Ceratina cyanea, common name blue carpenter bee, is a species of bee belonging to the family Apidae, subfamily Xylocopinae.
| Ceratina cyanea | |
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| Female of Ceratina cyanea close to the nest | |
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| Species: | C. cyanea
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| Ceratina cyanea | |
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Distribution
editThis 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
editThis undemanding species colonize both dry habitats and wetlands. It inhabits forest edges, thickets and gardens.[5][6]
Description
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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
editThe 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
edit- ^ a b Biolib
- ^ a b Fauna europaea
- ^ a b [1] Archived 2013-05-09 at the Wayback Machine Révision des Xylocopinae (Hymenoptera : Apidae) de France et de Belgique
- ^ Global species
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Naturspaziergang (in German)
- ^ a b c Essex Field Club
- ^ a b c d British Journal of Entomology and Natural History - Volume 8 - 1995
- ^ John L. Capinera - Encyclopedia of Entomology
- ^ Felix Amiet, M. Herrmann, A. Müller, R. Neumeyer: Fauna Helvetica 20: Apidae 5. Centre Suisse de Cartographie de la Faune, 2007