We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Nesting Biology of the Leafcutting Bee Megachile minutissima (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) in Central Saudi Arabia.
- Authors
ALQARNI, ABDULAZIZ S.; HANNAN, MOHAMMED A.; GONZALEZ, VICTOR H.; ENGEL, MICHAEL S.
- Abstract
The leafcutting bee Megachile (Eutricharaea) minutissima Radoszkowski is a widely distributed species in the Middle East and a promising pollinator of alfalfa. We provide information on the nest architecture, foraging behavior, phenology, and host plants of a wild population of M. rninutissima studied between March 2010 and September 2012 in Amariah, a typical desert in central Saudi Arabia. Bees nested in preexisting cavities in the sandy, dry, and loose soil, and built between 2 and 14 leaf-lined brood cells per nest. Females built and provisioned 1-2 cells per day, each consisting of a large oval piece from which the cell cup was made and a small semiround piece that was used as cell cap; however, occasionally small oval pieces were also used in the latter. Cells were built from leaves of Ricinus communis L. (Euphorbiaceae), a locally abundant plant. Both sexes were captured from March to October at flowers of 11 species (10 families), indicating some degree of polylecty as well as either bivoltinism or multivoltinism. We also provide comparative taxonomic comments that will assist bee researchers to easily recognize this species.
- Subjects
MEGACHILIDAE; NEST building; INSECT pollinators; CASTOR oil plant; LEAVES; FORAGING behavior
- Publication
Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 2014, Vol 107, Issue 3, p635
- ISSN
0013-8746
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1603/AN13165