Journal: Journal of Hymenoptera Research

Abbreviation

J. Hymenopt. res.

Publisher

International Society of Hymenopterists

Journal Volumes

ISSN

1070-9428
1314-2607

Description

Filters

2014 - 20187
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Publications 1 - 7 of 7
  • Distribution, biology and habitat of the rare European osmiine bee species Osmia (Melanosmia) pilicornis (Hymenoptera, Megachilidae, Osmiini)
    Item type: Journal Article
    Prosi, Rainer; Wiesbauer, Heinz; Müller, Andreas (2016)
    Journal of Hymenoptera Research
    Osmia pilicornis is distributed from western temperate Europe to western Siberia, where it exclusively occurs in open-structured, mesophilous and mainly deciduous woodland below 1000 m a.s.l. In Central Europe, its peak activity ranges from the last third of March to the first third of June. Due to its rarity and its low population densities over most of its range, the biology of O. pilicornis was only fragmentarily known. The discovery of six nests in the course of the present study revealed that females of O. pilicornis have a unique nesting behaviour among the osmiine bees: they gnaw their nests in dead wood with the aid of their strong mandibles, which have a peculiar chisel-like shape hypothesized to be an adaptation to the species’ specialized nesting behaviour. All six nests were in dead fallen branches of different tree and shrub species and of varying wood hardness. The nesting branches had a diameter of 1.5–6.1 cm, lay on sun-exposed ground and were largely hidden under vegetation. The nests contained one to three linearly arranged brood cells. Both cell partitions and nest plug were built from chewed leaves harvested from Fragaria vesca. Osmia pilicornis was identified as a new host of the chrysidid wasp Chrysura hirsuta, and the ichneumonid wasp Hoplocryptus confector developed in its nests. Microscopical analysis of scopal pollen loads of collected females revealed that pollen is mainly collected from three plant taxa, i.e. Pulmonaria (Boraginaceae), Fabaceae (e.g. Lathyrus, Vicia) and Lamiaceae (e.g. Ajuga, Glechoma). On flowers of Pulmonaria, which is the most important pollen host over most of the species’ range, the females use specialized bristles on their proboscis to brush pollen out of the narrow corolla tube, they almost exclusively exploit pollen-rich flowers in the early red stage and they often steal pollen from still closed flowers by forcefully opening buds. On their search for females, males of O. pilicornis patrol flowers of Pulmonaria in a rapid flight regularly interrupted by short resting periods on the ground. Females are grasped for copulation both during flower visits and in flight between the flowers. The wide spectrum of semi-open mesophilous woodland types colonized by O. pilicornis suggests that dead fallen branches and a rich spring flora in combination with a rather warm but not xeric microclimate are the only requisites needed by the species. As the great majority of woodland habitats currently occupied by O. pilicornis in Central Europe owe their origin to human forest use, the recent decline of O. pilicornis in many regions of Europe may have been caused by changes in woodland management practices leading to closed and dark forests not suitable as habitats for this specialized bee species.
  • Contribution to the bionomics of the pollen wasp Quartinia canariensis Blüthgen, 1958 (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Masarinae) in Fuerteventura (Canary Islands, Spain)
    Item type: Journal Article
    Mauss, Volker; Müller, Andreas (2016)
    Journal of Hymenoptera Research
    Quartinia canariensis was recorded from three semidesertic sand habitats in Fuerteventura. All localities were sparsely covered by halophytic vegetation and characterized by large patches of flowering plants of Frankenia laevis (Frankeniaceae). Males and females were exclusively observed to visit flowers of Frankenia laevis. During flower visits the imagines often switched between nectar and pollen uptake. Pollen was consumed directly from the anthers or pollen uptake was indirect with pollen grains gathering on the frons being brushed towards the mouthparts with the fore legs. During nectar uptake the wasps protruded their long proboscis into the nectariferous pockets between the claws of the petals of the Frankenia flowers. Brood cell provisions consisted mainly of pollen from Frankenia but to a small amount also from Polycarpaea (Caryophyllaceae) suggesting that Quartinia canariensis is polylectic with strong preference. Males regularly stood on the ground in the vicinity of Frankenia plants and frequently performed patrol flights along the flowers. Flower visiting females avoided contact with the males and mainly offered resistance against the insertion of the male genitalia. The behavioural sequence during copulation of a species of Quartinia is described for the first time. The nest was a multicellular sub-vertical burrow surmounted by a short turret. The burrow was excavated by the female in friable sandy soil. The walls of the nest were stabilized by silk produced by the nest building female and applied with the mouthparts. Inconsistencies concerning the host-parasite-relationship between Quartinia canariensis and Chrysis atrocomitata established by Gusenleitner 1990 are discussed.
  • First contribution to the bionomics of the pollen wasp Celonites fischeri Spinola, 1838 (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Masarinae) in Cyprus
    Item type: Journal Article
    Mauss, Volker; Müller, Andreas (2014)
    Journal of Hymenoptera Research
    Celonites fischeri was recorded from ten localities in various open, disturbed habitats in North-West Cyprus. The species is probably narrowly oligolectic exploiting exclusively flowers of Echium (Boraginaceae) as the sole pollen and nectar source. Females perform a pollen collecting strategy hitherto unknown in pollen wasps; they ingest pollen from fresh anthers of Echium flowers that have just started to open by forcing their head into the only slightly opened corolla. Males patrol along Echium plants in search for females. Mating was mainly observed at Echium flowers but also occurred in the area of a male sleeping aggregation. The aerial nest, consisting of 2–5 earthen cells sometimes covered with an additional thin layer of earth, is attached to stones or plants. Nest building and soil collection behaviour are described and an ethogram of a nesting female observed during three consecutive days is given. Males form sleeping aggregations at particular sites that are continuously used over at least eleven consecutive nights, even though the size of the male groups may vary from day to day. During sleeping, the males characteristically curl their bodies around withered stems.
  • Unique nest architecture in the North African osmiine bee Hoplitis (Hoplitis) mucida (Hymenoptera, Megachilidae)
    Item type: Journal Article
    Müller, Andreas; Mauss, Volker; Prosi, Rainer (2017)
    Journal of Hymenoptera Research
    The osmiine bee species Hoplitis mucida is considered to consist of two subspecies with H. mucida mucida (Dours, 1873) ranging from northwestern Africa to Israel and Jordan and H. mucida stecki (Frey-Gessner, 1908) occurring in southwestern Europe and Sicily. The discovery of nests of H. mucida in Morocco and Tunisia revealed striking differences in the nesting biology of the two subspecies. In North Africa, females construct fully exposed, cake-like nests of mud on the flat surface of rocks and stones containing 8–12 vertically oriented brood cells, rendering these nests unique among osmiine bees regarding both nesting site and nest architecture. In contrast, in Europe females build their few-celled mud nests inside small rock cavities. This discrepancy in the nesting biology is paralleled by considerable morphological differences between the two subspecies suggestive of a long geographical isolation. Due to these biological and morphological differences, we propose to elevate the European subspecies H. mucida stecki to species rank.
  • Nest architecture and pollen hosts of the boreoalpine osmiine bee species Hoplitis (Alcidamea) tuberculata (Hymenoptera, Megachilidae)
    Item type: Review Article
    Müller, Andreas (2015)
    Journal of Hymenoptera Research
    Although Hoplitis tuberculata is a rather common bee species in the upper montane and subalpine zone of the Alps, its biology is only fragmentarily known. In the present publication, both nest architecture and pollen host spectrum are described. H. tuberculata nests in insect borings in dead wood, where one to several brood cells are built in a linear series. Examination of four nests obtained from trap nests revealed three peculiar characteristics of its nest architecture: i) the 0.3-0.5 cm thick partitions between the brood cells are three-layered consisting of two walls built from masticated leaves which enclose an interlayer that is densely packed with pebbles, earth crumbs and other small particles; ii) in the majority of the nests, a vestibule varying in length from 2.2-8.9 cm and loosely filled with small particles is present between the outermost cell partition and the nest plug; iii) the nest is sealed by a 1.2-1.9 cm long plug consisting of two walls of masticated leaves which enclose a space that is densely packed with small particles and divided up by one to three additional walls. The nest architecture of H. tuberculata is unique among Palaearctic osmiine bees; however, it corresponds to that of three North American species closely related to H. tuberculata. Microscopical analysis of female pollen loads and brood cell provisions revealed that H. tuberculata is polylectic with a strong preference for Fabaceae. Among the Fabaceae, Lotus and Hippocrepis were by far the most important pollen hosts. Non-Fabaceae taxa represented by substantial proportions in pollen loads or cell provisions were Helianthemum (Cistaceae), Vaccinium (Ericaceae) and Rubus (Rosaceae).
  • Biology of Palaearctic Wainia bees of the subgenus Caposmia including a short review on snail shell nesting in osmiine bees (Hymenoptera, Megachilidae)
    Item type: Review Article
    Müller, Andreas Dominik; Praz, Christophe; Dorchin, Achik (2018)
    Journal of Hymenoptera Research
    Wainia, a species-poor genus of osmiine bees, contains two Palaearctic species, whose biologies are unknown. In the present publication, we describe the nesting site and nest architecture of W. sexsignata and analyse the pollen host spectra of W. sexsignata and W. eremoplana by microscopical analysis of larval faeces and female scopal contents. W. sexsignata nests in empty snail shells. It uses large petal pieces of yellow flowered Asteroideae to separate the linearly arranged brood cells and to construct a series of partitions between the outermost cell and the final nest closure, which consists of masticated green leaves. W. sexsignata is recorded as a new host of the meloid beetle Sitarobrachys thoracica. Both Palaearctic Wainia species have a strong preference for Asteraceae as pollen hosts, but occasionally also collect pollen on other plant taxa. A literature survey revealed that nesting in empty snail shells is widespread among osmiine bees: obligate snail shell nesting is assumed to have independently evolved at least twelve times in their evolutionary history and to occur in at least 56 species belonging to 4 genera and 14 subgenera.
  • Flower associations and nesting of the pollen wasp Quartinia major Kohl, 1898 (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Masarinae) in Morocco
    Item type: Journal Article
    Mauss, Volker; Müller, Andreas; Prosi, Rainer (2018)
    Journal of Hymenoptera Research
    Females of Quartinia major Kohl were observed to visit flowers of Pulicaria mauritanica Batt., Cladanthus arabicus (L.) Cass. and Asteriscus graveolens (Forssk.) Less., (all Asteroideae Asteraceae) at two localities in southern Morocco. Pollen in the provisions of two brood cells was more than 99% Aster-type (Asteroideae), indicating broad oligolecty. During pollen uptake from P. mauritanica, the females of Q. major employed a hitherto undescribed harvesting technique: They used their mouthparts to squeeze pollen from the corolla tubes of early male phase disc florets. Pollen was ingested immediately after it had been extracted. The nest was a multicellular subterranean burrow excavated in friable soil and surmounted by a turret. The nest walls were stabilized with self-generated silk.
Publications 1 - 7 of 7