae. Subfamily Megachilinae. Tribe Megachilini

Image © BluTuna
Garden in Johannesburg


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AW Insect Book: Sawflies, Wasps, Bees & Ants (Hymenoptera)

Post by BluTuna »

Carpenter Bee
Family Apidae. Subfamily Xylocopinae. Tribe Xylocopini

Image © BluTuna
Male, Garden in Johannesburg.




Xylocopa bees are a bee species that do not produce honey but are important pollinators of crops and wild plants. Male and female individuals have different coloration. The genus Xylocopa is a diverse, widely distributed group of solitary bees. Worldwide, there are about 500 species of carpenter bees representing 31 subgenera.



Links: Atlas Hymenoptera


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Toko
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AW Insect Book: Sawflies, Wasps, Bees & Ants (Hymenoptera)

Post by Toko »

Mammoth Wasp Campsomeriella caelebs
Superfamily Vespoidea. Family Scoliidae. Subfamily Scoliinae. Tribe: Campsomerini

Image © BluTuna

Image © BluTuna
Kruger National Park, Shingwedzi (May 2015)


Image © BluTuna
Garden in Johannesburg (April 2014)

Biology
External parasitoids of beetle larvae (mostly Scarabaeidae) that live in soil or decaying vegetable matter

Links:
http://waspweb.org/Vespoidea/Scoliidae/ ... /index.htm


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Toko
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Hymenoptera, Apoidea, Halictidae

Post by Toko »

Family Halictidae
The Halictidae are a very large and nearly cosmopolitan family of the order Hymenoptera consisting of small to midsize bees. These bees are easy to identify because they are mostly metallic gold, or very pale green or blue. They are commonly referred to as sweat bees (especially the smaller species), as they are often attracted to perspiration; when pinched, females can give a minor sting. All species are pollen feeders and may be important pollinators.
Nests are typically underground burrows, with several ovoid ‘cells’ in which pollen mixed with nectar is provided as food for the developing larvae; a single egg is laid on a pollen mass, and the cell is sealed.
The Halictidae are short-tongued bees with one subantennal suture, a pointed glossa and a strongly curved basal vein in the forewing. Within the short-tongued bees the shape of the basal vein is unique; some long-tongued bees have a weakly curved basal vein.
This is the largest family of short-tongued bees in the Afrotropical Region. It accounts for about one-third of all the Afrotropical bee species, and this family is possibly the most abundant because many species occur in large numbers.
There are 16 genera and four subfamilies:
Subfamily Nomiinae
Subfamily Nomioidinae
Subfamily Halictinae
Subfamily Rophitinae


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Halictidae, Nomiinae

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Subfamily Nomiinae
The Nomiinae, in large, have the first and third submarginal cells in the forewing subequal in length and distinctly longer than the second submarginal cell. The exception is Steganomus, which has only two submarginal cells, and is the only halictid genus in Africa with two submarginal cells. They are all pollen collecting bees. They nest in tunnels in the ground.


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Hymenoptera, Halictidae, Nomiinae, Spatunomia

Post by Toko »

Genus Spatunomia
Spatunomia was described for two widely separated, large (13-15 mm) species with a dark red metasoma without hairbands.
There is a strong preoccipital carina in the male. The pronotum lacks a carina (except on the pronotal lobe) but extends across in front of, and at the level of, the scutum, so that the scutum does not bend down to the pronotum.
The most remarkable features of the genus are the simple mandibles in the female and the pedunculate last antennal segment in the male, which has a slender base and a broad flattened apical region.
They occur in widely separated areas, in Sudan and southern Africa.

Links: The Bees of the World. Charles Duncan Michener


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