Ceratina cyanea
Female of Ceratina cyanea close to the nest
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Hymenoptera
Family:
Apidae
Subfamily:
Xylocopinae
Genus:
Ceratina
Subgenus:
Euceratina
Species:
C. cyanea
Binomial name
Ceratina cyanea
(Kirby, 1802) [1]
Synonyms
  • Apis cyanea Kirby, 1802 [2]

Ceratina cyanea, common name blue carpenter bee, is a species of bee belonging to the family Apidae, subfamily Xylocopinae.

Distribution

This species is present in most of Western Europe, in North West Africa and in the eastern Palearctic realm (excluding China). [2][1][3][4]

Habitat

This undemanding species colonize both dry habitats and wetlands. It inhabits forest edges, thickets and gardens.[5][6]

Description

Digging the nest

Ceratina cyanea can reach a length of 5–9 millimetres (0.20–0.35 in) (females) and 5–7 millimetres (0.20–0.28 in) (males).[5] Head, chest and abdomen show a metallic blue colour.[5][7] These bees have three submarginal cells in forewings,[8] club-shaped antennae[5] and a long thin tongue.[5] The scutellum is densely punctured. The seventh tergite has a deep saddle and ends in two points.[3][9]

Biology

The blue carpenter bees fly from mid-March to mid-October,[5] collecting pollen at various families of plants, especially knapweed (Centaurea), yellow composites (Asteraceae) and Lotus (Fabaceae).[6]

Females dig the nest extracting the soft tissue that fills the cavities of the vertical or slanted dry plant stems and small branches,[7][6] such as thistles, blackberries (Rubus species),[7] elderberries (Sambucus species) and roses.[5][7] Then they provide the cells with a mixture of regurgitated nectar and pollen to feed the larvae.[5] Adult males and females overwinter inside their cells into the stems. Often several insects spend the winter together.[5]

References

  1. 1 2 Biolib
  2. 1 2 Fauna europaea
  3. 1 2 Archived 2013-05-09 at the Wayback Machine Révision des Xylocopinae (Hymenoptera : Apidae) de France et de Belgique
  4. ↑ Global species
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Naturspaziergang (in German)
  6. 1 2 3 Essex Field Club
  7. 1 2 3 4 British Journal of Entomology and Natural History - Volume 8 - 1995
  8. ↑ John L. Capinera - Encyclopedia of Entomology
  9. ↑ Felix Amiet, M. Herrmann, A. Müller, R. Neumeyer: Fauna Helvetica 20: Apidae 5. Centre Suisse de Cartographie de la Faune, 2007
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